This is a rumor that has been speculated pretty much all winter. Midfielder Carl Robinson would be traded from Toronto FC to the New York Red Bulls. Well it appears that that deal is nearly complete but its not entirely a sure bet.

For the most part we can gather that Robinson has been sent to New York for a draft pick in the 2011 SuperDraft (probably a second-rounder, maybe a first due to Robinson’s high salary). TFC will have to still pay for a portion of Robinson’s $300k salary (some reports suggest they’ll be on the hook for around $200k or so of it).

Here’s the deal though, Robinson has to go on a mini-trial here with the Red Bulls. He’s been released from TFC according to Duane Rollins at The 24th Minute and if he gets a deal with New York then TFC will get some draft picks and be on the hook for a portion of his salary. But there isn’t a sure bet that he’ll be in Hans Backe’s plan in New York.

Robinson would clearly be a big upgrade though the club does have rookie Tony Tchani and veteran Seth Stammler in a similar position. Tchani will be the future of this club no doubt but having a veteran like Robinson around for even a year could prove wise.

As for the Toronto side of things this is probably a way to clear of some salary (had they been able to get rid of all $300k of Robinson’s salary I’d consider this a bigger deal for them). Rollins believes they’ll be using this free space to try and sign Paul Dickov in the summer transfer window.

We’ll keep an eye on this story and let you know of any updates that happen to it.

Last week it was reported that FC Dallas was shopping Dave van den Burgh, just a year after he was traded to Dallas from New York. Now today the same New York team could be getting both van den Burgh and TFC defensive midfielder Carl Robinson. Duane Rollins at the 24th Minute is reporting that TFC is hoping to trade Robinson in the coming weeks in order to move up in the draft and New York is a club that is interested.

New York landing both van den Burgh and Robinson in trades would instantly improve their pathetic midfield that could barely produce anything last year. The big wonder is will a deal get done for those of these players before a new coach is with the club.

On the other end for Dallas losing van den Burgh is a weird situation considering he wanted to be in Dallas in the first place last year. It turns out according to a couple people I’ve spoke to down here in Dallas it is a salary cap thing just like Ives reported last week. Dallas didn’t re-sign him but will retain his player rights thus a trade is likely to happen between Dallas and whomever wants van den Burgh (most likely New York).

As for Toronto here its all about dumping salary for Preki. He’s already gotten a load out of the way with a couple releases of guys like Amado Guevara and Pablo Vitti, throw in getting rid of Robinson’s salary and Preki will have close to a million to work with this winter. New York however does want TFC to pick up some of Robinson’s salary here though, which as Rollins reported is holding up any deal.

The big thing for Toronto is moving up in the draft. Right now they currently sit outside of the first round after a trade with Dallas last year. Its no secret they need defense and with some of the top defenders in college likely to be apart of this draft they will need to find themselves in the top half of the first round to get one of them.

If you got someone who was snubbed let’s hear it.

I’ll keep with the same 3-5-2 formation that we’ve been using for the All-Star game.

Keeper:

Jon Busch, Chicago Fire: Easily putting up the best numbers of any keeper this season. It was clear that it was going to be tough to beat out Matt Reis but surprising enough Busch had to contend with Pat Onstad too. The Canadian won since the game is in Toronto and Busch is left with nothing.

Defense:

Gonzalo Segares, Chicago Fire: Hmm, another Fire player snubbed. But Segares was one I was pretty upset about. He’s one of the best defenders in the league and continues to show he is the most underrated defender in the league today.

Nat Borchers, Real Salt Lake: There is a reason why Salt Lake is starting to contend this season, and it is because of this guy on their backline. They finally wised up and signed some defense this season and it is paying off.

Gonzalo Martinez, DC United: He wasn’t a high profile signing in the offseason but something about Martinez works for me in DC. I think he is having a solid season and those early season struggles are why he was left off, then again its why any DC player was left off.

Midfield:

Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Columbus Crew: Three goals and eight assists have GBS sitting out of the All-Star game while one goal and two assist have Juan Toja on the roster.

Jesse Marsch, Chivas USA: We talk about veterans that lead clubs like Jimmy Conrad and Steve Ralston. Well, if it weren’t for Marsch the Red-and-White would be down in the dumps of the west with Dallas and San Jose right now and not in the thick of things.

Javier Morales, Real Salt Lake: Three goals and seven assists seem Morales sitting at home while one goal and two assist have Juan Toja on the All-Star roster. Man someone dropped the ball with picking Toja huh?

Carl Robinson, Toronto FC: Probably one of the most underrated players on the Toronto roster.

Justin Mapp, Chicago Fire: Another Fire player…hmm…I say Mapp because even though Blanco is making most of the magic in the Fire midfield, its Mapp that creates a lot of space for him on the wings to do that magic. Plus five assists is three better than Toja’s two.

Forwards:

Luciano Emilio, DC United: I don’t need to explain this one do I?

Alejandro Moreno, Columbus Crew: He may have cooled off but he still has six goals on the season. That’s not too shabby for Moreno.