Photo by ISIphotos.com
The Houston Dynamo has added yet another forward, bringing in Cam Weaver from the San Jose Earthquakes in a trade completed Tuesday that sends Chris Wondolowski to the Earthquakes, along with a conditional draft pick.
Weaver becomes the third new forward added by the Dynamo during the season, along with Ade Akinbiyi and Dominic Oduro.
What's the point of this trade? Weaver was a highly-regarded target forward when San Jose signed him, but he has struggled badly on an Earthquakes team where he has been surprisingly starved for service from the flanks.
Enter the Dynamo, which boast deft passers such as Brad Davis and Stuart Holden. With Brian Ching dealing with injuries, and the Ade Akinbiyi experiment not exactly going well, Houston could see Weaver as a player who will flourish in their system. The Dynamo certainly saw enough of Weaver when he recorded a goal and assist in a 3-2 San Jose win over Houston on March 28th.
Parting with Wondolowski had to hurt the Dynamo, but the arrival of Dominic Oduro, who has impressed Houston since arriving, gives Dom Kinnear a speed option off the bench to make up for the loss of Wondolowski. While the deal does send Wondolowski from one of the best teams in MLS to one of the worst, it does send him back to the Bay Area, where he is from.
What do you think of the deal? Think Houston got another steal? Do you see Wondolowski thriving in San Jose? Was it a pretty even swap?
Share your thoughts below.
Will somebody please trade for Alan Gordon?
i would prefer Corey AShe than Wondo. But yea, Weaver was the ideal target forward but we didnt have any ideal service to complement it. Blame this 100% on the quakes FO for letting one of the best crossers in MLS go. Come back ROB…! Weaver is not to blame. The guy has potential written all over him.
Wondo can score, however, he is prone to foul. But I think he will settle in with consistent playing time and he could help to rebuild SJ, if they follow with other smart additions.
wondolowski knows how to finish in this league- he’s done it with the chances he got last year and this year. he’ll get plenty w/ the Quakes. i’m happier about getting rid of Garcia frankly…
Garcia is a hack. Best of luck to Wondo. I think he’ll do well for San Jose.
All change at SJ…..losing Nick Garcia makes me hope they have someone lined up….Garcia was a very serviceable MLS defender.
Good trade, but i think San Jose got the better part, with Wondolowski and draft pick. I think he is a good player, just didnt get a opportunity at Houston.
Weaver thrives on service from wide areas, so the fact that SJ played a lefty on the right side and a righty on the left side didn’t help his goal scoring chances any. Having guys like Brad Davis and Stuart Holden providing consistent good service to him will vastly increase his goal scoring opportunities.
Bottom line, Weaver gets one either in tomorrow or Saturday’s game.
I wonder if Kinnear will be able to mine the gold that Cam Weaver was once considered when the then Seattle Sounders managed to get $175k US when they sold him to a Norwegian club. He is still very young.
I wouldn’t write of Weaver just yet. He might do much better in Houston than he did in San Jose. In fact, short of Hanauser working a deal to get him back in Seattle, Houston may be the best place for him. There or New England. Some place where the coaches really seem to understand how to bring a player along.
eh, whatever, crap for crap. and i’m a quakes fan.
Salary cap trade… 73.3K versus 34.7K
San Jose is looking to free up some space for a bigger signing. You have to hand it to Houston. Their unsung success story in the transfer market is always based on being able to effectively manage their own salary cap so that when good or “misunderstood” players become available they can pounce and essentially leverage the poor decisions that other teams make into solid gold.
Not sure why SJ would trade away a striker when they are widely critized for having no up-front ability.
Houston and Dom are very very smart, Weaver has the build and talent to become a great target man with good players on his side, something he didn’t have at SJ… I saw this guy in person and he is very tall and fit. Reminds me of Jaqua
Sounds like a trade of two players that just weren’t making an impact for their teams.
Both hope a change of scenery might improve their play.
Best case scenario if the Ngwenya for Moreno swap a few years ago between Columbus and Houston. Neither was having much of a year but improved tremendously at their new team. Ngwenya scored some key goals before leaving for Austria and Morena was a key player in Columbus’ double last year.
Also note that Weaver had a phenomenal season as a sounder a few years back, just like the guy he’ll be subbing for, Brian Ching.
I think you are under rating Weaver, JoeW. San Joses entire team is crap sans Huckerby and rating his play based on the 09 Quakes team is laughable at best. With decent service (see league leading Brad Davis), this guy will easily be as good as Kei Kamara.
Either way, always bet on Houston to come out ahead on any MLS trade they make, Dom hasnt gone wrong yet. Internationals is another story…
Hah, hah, hah–Houston pulls off another one. They are notorious for getting most of their talent through MLS, they scout the Western Conference immensely. SJ is in bad shape so even a good player could look bad there.
Cam Weaver will be a role player for Houston. He’ll sub for Ching (valuable given NT games and Ching’s tendency to get hurt) and come on in late game situations where they trail by a goal against a bunkering team. Houston will provide much better service (especially in terms of crosses).
Giving up Wondoloski–meh! It’s an okay sub. But Houston does really well with role players who fit into their established scheme. Weaver should do that.
As for SJ–mediocre deal. It makes sense only under two situations:
–If Weaver was becoming a problem in the clubhouse (and you had to deal him–and I have no proof this was the case)
–If you’ve written off the season and figure Wondoloski will be a useful sub for 2010 and you can get the draft pick while Cam Weaver is someone you’ve decided not to keep. In which case you get something for nothing.
Otherwise, it’s pretty much a loser of a deal for SJ. I always felt that they over-rated Cam Weaver. He’s not a goal scorer in MLS, he’s a role-player (a slightly more talented version of Alan Gordon) and to build your offense around him or count on him to be a consistent goal scorer was daft.
I honestly believe both teams will benefit from the trade but Houston maybe a little more than San Jose.