The Colorado Rapids whittled their roster to the league's limit Thursday by waiving four players and declining to exercise their options on two more.
The Black-and-Blue waived forward Chris Carrieri, midfielder Seth Trembly, defender Michael Erush and goalkeeper Scott Vallow and chose not to exercise their options on former Cuban internationals Rey Ángel Martinez and Alberto Delgado.
Thursday's roster move marks the second time in just under a year that the Rapids have released Carrieri. A former No. 1 overall SuperDraft pick by the San Jose Earthquakes, Carrieri played the majority of the 2004 season with the USL First Division (second tier) club Rochester Raging Rhinos. He was called up to the Chicago Fire for one match on Oct. 6, when the Fire were missing all of their strikers to due injuries, suspensions and national team call-ups.
Trembly played for the Rapids for five full seasons after being signed as a developmental player in August 1999. The midfielder signed his first senior roster contract with the Rapids just a month ago.
Erush signed with the Rapids as a developmental player a year ago, but did not see any game action for the Black-and-Blue, and Vallow, who signed with the Rapids two years ago, played just four matches for the club.
Both Martinez and Delgado, two players who defected from the Cuban national team during the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2002, signed with the Rapids in the middle of the 2004 campaign. Martinez, the first Cuban player to join MLS, scored one assist in seven games with the team in 2004, and Delgado notched one goal and three assists in 13 matches.
Jason Halpin is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
