The Houston Dynamo appear to be closing in on US national team left back DaMarcus Beasley, acquiring the top spot in the MLS Allocation Order on Wednesday and receiving allocation money in exchange for sending versatile third-year midfielder Warren Creavalle to Toronto FC.
Beasley has been linked with a return to MLS in recent weeks and, as a returning US international for whom MLS received a transfer fee when he was sold to PSV Eindhoven in 2000, would be subject to the allocation order. Toronto held the top spot and will now assume Houston's No. 14 ranking.
The Dynamo declined comment late Tuesday on a Washington Post report saying the club was pursuing Beasley.
Creavalle, a second-round draft pick in 2012 out of Central Florida (he also played collegiately at Furman), played virtually every defensive and midfield position for Houston in his two-and-a-half years with the club.
A midfielder in college, he impressed while playing right back at the 2012 MLS Player Combine and was a versatile piece for the Dynamo, particularly in 2013, when he made 17 starts and 27 total appearances in league play, scoring three goals and adding one assist. He started all five of Houston's playoff games in their run to the Eastern Conference final in 2013 and was also a regular in Houston's CONCACAF Champions League campaigns in the falls of 2012 and 2013.
After a slow start while recovering from offseason surgeries, Creavalle had started eight of the Dynamo's last nine games and has appeared in 16 total games in 2014.
Two of Creavalle's most memorable MLS moments came at BMO Field: He made his first career start there on July 28, 2012, and he scored a game-tying goal in stoppage-time north of the border on April 20, 2013.
