Roster Reset | We Got Yer Stinkin' Rules Right Here!

So nobody seems to know exactly what the MLS roster rules are going to be going forward, which makes doing the Roster Reset seem a touch presumptive, some might even say foolish. But I'd be a sad blogger if I weren't able to step right up and suffer the role of fool for the team, right? So let's plow on ahead, half-blind, perhaps mildly inebriated, and see if we can wrestle some sanity from this madness...

What we know (or think we know):

  1. There are 24 roster spots. The senior/developmental labels are still in play, but may or may not have any bearing on the way the roster works going forward.
  2. Each club has 2 home grown player slots that don't count against the 24 (and we've wasted no time in filling them).
Working from those bits of information, I'm going to pitch out the senior/developmental classification entirely and reduce the Roster Reset to (a) 24-man regular roster, (b) 2 home grown players, and (c) any unsigned trialists. Note once again that this is merely a list of signed/unsigned players and doesn't take into account who is going to be on the inactive list for injury. Those players who may qualify will be so noted and marked with (*). We're also continuing under the assumption that we have 7 international spots to fill. Players so designated are marked (I). Got it?

[UPDATE: Thanks to commenters Dave K and Josh and the new dcunited.com, some changes are made via the strikethrough. Kinda makes some of my reasoning fall apart a bit, but I'm all about playing the fool these days.]

Regular Roster
  1. (*) Josh Wicks, GK - still recovering from surgery
  2. Troy Perkins, GK
  3. (I?) Lyle Adams, D - jumped at Dev Dollars before they were taken off the table by the CBA
  4. (I) Julius James, D
  5. (*) Marc Burch, D - out for a few months
  6. (I) Dejan Jakovic, D
  7. (*) Bryan Namoff, D - back in training or out indefinitely?
  8. Devon McTavish, D/M
  9. Rodney Wallace, D/M
  10. Brandon Barklage, M
  11. (I) Cristian Castillo, M
  12. John DiRaimondo, M - do we need a third d-mid, and a pretty tame one at that? he shoots, he scores!
  13. Kurt Morsink, M
  14. Clyde Simms, M
  15. (I) Tiyiselani Shipalane, M/F - Kumalo's been getting all the looks, time to look at USSF Div II?
  16. Chris Pontius, M/F
  17. Santino Quaranta, M/F
  18. (I) Thabiso Khumalo, M/F - seems to be in the mix for the Brotherhood of the Pine
  19. Adam Cristman, F
  20. Jaime Moreno, F
  21. (I) Danny Allsopp, F

Home Grown Players
  1. Bill Hamid, GK
  2. Andy Najar, D/M/F

Unsigned Trialists
  1. Andrew Quinn, GK - might be the #3 in net until Wicks returns
  2. (I) Quiarol Arzu, D - looks set to miss out if Pena signs
  3. Jordan Graye, D - drafted, but hasn't signed a deal yet, has he?
  4. (I) Juan Manuel Pena, D - negotiations in progress?
  5. Barry Rice, D - getting a long hard look as center back depth
  6. Daniel Woolard, D - can he beat out Graye? will that be enough?
  7. Drew Yates, M/F - we're not deep at a-mid

Even without the likelihood of Burch and Wicks not being active at the start of the season, we have three open roster spots. Pena seems set to get one of those, assuming we can agree to terms. I still haven't seen any confirmation or denial regarding Adams' international status, but if he has a green card or dual-citizenship, Pena's addition puts us at the limit. If he does count as an international, I'd expect Shipalane would get the chop.

Now, with Pena in and marking Burch and Wicks as inactive, we have four spots, at minimum, to fill, and six guys in the mix. Even if we weren't butting against the international limit, I expect that Arzu is out of the running with Pena on board. That leaves four spots for Rice, Woolard, Yates, Quinn, and Graye to fight over.

If Goff's intuition about Quinn being the #3 netminder to start the season is correct, we're down to four for three spots. From that point, I think we're looking at a positional game. Rice gives you center back depth, and Yates can cover the a-mid spot where we seem to lack depth. That would leave Graye and Woolard competing to be Wallace's backup, right?

