Is Blanco the best DP MLS has seen so far? (Getty Images)

I’ve had this thought for a little while, on the surface the Designated Player rule is good as it brings quality players into Major League Soccer that do help in more areas than just on the field itself. We know the cons against it like teams spending so much money on one player but I started looking at all the past and present DPs and started wondering if this rule really is worth it.

Now first of all I’m not going to advocate for or against this rule today. I just merely want to point out who’s done well with it and who’s not. We’ve seen this rule in place for a couple seasons now and so far only a few clubs have ventured out with this rule. Now it seems like most clubs are going away from the rule, currently only five clubs have a DP (Toronto, New York, LA, Seattle and Houston).

Also, so far five clubs (or six if you count Philly too) have yet to use their DP slot. RSL won MLS Cup 2009 without one so maybe they aren’t worth the money.

So let’s take a deeper look into each DP. What worked about it and what didn’t work on and off the field. We’ll go from worst to best in this instance. I’d also like to note that two fo the DPs on this list have only played a little under a half season with their clubs so grading and discussing them at length seemed unfair at this time. If you are wondering about who I am talking about here those two are Houston’s Luis Angel Landin and Toronto’s Julian De Guzman. (For the record I like De Guzman but don’t care of Landin…but saying that I am very curious about their upcoming seasons.) Continue Reading…

There’s been some discussion lately on adding a second or even a third Designated Player in Major League Soccer. The big debate is over whether or not the league really needs to move in that direction of adding a couple more high priced players when only a select number of clubs even use the DP slot to begin with.

Currently the DP rule is on it’s final days here as the trail run will expire at the end of the year. No doubt it will be apart of the new CBA that is under discussion right now.

Steve Davis has talked about it at length lately, which really got me thinking. Is adding another DP going to push the league into the big-markets verus small-markets? As Davis points out it won’t create a Major League Baseball feel to it where one or two clubs spend a load of money to win but it will slowly push the league down that kind of track.

As Davis points out LA, DC, New York, and Seattle are all leading the charge to add another DP slot to the rosters. I’d say you could probably throw in Toronto, Chicago and maybe Houston to those that are willing to get on board with this addition. That leaves Chivas, Colorado, Columbus, Dallas, KC, New England, RSL, San Jose, and Philly. Chivas and Philly are border-line in my eyes here for the DP spending and the rest are either small-market clubs or owned by cheap folks that don’t wanna spend the dough on a big-name player.

I honestly don’t see adding another DP slot as a major issue right now. Currently the clubs that have spent money on a DP have either done well with it like Chicago’s case or done horribly with it like Dallas. Either way a majority of the league hasn’t used their slots and one club even traded away their slot.

So what do you think? Is adding another slot going to be worth it if only a select few even use it? Or should the league just stick with just one slot on each roster? Let’s hear it.

I noticed earlier a couple emails sent in about the MLS Board of Governors meeting that MLS Rumors is discussing right now on their site. After mentioning who are the BOG members (mostly club owners, even new ones) the guys at MLSR today decided to break down what could be talked about at their upcoming meeting.

I thought they made a few good points that could be discussed. The usual suspects like single table, salaries were all there on the list. I went through what they listed out and discussed them a bit with my own touch. Obviously the two big topics are scheduling and the CBA. Anything other than that is just minor right now as far as the BOG is concerned. Continue Reading…

And that didn’t take long at all. The mega-deal (again) involving Christian Gomez is complete.

United acquired Gomez, goalkeeper Mike Graczyk, an international roster spot and salary cap considerations (Rapids will pick up some of Gomez’s salary this year) and traded the Rapids a package that included its own Designated Player slot, Ivan Guerrero and second-round pick in the 2010 MLS Draft.

DC gets their playmaker back while the Rapids unhaul a headache. Honestly even though the Rapids will have to continue to pick up the tab on Gomez this year I think they got the better end of the stick here. I like the move to land Guerrero here as well as getting the DP slot back.

Who do you think got the better end of the deal?

Christian Gomez will soon be back in black. (Getty Images)

From what I’ve been able to gather through various reports, a trade that we’ve all been discussing for weeks looks to be in the works. Christian Gomez will return to DC United in a deal sometime in the coming week.

What will the Rapids get in return for the former MVP? Steve Goff is telling us that Colorado may get a player, some cash and possibly even the DP slot that was traded to DC last year in the Gomez deal.

Still no word on how much of the tab Colorado will have to pick up on Gomez’s salary for 2009. I would expect the Rapids will have to pick up at least a third of that salary ($385,000 base in 2008), if not more.

What do you all make of Gomez coming back to DC?

DC United midfielder and designated player Marcello Gallardo is very close to returning to River Plate in Argentina, according to media reports in Buenos Aires. Watch the video here and read this story. (Story in Spanish for those who can read it)

It sounds more likely here that the will go back to River Plate and terminate his contract with DC United, leaving the Black-and-Red with some much needed cap space. If that happens, it would free up $400,000 that applies toward the team’s salary cap and save the club’s owners around $1.5 million in additional salary out of their own pockets.

Meanwhile, Steve Goff is reporting today that former MLS MVP Christian Gomez is “desperate” to return to DC.

Meantime, the latest buzz on 2006 MLS most valuable player Christian Gomez returning to United is that the 34-year-old Argentine midfielder “desperately wants to go back to D.C.” after a miserable year with Colorado, one source said.

Gomez barely got off the bench late last season for Coach Gary Smith and is not in the Englishman’s plans this year. I am told, however, that the Rapids’ new technical director, Paul Bravo, does like Gomez and would like to patch up the relationship.

What do you make of the mess there between DC and Gallardo and the potential move of Gomez back to the club that shipped him away? Sounds funny to me but I see Gallardo leaving and Gomez returning. I just doubt Gomez will want to stay in Colorado any longer. Though the Rapids could play hard ball and trade him elsewhere.

We will see.

Probably the best news of the offseason so far for some Kansas City Wizards fans. The club is reported to have re-signed international striker Claudio Lopez at a discounted rate for 2009, meaning he won’t take up the club’s DP slot.

That’s good news for a club that is desperate to sign a top-flight striker this winter. Reports suggest Lopez will be making possibly half of what he made last year, along with the Wizards having Dave van den Bergh off their books next year (part of the deal with New York called for the Wizards to pick up some of the tab on his salary last year); the Wizards could have a considerable chunk of salary cap to go for a new DP player if they want to.

Most felt that Lopez didn’t warrent a DP slot after the year he had with Kansas City. Only the last month or so of the season did he even appear to be a DP-style player for the club. So this news really is very positive for the club as they get to keep a guy that is valuable to them and they get to save some money up to sign a big-ticket forward.

What do you all make of this news about Lopez? Good to see him off the DP books?