DDR

According to Soccer by Ives, Dwayne De Rosario is heading to his native land for soon to be second year defender Julius James and an allocation worth between 125K and 150K. At first glance, this trade seems lopsided. Houston loses one of its best players for an unproven defender and cash, how can that be good for them? DDR is going to sign for around 400,000, making him a non-Designated Player, good for Toronto. However, where will they play him? They already have Amado Guevara at attacking midfield and with the system they run (1 forward) he doesn't seem likely to play up top either. Are they really paying almost DP money for a player likely to start on the left wing? Toronto doesn't need to draw any more fans so why are they doing this? Houston got a steal. They get to insert the impressive Stuart Holden into their starting line up, and the great thing about this is that he may be the better player. In the last 2 years Holden has 8 goals and 9 assists to De Rosario's 13 goals and 6 assists. De Rosario's stats look clearly greater until you consider minutes played. Holden has played 2,682 minutes in the last 2 years while De Rosario has played 3,921. For those of you counting at home that means that Holden averages a goal every 335 minutes while De Rosario averages one every 302 minutes, basically even, however Holden averages an assist every 298 minutes while De Rosario averages one every 654 minutes, over twice as much! The truth is this, DDR is on the downside of his career and Holden has too much potential to rot on the bench. Houston cleared cap space, cleared room for a new, better play maker, and acquired a defender with huge potential. Oh yah, they also got cash! This could be one of the biggest steals in MLS history. Houston now, has virtually the same team, as well as the money to sign a big foreign player. Smart stuff.