Unless, of course, I missed somebody. And also assuming that United fills all available spots until the injured folks return, which they may not do...

Why did I do this again?

10 comments:

  1. John DiaRamondo has been waived by the club, per BTB about half an hour ago. What happened to the CM depth???

    Anyway, that would seem to give us 24 healthy players, 2 homegrown players, and 3 injured players, meaning everyone is safe until 6 games intot the season, that all is assuming that Namoff doesn't start the season on the active roster. If he does, I think you'll see Woolard or Rice let go. Adams and Graye would both be slightly cheaper, yet less experienced options compared to Wollard to back up Wallace and Rice may be odd man out because Adams and Graye both do have CB experience from college. Either of them sitting ducks when Burch returns, but I'm sure the roster will have shaken up some by then.... Or they could just leave Quinn off and take everybody else... I think the only reason to take Quinn is if they want to trade or waive Wicks when he is healthy and they are able to do so...

    Drew Yates has to now be a lock to make the roster as a CAM... who said we had a bad draft this year? We got Perkins in the 1st round, Yates in the 2nd, Wicks in the 3rd, and Graye in the 4th.... not too shabby ;)

    Thi

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  2. My mistake, I counted Arzu, who I don't think is coming... so if Wicks and Burch both start the year on IR then everybody left would make it, with Woolard and Rice being the ones to go if they are not put on IR... we'll know by 5pm Wednesday.

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  3. "John DiaRamondo has been waived by the club, per BTB about half an hour ago." - Josh

    Thus answering my question above: "Do we need a third d-mid, and a pretty tame one at that?"

    I wonder if the FO has gone so gonzo on addressing the problems of defensive depth that have haunted us the last few years that they've left us short in midfield and, to a lesser degree, up top.

    Allsopp up top and Quaranta at a-mid (leaving a right wing vacuum) both leave me cold at the moment.

    Time for another sharp drop on the worry-coaster.

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  4. I still willing to give Allsopp time up top, and I wish Quaranta would shift back out wide but he hasn't been horrible in the middle...... I actually wonder how we would look if we still had Fred... scary huh? Maybe Ashton found a Brazilian to bring over this Summer?

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  5. Thanks for doing another "Reset" to help us keep track of what's going on. FYI - the DCU website has updated and reformatted the team roster. According to that we have 19 Seniors and 1 Dev (+2 Homegrown) players on the roster. Signing Pena will bring us to 20 Seniors, leaving 3 open Dev slots. Presumably, the Dev slots will be filled by our trialists. If Wicks and Burch go to IR, 2 more Senior slots are in play.

    Interestingly, it appears we have more room for Internationals than we thought. According to the DCU webiste, we currently have 5 on the roster, 6 with Pena. Adams is listed as USA citizen and Shipalane is not listed an International (green card?). That leaves us with an open International slot.

    Putting the foregoing information together with the large amount of cap room many believe we have, it appears that DCU has the ability to sign a Senior International for a relatively high salary. Will we?

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  6. @Josh
    I like Q's activity in the middle; the problem is that he's just not patient enough for the position...yet.

    @Dave K
    Dave K, huh? That K wouldn't happen to be Kasper, would it?

    Kidding! Good spot on the international spots over at the new dcunited.com. Guess that clears up Adams' citizenship. I'm guessing Shipalane must have a green card since they list his nationality as South African.

    Interesting. Very interesting.

    Don't know about you, but in FM I'd be doing a little summer-window shopping on foreign shores for a quality central a-mid and a quick forward, push Quaranta back wide where he belongs, and let Khumalo find his level with the USL Div II Pro League.

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  7. Updates posted. Thanks, guys!

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  8. [Not] Dave K[asper]March 24, 2010 at 8:52 AM

    Dave Kasper . . . ha ha ha. Actually, my real name is Kevin Payne.

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  9. Awesome! Was wondering when you'd show up on FBF, KP. I can call you KP right? So listen, about this whole stadium issue...

    :-)

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  10. I'm starting to think that neither Graye or Woolard(injury) will make the final roster...

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