Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Another Look at the Open Roster Spot

With the recent trade of Scott Sealy, the Wizards again have an open roster spot to fill. From comments made by Coach Onalfo and Peter Vermes, the team is looking to fill that spot with a player. Will the Wizards go out and try to get a forward to partner Josh Wolff? Pushing Ivan Trujillo to the bench? Or go for a midfielder? Someone that can be more reliable then the oft-injured Carlos Marinelli? Or will they try to bring in a defender to strengthen the back line? Of the choices, I don't see the team going after a defender. I think it'll come down to a forward or a midifelder. It all depends on Claudio Lopez. Lopez has looked good on the left side of midfield. But if his performance with Wolff during the Columbus game is repeated, he might end up staying up top.

Right now, it seems like a forward may be the way the Wizards are looking. There's been talk that KC would look in league for a forward. With that possibility in mind, here are a few trades that could make sense with the allocation money the Wizards have.

Chad Barrett/Chris Rolfe to KC, allocation money to TFC, McBride to Chicago - This is one possiblity for a trade. It doesn't make a huge amount of sense, as TFC has stated they want a player for the rights to McBride, but the allocation would allow TFC to bring in their own outside player if they wanted to. Barrett is a candidate to go to Europe after this season, so would getting him be much different then Sealy, who has wanted to leave after this season? As for Rolfe, his ability to drop back into the midfield makes him more important to Chicago, and less likely of a trade candidate.

Jeff Cunningham to KC for allocation money - Cunningham is in the dog house in Toronto, especially after his miss in last night's match with Montreal that decided the Canadian representative in the CONCACAF Champion's League. He's also apparently been moved to the TFC "reserve locker room". He can't be staying in Toronto much longer. The bad thing is that he's been known as a locker room cancer. The other thing working against this trade is that Wizards president, Robb Heineman has said it's not Cunningham.

Carlos Ruiz to KC for allocation money - LA is always looking for a way to get more allocation money to allow them to bring in all the "name" players that are linked with a move to LA. KC has the allocation money to give, so it makes some sense that LA would be interested in trying to make a deal for that money. With the emergence of Edson Buddle again, Ruiz is expendable. His battles with former Wizard, Nick Garcia are well known to Wizards fans. But could Wizards fans cheer for a guy that's been so hated here in KC?

These all seem like trades that could possibly be done. Are any of them really ones that could get done? I'm not sure, but they're certainly trades to teams that could use the allocation money. We'll have to see what happens over the next few weeks.

1 comment:

Reepicheep said...

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think Barrett would be the best choice. His speed coupled with Wolf's speed will drastically change the way opposing defenders play KC. This will allow Lopez and Arnaud more room to move.

Ruiz is a finisher, but he looks out of shape again. Also, there are whispers of Buddle getting courted by a European team...same with Donovan for that matter. LA might delay moving Ruiz just yet.

I have this sense Vermes/Onalfo have an unknown quantity in mind. We'll see.