Timbers: A MLS Defenders Shopping List

Psst...give Portland Michael Parkhurst.

The whole thing with Heath Pearce shipping off to Sweden reignited a personal obsession with adding defensive depth to the Portland Timbers. Yeah, yeah, it's too late now, there's no evidence that Portland made the effort, no way of knowing whether the front office would have been willing to eat Pearce's $100K guaranteed salary, etc.

Still, Pearce perfectly fits the mold for what the Timbers need at the back: reliable, experienced on both club and country level, and, most crucially, versatile. He could have given solid cover, or even solid starting minutes, across the back-line. This isn't even his first trip to Scandinavia for crissakes. So, the man hated Orlando. Or maybe he hated MLS. In any case, that bird has flown (Note/Confession: being unfamiliar with the English use of "bird," it took me a number of years to fully understand The Beatles’ Norwegian Wood.)

Even with Pearce gone, Major League Soccer clubs have plenty of defensive talent that could be had...for a price. This is tricky because there are some players the Timbers just couldn't get. To give on example, Columbus Crew SC would never give up Michael Parkhurst, because he's too central to their system and formation. And I say that knowing that I'm talking about giving up a lot, as in Parkhurst value. You'll see. With that in mind, this post concludes with a list of defenders on the current rosters of other clubs in MLS, players I'd be happy to see in Timbers Green, or Red, according to the occasion. Most, if not all of them, are central defenders, for that is Portland's greatest need...though I do slip in one wild hair.

All that brings up the obvious question: what would I give for one of these players? For starters, after last season's Defensive Collapse Performance Art series, I'm willing to pay. On the other hand, I'd haggle properly, start low(er than I think - dang) with allocation spots (#6? That's it?), and maybe future draft picks (once I figure out how those work). If it comes to it – and, face it, it would - I have a couple players in mind who bring enough sweet, sweet value to close a deal. It’ll hurt, but one doesn’t get value without giving it. Now the hard part: naming the players.

I've already confessed that I'd give up Darlington Nagbe (even if he's now ready to lead...uh, the only place the word "lead" appears in that article is in the title; wtf?), but here are the rest:

Rodney Wallace
Gaston Fernandez

OK. Short list. I can think of other players – Ben Zemanski, maybe Jack Jewsbury – but that would force the Timbers to bundle in something else, on top of the player and that's pushing into Portland giving up too much. So, that's that...just let me state for the record that, if the Timbers shipped Nagbe or Wallace, they damn-skippy better get something jiffy in return!

OK, with terms and ground rules out of the way, here's the list of defenders. They guys with asterisks beside their name are guys I'd demand in exchange for either Nagbe or Wallace:

Drew Moor (Colorado; risk the injury? Hell, yes.)
Shane O'Neill (Colorado)*
Tyson Wahl (Columbus Crew)
Bobby Boswell (DC United)*
Stephen Keel (FC Dallas)
Zach Lloyd (FC Dallas)(tough get, but he's most Pearce-like)*
Walker Zimmerman (FC Dallas)
Kofi Sarkodie (Houston)(I'd swap a full-back here; say, Villafana)
Jermaine Taylor (Houston)
Tommy Meyer (LA Galaxy)
Hassoun Camara (Montreal)
Jason Hernandez (NYCFC)
Amobi Okugo (Orlando)*
Ethan White (Philadelphia)
Clarence Goodson (another tough get)(San Jose)*
Jalil Anibaba (Sporting KC)

Think that’s everyone. Feel free to agree, disagree or add more names. Comments should work.

Jozy Returns: Good, Yet Not Triumphant

Welcome home, Jozy. Brewski?

The big news of the day – that is, Jozy Altidore’s return to Major League Soccer (MLS) – doesn’t feel so big as it once might have. That’s less a knock on Mr. Altidore* than a subtle acknowledgement that signings of “big” American players don’t ripple across the league as a whole the way they used to. And that’s a positive step, even as I’m certain that news likes this hits heavier closer to home (i.e. Toronto FC fans must be tickled; Red Bull New York fans less so).

It’s also worth noting that some number of MLS clubs passed on Altidore due to the high asking price. I heard a big number for Jozy’s salary (can’t recall where) – something like $6 million – but that’s unconfirmed thanks to league policies that bar the fourth estate from talking pesos. Whatever the dollar figure, I hardly begrudge Altidore for asking or taking it. Get paid, son. I do, however, feel a certain quiet respect for my Portland Timbers for passing on what seems to be a bloated salary. Goals are great and all, but who likes paying too much for anything?

Toronto, ever reliable when it comes to spending, bolted past such quibbles. They’ve mastered the trappings of ambition, at least; and yet they’ve taken strides to creating a roster-as-metaphor for U.S. wealth inequality. Fascinating...

* To pick up that asterisk above, Jozy’s probably a good bet to make the over proposed by Taylor Twellman: 12.5 goals in 2015 (thanks, Soccer by Ives’ podcas!). Altidore will be a good player in MLS, maybe even a little better than his service. So, welcome back and all that.

The other side of the transaction, i.e. the piece that sent the long-disgruntled Jermaine Defoe back to (the shittiest little-big club in) England, is no less interesting, in that it brings in a couple current themes. Defoe’s arrival last season, coming as it did in his earlier 30s, offered an encouraging counter to the typical “retirement league” trend/perception that still attaches to MLS. A little echo of the notorious Frank Lampard Situation can be heard in there, too: if one can still play in the top flight, why the flipping hell would one stop doing so? Lampard answered that question – or Manchester City did on his behalf – just as Defoe arguably did with this move. That says a couple things about MLS’s global rep, the implications of which...aren’t so good.

The mini-glut of returning Americans says something as well. It could be roughly the same thing that Mexicans players’ long-standing tradition has said for years and years and that’s...not terrible (e.g. our guys value comforts of home). There’s also the Cheers Effect (going where everyone knows your name).

Like just about anything between now and when the thing is signed, the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) comes into the picture. No, MLS can’t compete with Europe’s glamor leagues, neither in quality or the grandness of the stage. No matter, what MLS Commish Don Garber says, it won’t likely be able to for a decade. If we’re lucky. But what the league chooses to pay players – and this is total compensation (some details mentioned in this very good article) whether for designated players or the regular guys – will definitely influence the extent to which MLS start picking higher quality players from Europe, or even Mexico. I don’t see how more can’t be better for everyone except MLS owners, but even they could ultimately reap greater rewards. Investments, man...

It should be clear now that American players have some in-built motivation to return to the States to play. They’re people here, if nothing else, and able to command cash and respect. Drawing good, younger players from Europe (or Mexico) constitutes the next big step. And what happens with the CBA definitely matters there.