We all knew changes were inevitable for RSL this offseason, but that doesn't make it an easy pill to swallow when the changes actually happen.
With the news Monday that three members of the RSL core were traded for allocation money, that pill turned out to be quite bitter. Will Johnson, Fabian Espindola, and Jamison Olave were key contributors on the field and well-liked off it. But sports, of course, are a business which means sometimes changes have to be made.
So why these three? Well, as much as I hate saying it, in this case it really boils down to the money.
Many MLS contracts are structured as back-loaded deals that give players large raises as the years go by. That means RSL would have been significantly over the league's salary cap in 2013, putting the team in the unenviable position of having to jettison some highly-paid players yet not have a major drop-off in production at the vacated spots. By making these trades, RSL was able to clear seven figures off of its cap. That is why Olave, Johnson, and Espindola are on the move.
Olave is, in my opinion, still the best center back in the league when he's healthy. Unfortunately he was injury-plagued his last two years at RSL, his minutes going from 2413 to 2128 to 1734 from 2010-2012. With his salary steadily increasing throughout that time, it made sense to move Olave. Plus, he plays a position where RSL is stocked: Nat Borchers, Chris Schuler, and Kwame Watson-Siriboe are all starter-quality center backs, and Chris Wingert can slide over in a pinch.
Johnson was a favorite of many thanks to his tireless work rate. But again, he is a highly-paid player at a position where RSL has lots of options: There are no less than five exciting young players who can play that position and have frankly earned more playing time. Luis Gil, Sebastian Velasquez, David Viana, Enzo Martinez, and Cole Grossman are all exciting, dynamic young players who deserve a shot, and Jason Kreis is going to give them their due. The finite number of minutes to be split among so many players may have left Johnson as the odd man out.
Espindola is another player who "worked for the shirt" and wore his emotions on his sleeves. Sometimes, though, his emotion was his undoing as he tended to get discouraged and take himself out of games. He was always a streaky player who went through long scoring droughts at times. Seeing the need to balance the scoring load and give Alvaro Saborio some relief, the team elected to move Espindola while his trade value is high. As GM Garth Lagerwey said on Monday, RSL will certainly hit the open market for a forward or two. The allocation money RSL got from these trades should be enough to secure the services of at least one quality striker.
Olave, Johnson and Espindola will all be missed. They each meant a great deal to RSL over the years. But their trades mean a lot, too. These were the right moves for RSL, which now has the money and cap flexibility to come back strong in 2013.
This is Jeremy Horton's first piece on RealSaltLake.com. A former RSL beat reporter for multiple outlets, Jeremy will contribute regularly to RealSaltLake.com and periodically cover the team on ESPN700 AM.
