Everything suggests that Jamar Beasley signing with the Kansas City Wizards, but manager Peter Vermes is still yet to formally announce the club’s intent.
“We’re still trying to figure out if it’s the right thing,” Vermes said after Saturday night’s 2-2 draw vs. Chicago, “but he seems like somebody we are interested because he’s a little jitterbug.”
Seems is a little bit of an understatement. All signs point to yes.
Kansas City opened up a roster spot late last week by releasing Igor Kostrov after signing the 22-year-old Moldovian during the preseason. Kostrov hadn’t seen the field this season for the Wizards, and his absence conveniently frees up room for a new face.
Younger brother DaMarcus also announced on Twitter that Jamar was signing with Kansas City, and a story in the brothers’ hometown paper, The News Sentinel of Fort Wayne, Ind., said the team had offered him a contract and backed it up with quotes from the man himself.
“I'm still working hard, still getting fitter and training hard with the team,” Beasley told The News Sentinel. “I still have a little ways to go. They want to make sure that when they put me on the field, I'm 100 percent ready.”
If an announcement comes, Vermes said it would likely be early this week.
As far as league rules go, Beasley is an interesting case. He is older than 24 and has close to three years of service in Major League soccer, meaning he could merit a guaranteed contract per the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
That could potentially complicate things for Kansas City as they look to bolster the squad further in the coming transfer window. But Vermes said he definitely liked what he saw from Beasley, who arrived on Monday.
“We had actually talked about him last year,” Vermes said. “Then, when he finished his season, he was still pretty healthy, and we were looking for another guy with some speed. He’s a pretty fast dude.”
According to the News Sentinel, Jamar trained with DaMarcus in Scotland after finishing his indoor season with the Rockford (Ill.) Rampage of the Major Indoor Soccer League. Wizards assistant coach Zoran Savic also coached Beasley with the Kansas City Comets from 2003 to 2005.
