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Blockbusters to boomerangs MLS trades give perspective as rumor mill heats up
Posted: Friday January 28, 2000 08:07 PM
It happens every winter. In the next several weeks, expect the Major League Soccer rumor mill to be working overtime with trade talks about potential deals in the works. Some of them will become true and change the fortunes of players and teams, while others will remain rumors forever. As we head toward Super Draft day in Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 6, expect teams to wheel and deal draft picks and bodies -- American and foreign -- in an attempt to improve themselves. Who knows? There may be a blockbuster deal or two in the mix. Some trades will benefit both teams, while others definitely have favored one team. Due to the salary cap, the limitations of what the various teams and even the very long arm of the league (remember, this is a single-entity business structure), there have been a number of intriguing trades and transactions in the four-year history of the league. To put things into proper perspective and the fans into the mood, here's one writer's list of a dozen of the biggest, most lopsided and unusual deals in MLS history:
The steal -- Part IThis gets long and complicated, but please stay with us. It seems that just about everyone in the soccer universe knew that defender Troy Dayak did not want to play for an eastern club in MLS in 1996 -- everyone but the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. They drafted him anyway in the second round and eventually dealt him to the San Jose Clash (now Earthquakes) for defender-midfielder Rhett Harty and the third overall pick in the college draft. The MetroStars then traded that pick to the Dallas Burn (which took Brandon Pollard, who went on to become a solid defender) for the team's fourth choice (No. 8 overall) in the supplemental draft. Then, D.C. United coach Bruce Arena and general manager Kevin Payne picked the MetroStars' pockets. The MetroStars sent the supplemental pick and the second overall choice in the college draft to United for goalkeeper Matt Olsen -- he had been selected in the 13th round of the allocation draft -- and the club's second-round selection in the college draft and second- and third-round choices in the supplemental draft. This was the fallout: United took national team defender Eddie Pope as the No. 2 pick and defender Mario Gori, who was a usable defender, as the supplemental choice. The MetroStars' draft turned into a disaster. With United's second-round college selection, they tapped defender Scott Lamphear of the University of Wisconsin, who never played for the team. In the supplemental draft, they picked Brazilian midfielder Juninho -- not the Juninho -- in the second round, and Brazilian forward Tulio -- but not the Tulio, in the third round. Neither ever played a minute. Olsen, incidentally, never played a minute in MLS either. Why the MetroStars felt they needed a third goalkeeper with Tony Meola and Zach Thornton already on board was anyone's guess.
The steal -- Part IIThis was one of the earliest lopsided deals as the San Jose Earthquakes sent all-star and team-leading goalscorer Paul Bravo, who excelled at defense and midfield in 1996, and reserve forward Rafael Amaya to the Colorado Rapids for midfielder Dominic Kinnear and a second-round pick in the 1998 supplemental draft in January 1997. The Rapids certainly got the better of the deal. Bravo has scored 39 goals in four MLS seasons, while Kinnear, a former U.S. international who has endured knee problems, has five goals and 17 assists over the same span, including eight assists last season with Tampa Bay. The steal? -- PendingSo far, so good for the Dallas Burn, which dealt veteran defensive midfielder Leonel Alvarez to the New England Revolution for Bolivian forward Ariel Graziani, who hadn't found the back of the net in three matches as a late-season foreign allocation for the Revs. As it turned out, Revs coach Walter Zenga wanted a defender all along. Instead, he lost out on a competent goalscorer -- Graziani, who went on to be a mainstay for the Burn in the playoffs. Of course, it isn't fair to judge a trade on the short term, although the Burn gets the early nod. The Burn recently completed the deal by sending a first-round pick in 2000 to the Revs.
Roy for RoyIn what had to be one of the most lopsided trades in league history, the Tampa Bay Mutiny dealt Roy Lassiter to D.C. United for Roy Wegerle early in the 1998 season. Wegerle, who was selected by coach Steve Sampson for the World Cup team, scored all of one goal in 12 appearances with the Mutiny (after two goals in five games with United) and then retired. Lassiter, who was neglected, went on to score 18 goals with the assistance of midfielder Marco Etcheverry and is currently with the national team in Chile. He was traded to the Miami Fusion in the off-season and is embroiled in a contact dispute with the league.
A new lifeIn another one-sided trade, which this time aided the Mutiny, Tampa Bay dealt Bolivian forward Alejandro Sequeira to the San Jose Earthquakes for El Salvadoran striker Raul Diaz Arce, who had been experiencing a dismal season with only four goals and two assists in 18 games. Diaz Arce connected for nine goals and helped create five others in 13 appearances as the Mutiny qualified for the playoffs. Sequeira? After scoring twice in 11 games with Tampa Bay, he added three goals in 14 matches with San Jose and was waived in the off-season.
The boomerang effectThe Chicago Fire selected Los Angeles Galaxy defender Danny Pena in the 1997 expansion draft. Pena, however, refused to leave the Los Angeles area. So, a deal was concocted which sent Pena and then untested goalkeeper Kevin Hartman back to the Galaxy for defensive midfielder Chris Armas and Mexican keeper Jorge Campos. Hartman was MLS goalkeeper of the year in 1999, and Pena, one of the hardmen of MLS, is a solid defensive midfielder. Armas has become a national team staple and twice was named to the MLS all-star team. Campos's days were numbered after he played in the 1998 World Cup. He lost his job to Zach Thornton, who went on to become 1998 goalkeeper of the year for the MLS champions.
The blockbustersNever has a team been involved in two blockbuster trades and a third significant deal within such a short period of time. Within a nine-day period in 1999, the MetroStars were involved in a pair of big trades. First on Jan. 20, 1999, they sent Venezuelan forward Giovanni Savarese and a second-round pick in the 2000 college draft to the New England Revolution for Diaz Arce. They then packaged Diaz Arce and Chilean midfielder Marcelo Vega, a miserable failure, to San Jose for an allocated player and future considerations. That future consideration turned out to be Eric Wynalda, who was immediately sent to the Miami Fusion. That allocated player turned out to be Lothar Matthaeus (see the next item), who is expected to join the MetroStars on March 10. On Jan. 28, they traded goalkeeper Tony Meola and defender Alexi Lalas to the Kansas City Wizards for goalkeeper Mike Ammann and midfielder Mark Chung. Later that day, they sent Argentine defender Diego Sonora to United by way of San Jose. The MetroStars received United's second and third-round selections in the 2000 college draft and San Jose's third-round pick. Are you still with us?
The housecleaningWhen they thought they were going to sign German international defender Matthaeus last June, the MetroStars had to make room for an additional foreigner and in their salary cap. So, they dealt defender Arley Palacios to the Miami Fusion and Roy Myers to the Los Angeles Galaxy. A day later, Bayern Munich announced the deal was off. It took a good month before three new foreigners could be added. The MetroStars, who were somewhat competitive at the time of the trade, finished at 7-25.
The commissioner's decisionWith Colombian World Cup midfielder Carlos Valderrama not playing and not getting along with Brazilian coach Ivo Wortmann on the Miami Fusion during the early part of the 1999 season, then MLS commissioner Doug Logan stepped in decided to do something about it. He offered Valderrama around the league before he unilaterally placed the star with the Tampa Bay Mutiny last spring. After he was criticized by the media for this dubious decision, Logan then called up writers to argue his case.
A Krafty decisionA late-season deal between two teams owned by the Kraft family raised some eyebrows among the media, which thought there might have been a conflict of interest. The San Jose Earthquakes, who were way out of the playoff picture, sent midfielder Jeff Baicher to the New England Revolution for Jair on Aug. 13, 1999. It didn't matter because neither team reached the playoffs. Baicher, incidentally, was traded to the Kansas City Wizards along with the Revs' third-round selection on Jan. 3 for draft picks in the second, third and fourth round of next month's Super Draft.
OopsIn March 1998, the MetroStars, trying to add some depth to their front line, dealt their first-round pick in the supplemental draft to the Colorado Rapids for forward Steve Rammel. However, the MetroStars did not do their homework because some two weeks later, Rammel announced he was retiring to become an assistant coach at UCLA. The Rapids were allowed to keep the pick and last year they selected midfielder Kevin Anderson in the draft. Anderson set up Jorge Dely Valdes' last-minute game-winner in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals.
Traveling manMidfielder Jorge Salcedo has been around the MLS block once, twice, three times. Nah, make it four times. He has been traded three times, having played for the Galaxy (1996), Columbus Crew (1997), Tampa Bay Mutiny and Chicago Fire (1998) and finally the Galaxy again (1998). Let's take it from the top: Salcedo, who performed for the L.A. Salsa in 1994 (A-League, formerly the American Professional Soccer League) and F.C. Morelia (Mexico) in 1995, was chosen by the Galaxy in the third round (24th overall) in the very first player allocation draft on Feb. 6, 1996. The Chicago Fire picked Salcedo in the fifth round (ninth overall pick) in the MLS expansion draft in November 1997. The Fire traded Salcedo to the Mutiny for Josh Keller and a No. 1 pick in the 1999 college draft on June 29, 1998. The Mutiny then dealt Salcedo to the Galaxy for midfielder Daniel Hernandez on Aug. 13, 1999. He's been there since. Salcedo might have traveled a lot. But on the bright side, hey, it's nice to be wanted. Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News and is editor of Soccer Magazine. To submit a question or comment to Michael Lewis, click here.
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