Analyzing high-profile trades is a tricky business - and requires ample patience. In a way, it's like baking bread. You need to leave it all in the oven for a while and see how it rises.
Speedy outside back Marvell Wynne is now in Toronto, having been traded from Red Bull New York. Veteran midfielder Richard Mulrooney is back with a bunch of his old teammates in Houston, having been traded from Toronto. And Clint Mathis, of course, has retraced his footsteps back to New York.
Perhaps Wynne will do something for Mo Johnston in Toronto that, for whatever reason, he wasn't going to do for Bruce Arena in New York. Perhaps Mulrooney just wasn't going to be happy in Canada, and therefore was less likely to ever be a productive player. That's the part that requires longer-term evaluation.
On the other hand, there is some factual analysis that helps sort out the immediate value of these trades.
For instance, after all is said and done, here's how the latest swap involving the suddenly well-traveled Mulrooney breaks down:
Mulrooney spent less than a month with Toronto FC before being dealt this week to Dynamo. From Houston, Toronto received Kevin Goldthwaite and a first-round pick in the 2008 SuperDraft. Previously, Toronto had given up its first pick in the 2008 draft and a partial allocation to acquire Mulrooney from Dallas.
Therefore, Toronto essentially gave up a partial allocation and a promising pick in the 2008 draft in exchange for Goldthwaite. (Toronto still has a pick, but it looks like it could be further down in the draft order.) For the wheeling and dealing Canadians, that looks like marginal value for an outside fullback who played in 20 games last year, mostly as a substitute.
Of course, Goldthwaite was stuck behind the well-entrenched Wade Barrett in Houston. He's far more likely to play in Toronto. But again, for now, we're just talking about the sticker price here, not about add-ons and performance and such.
As for Wynne: He was traded to Toronto FC for a second round pick in the 2008 draft and a partial allocation. The Red Bulls originally acquired Wynne in a trade with Chivas USA, which got Jason Hernandez and the fifth overall pick (used to select the burgeoning Sacha Kljestan.)
Let's say Red Bull kept the pick and drafted Kljestan. In effect, the New York club gave up Kljestan and Jason Hernandez for a second-round pick and a partial allocation. In this case, it doesn't appear that Red Bull received great value.
In Toronto, Wynne is reunited with Mo Johnston. Johnston made the raw prospect the No. 1 overall pick in 2006, when the Scotsman was still in charge of the Red Bulls. Wynne played in 28 games last year, starting 23.
As for Mathis' marquee move back to New York? Well, analyzing his travels and travails is a rope that needs careful and substantial untangling, as he hopscotched from New York to Germany to Real Salt Lake to Colorado and back to the Big Apple, all since 2003. With RSL and Colorado having apparently kept some of the forward's salary on its books, only commissioner Don Garber and the shrewdest accountants could figure out who looks good on that one.
MORE ON TFC: Mo Johnston isn't quite finished with the early roster makeover, as forward Conor Casey is on the move to Colorado.
Casey, 25, went to Fernando Clavijo's club in exchange for the rights to Canadian striker Riley O'Neill and a partial allocation.
Colorado selected O'Neill, 21, with the 36th pick overall in January's SuperDraft. He is currently in Germany's third division. Casey grew up in Denver before soccer took him to the University of Portland and then to Germany.
HAPPIER BACK IN TEXAS: Mulrooney's move to Houston has reunited the central midfielder with former teammates and manager Dominic Kinnear. Mulrooney helped San Jose (which later became Houston) claim two MLS championships during six seasons in the Bay Area prior to his 2005 move to Dallas.
The midfielder originally requested a trade out of San Jose to be closer to his family in Memphis. So the late-March move to Toronto took him farther away from his hometown, which wasn't ideal to begin with. Plus, there was another issue that made his move north of the border difficult personally.
Mulrooney's wife is a physician's assistant. Without authority to practice in Canada, she was unable to find commensurate employment in Toronto. Now back in Texas, his wife can once again find work in her field.
So, where will Mulrooney, 30, fit in a Houston midfield that is already tightly bonded, perhaps the most balanced in the league? Good question, because he isn't likely to displace Ricardo Clark or Dwayne De Rosario.
But remember this: Clark is a good bet to spend significant time this summer with Bob Bradley's national team during the Gold Cup, the Copa America or both. Same with De Rosario, who will surely appear for Canada this summer. So the move gives Kinnear's team some important cover in the midfield.
Or, Mulrooney could possibly play alongside Clark in the center of the field if Kinnear chooses to play De Rosario, who hasn't been at top effectiveness this year, as a forward behind Brian Ching.
ImPACT OF A NEW TEST: FC Dallas fullback David Wagenfuhr was held out of practice this week, still suffering from concussion-related headaches after taking a hard-hit shot in the face last week against the Red Bulls.
This is Wagenfuhr's third concussion in the last 12 months, which is obviously concerning for team doctors. Thanks to a program implemented by MLS this year, they do have a good tool at their disposal to evaluate the physical impact of head injuries.
Every MLS player during preseason was given an ImPACT test, a computerized measure of functions such as memory, reaction, coordination, processing speed and other cognitive abilities. The early tests set a baseline, which becomes a valuable tool in the event a player suffers a concussion or other mild traumatic brain injury during the season.
Major League Soccer joined several other leagues, including the NFL and NHL, in administering the ImPACT test.
As for Wagenfuhr, FC Dallas manager Steve Morrow admitted concern, given the defender's recent history of concussions, but said he didn't want to speculate as to whether the situation was career-threatening.
Chad Marshall of Columbus is also missing games currently due to concussion-related headaches. And D.C. United's Alecko Eskandarian now wears protective headgear due to a concerning history of concussions.
MAKING ROOM FOR THE NEW GUY: Once FC Dallas' newest Argentinean acquisition, Pablo Ricchetti, acquires a work permit (still another week or so), it seems the Hoops will have to make a move to open a senior international slot.
Except that young midfielder Ramon Nunez has been in Honduras all week finalizing his green card status, which means he'll no longer count as a foreign player. Nunez was born in the Central American country but has spent most of his life in Dallas.
FC Dallas officials expected Nunez to have everything finalized Thursday and be back in Dallas by Friday evening. He has started all three matches so far for Steve Morrow's side, but the manager admitted that being away from the team all week "isn't ideal for preparation." Morrow said he'll decide this weekend if Nunez should start in the team's home opener Sunday against Colorado.
Ricchetti is already practicing with Dallas, although he's nursing a slight thigh strain and mostly working on his own. The club will still need to make a personnel move, although this one will be simpler, just freeing up a roster spot.
Neither will the Kansas City Wizards need to make a major roster move, since they have plenty of international spots available. Scott Sealy is currently the only senior international on Curt Onalfo's roster. In fact, Kansas City has just two internationals total (counting youth and senior internationals.)
That doesn't make Kansas City the "Chivas" of U.S. soccer, however. (Club Deportivo Guadalajara is famous in its country for employing exclusively Mexican players.) New England currently has no senior internationals on its roster, and just one youth international. The Revs do, however, have foreign-born green card players, including starting midfielders Shalrie Joseph, Khano Smith and Andy Dorman.
Steve Davis is a freelance writer who has covered Major League Soccer since its inception. Steve can be reached at BigTexSoccer@yahoo.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
