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MLS Ticker: Whitecaps sign Leveron, Dynamo deal Watson to Dallas, and more

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By IVES GALARCEP

The Vancouver Whitecaps made a key addition to their defense, adding Honduran Olympic Team defender Johnny Leveron on Tuesday.

Acquired via free transfer after his contract with Honduran side Motagua expired, Leveron joins a loaded stable of centerbacks on the Whitecaps roster. A stable that includes Jay DeMerit, Andy O’Brien and Brad Rusin. Despite that packed group, Whitecaps head coach Martin Rennie is still excited about the qualities Leveron brings to the table.

“To be a good possession team, you have to be good coming out of the back and it’s hard to find left-footed center backs who can hit a diagonal ball and play balls into strikers and midfielders and Leverón is one we think can do that,” Rennie told MLSsoccer.com. “And he’s also a solid defender and he’s young. He’s got a lot of experience for a younger player.”

Here are some other MLS stories to catch you up on the latest league pre-season activities:

DYNAMO DEAL WATSON TO FC DALLAS

The Houston Dynamo and FC Dallas were busy on Tuesday, completing a deal with each other that sent Jamaican midfielder JeVaughn Watson to FC Dallas for a second-round pick in the 2015 MLS Draft.

The deal clears the way for Houston to acquire Scottish winger Andrew Driver. Reports in Scotland suggest Driver is joining Driver on loan from Scottish club Hearts.

Watson was one of two additions made by FC Dallas on Tuesday. Brazilian journeyman midfielder Michel joined the club after most recently playing for Greek side Aris FC.

TIMBERS SET TO SIGN SILVESTRE

The Portland Timbers liked what they saw from former Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre and now it appears they will be adding the one-time French national team defender.

Timbers owner Merritt Paulson revealed on Twitter on Tuesday that Portland is on the verge of signing Silvestre, pending receipt of a work visa.

QUICK KICKS

Chivas USA played Gangwon FC to a scoreless draw on Tuesday night. (REPORT)

Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer poured some cold water on the “Saviola to the Sounders” rumor, pointing out that another team has a discovery claim on him. (REPORT)

With Silvestre apparently signed, the Portland Timbers are also about to bring in former West Ham striker Freddie Piquionne for a trial. (REPORT)

Real Salt Lake signed rookie forward Devon Sandoval. (REPORT)

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What do you think of these developments? Impressed with the Whitecaps acquisition of Leveron? Think Dallas’ additions will be enough to help offset the loss of Brek Shea? Disappointed to hear Seattle won’t be adding Saviola (or do you think the Sounders are just playing coy)?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Exciting moves by PNW clubs. Despiriting to read the last note about RSL signing a draftee. Whipee!

    Who knows he may be good but the news from RSL this offseason in terms of new signings has been very underwhelming. Plata and findley arent going to scare a lot of defenses despite their speed. For a RSL to be as good this year a few unknown players are going to have to excellent this. Can this team keep winning without any buzz?

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  2. Hondurans and Colombians are to MLS what Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are to MLB. Good signing for Vancouver. Sounds like a legit player.

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  3. From what I heard that Seattle want Saviola and Martins from Nigeria, it seems like Seattle are tired of their wanna be DPs and will follow Galaxy in terms of Dps. Why not right, Sounder fans deserved more than Tiffert, Rosales and “joseph.” Only if Chicago and DC and all those big markets would open their wallet for big Dps. Look at drogba, ronaldinho, raul, owen, mexican and south american players.

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    • Maybe if they could pay down their dp contracts? Trade for a bunch of allocation money, still i would like to see how they fit under the cap

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  4. MLS needs to change this “Discovery” policy, maybe they can only claim a discovery on players who haven’t played more than 10 games for their National Team.. I wonder who has discovery rights on Messi, Ronaldo, Rooney.. What if The Crew had put a discovery claim on Robbie Keane?

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    • I think the discovery claim system is designed to (a) reduce player salaries by removing the possibility of a bidding war and (b) give the smaller market teams at least the same paper chance (if not practical) at players. My question would be how long they last, whether you can keep them even if the player is not interested in your offer. I think they make sense in a salary cap league but there is probably some tinkering that could take place in terms of preventing “squatting” or other undesirable use of the claims.

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    • FWIW, there was a big Texas tussle over Daniel Cruz from Belgium a few years back, Houston trialed him first but then it turned out Dallas had the discovery claim, they brought him into camp and signed him. In retrospect that was a gift because he played 10 games with 1 goal for them then went back home to Belgium.

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    • Yes those are his positive traits. Plus he seems to be a good guy to have in the locker room. Unfortunately, he tends to make frequent poor decisions. I agree though nice to have on the bench. I wish him the best.

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    • I don’t think Watson meshed with Kinnear’s system. He complained about a lack of freedom to freelance to the Jamaican press. 1 G 2 A for an attacking player in 2 years and 41 games. Some of that is fit to style but in sum we should see if we can find a better fit.

      Is that Driver? Who knows. Like Giles Barnes before him, he has some youth NT pedigree but also an injury history. However, since he was only under contract through season end at Hearts and is supposedly going to be here on loan, he’s probably on short term contract here too and basically being given a tryout through the summer window. We have historically played that kind of hardball with foreign players — earn your deal — so it would make perfect sense.

      Also, he plays LM which is Davis’ spot. Maybe this portends Davis being moved back inside. Or maybe he’s Gold Cup cover or depth with a long term eye to Davis’ getting older.

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    • Given the timing, maybe some aspect of the Joseph trade closed that door. Story is they didn’t take on all the salary but it still might be enough to spend any money they needed for Silvestre.

      Like I said yesterday, I thought the best things Seattle got were the tossins, particularly the allocation order. Whether you get one older player or another may be no big deal, considering one’s been out of soccer for months and the other, while more active, is just as clearly on the downslope.

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  5. I am against old players joining MLS but it sure is nice seeing players i grew up watching — Frings, Becks, Juninho (NJRB), Nesta, Sylvestre etc etc Mathaus, Dejorkaef etc tec Balderrama, Etchevery etc etc

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