Following an inaugural season that saw the club fall short of its sights on a playoff berth, New York City FC made some roster moves for the 2016 season.
On Friday, the club announced it has declined options on four players in Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Jeb Brovsky, Ned Grabavoy and Pablo Alvarez, and picked up the options on 10 others.
Grabavoy, a 13-year veteran in MLS, will be eligible for free agency, while Watson-Siriboe and Brovsky will be eligible for the MLS Re-Entry Draft.
Angelino, Shay Facey, Ryan Meara and Javier Calle, all of whom spent the 2015 season on loan at NYCFC, have all returned to their original clubs following the expiration of their spells. Sebastian Velasquez, meanwhile, is the lone player whose contract has expired with the club.
“We’d like to sincerely thank those players for their contributions for the Club’s historic inaugural season,” NYCFC Sporting Director Claudio Reyna said in the club’s press release. “We wish them the very best of luck in the future.”
Josh Saunders, Eirik Johansen, RJ Allen, Connor Brandt, Mehdi Ballouchy, Kwadwo Poku, Tommy McNamara, Tony Taylor, Khiry Shelton and Patrick Mullins all had their club options exercised, and they will remain with NYCFC along with Andrea Pirlo, David Villa, Frank Lampard, Mix Diskerud, Andoni Iraola, Chris Wingert, Jason Hernandez, Jefferson Mena and Andrew Jacobson, who were all already under contract for the 2016 season.
NYCFC will go on an offseason tour in Puerto Rico to take on the Puerto Rican national team next Friday (7 p.m.). Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, a veteran MLS centerback who last played with the now-defunct Chivas USA in 2014, has joined the club on trial along with USL side Wilmington Hammerheads’ goalkeeper Andre Rawls, who was originally drafted by NYCFC with the 44th overall selection of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft.
Grabavoy and KWS are addition by subtraction. Brovsky never played much and Alvarez’s main contribution was helping Villa get adjusted to NY (aside from missing a penalty that led to elimination at the USOC against the Cosmos).
Of those that were picked up, solid decisions, all are either 1) young 2) cheap or 3) contributed or have potential. Could nitpick with Ballouchy but he overperformed last year and is a solid MLS bench option at a reasonable price.
Wow, David Villa…coppin a feel…TWICE!
yikes.
Grabavoy is gone NYC has gotten so much better with this just one move.