Photo by ISIphotos.com
Nery Castillo is officially the latest Designated Player bust.
The Chicago Fire declined its option to maintain the Mexican striker on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk ahead of Friday's deadline, and his stint in Major League Soccer is over.
Castillo joined the Fire as a DP last July but struggled to find his way with the club and didn't figure into a single goal in his eight appearances. The Fire loaned him to Greek club Aris FC in the winter and will not give him the chance to atone for his poor showing by relinquishing his rights back to his Ukranian parent club.
The Fire has revamped its forward corps by adding Diego Chaves, Gaston Puerari, Dominic Oduro, Gabriel Ferrari, Orr Barouch, Davis Paul and Cristian Nazarit since the end of last season.
Here are a couple of more items from around MLS:
MCDONALD RED APPEAL DENIED
San Jose Earthquakes centerback Brandon McDonald had his red-card appeal denied, the club confirmed via its official Twitter feed.
McDonald was shown red against the Columbus Crew over the weekend for elbowing Crew striker Tommy Heinemann in the midsection during a corner kick in San Jose's 3-0 victory.
Video of the foul can be seen here.
With the league denying McDonald's appeal, he'll serve an automatic one-game suspension this Saturday, when the Earthquakes host the New England Revolution.
UNION'S PFEFFER HAS APENDECTOMY
Philadelphia Union Homegrown Player Zach Pfeffer had his appendix removed on Monday.
The 16-year-old midfielder was forced to miss the Union's reserve game against D.C. United and will be sidelined for at least the next two weeks, according to the club's Web site.
The injury certainly won't help his chances of being included on the final roster for the United States Under-17 World Cup team. While he wasn't part of the U-17 team that competed at February's CONCACAF championships, Pfeffer was included on a team that competed at a tournament in France last month.
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How will you remember the Castillo-MLS era? Do you think McDonald's foul was red-worthy? Expecting big things from Pfeffer down the line?
Share your thoughts below.