While some moves have worked out (Rohan Ricketts, Emmanuel Ekpo, Andre Rocha, etc.) there have been a number of moves that were more than questionable or now that we are half way through were just plain wasteful.

I will go into who did well later on in their offseason signings but today I wanted to discuss those who were not so lucky in putting together a winner out of a couple signings in the offseason.

I think it is fair to say that nearly all of these players were pretty wasteful but a couple stood out even more than others now that these couple players have been waived by their respective clubs. Anytime you go out and sign a guy in Major League Soccer for more than $100k and like one club throw in a heafty transfer fee, you obviously can throw this in the Denilson category for worst signings in league history.

Rafael Gomes, Colorado Rapids:  Most people outside of the Mile High City have no clue who Gomes is. The Brazilian midfielder played in only seven matches and tallied one assist on the year for a struggling Colorado side. Some say he was the worst signing of the offseason, and some will say he is right up there. I’m probably in that first boat saying he was the worst. First off the Rapids overpaid for this waste of space. Starting with his $120,000 salary, Gomes also cost the Rapids a good-sized transfer fee. Sources put the fee at a low six figures, with one source stating Gomes cost Colorado $250,000.

Its no wonder people like myself are still calling for Fernando Clavijo’s head as Rapids coach.

Franco Niell, DC United: Another waste of space this season was Niell. Most figured (including myself) he would be a perfect fit in an already deep United offense. Turns out he had trouble cracking the lineup after some early blunderings in front of net. Niell was waived recently by United. He and his steep contract will open up some room for DC to look for some added depth in the coming weeks. Some will say Niell was the worst signing, and to those I wouldn’t disagree by all that much.

Peguero Jean-Philippe, San Jose Earthquakes: Talk about a waste. Jean-Philippe was expected to come back to MLS and be the same striker he was a couple seasons ago for the Quakes. Turns out his cronic injury problem was still in tact and the Quakes used up an allocation spot to get him. That same allocation spot that could have been used for a number of players like Brian McBride, Darren Huckerby, and so on and so on. PJP easily costed the Quakes a solid signing or two plus whatever Chicago would have traded them for McBride. A deep burn will be PJP for most Quake fans this year and maybe even next.

Gonzalo Peralta, DC United: Most United fans will also scream for Peralta for this list. Probably a victim of media overhype going into the season was Peralta along with fellow Gonzalo, Gonzalo Martinez. Peralta hasn’t lived up to the work rate of Martinez and has been more inconsistent than anything else.

Oscar Echeverry, New York Red Bulls: I’ve seen this kid play in person and for the most part I wasn’t impressed. He was the lone Red Bull addition going into the season that wasn’t traded for or drafted. People probably put too much pressure on Echeverry this year with the injuries to Juan Pablo Angel or to the departure of Jozy Altidore. Either way you look at it I find myself thinking his time in New York is going to be fairly limited now that Juan Carlos Osorio is finally bringing in some reinforcements for the second half of the season.

Alviro Pires, LA Galaxy: Another overpaid Galaxy player. Pires is big and bulky. I found myself thinking he was a total waste of space in the midfield for the Galaxy. Some like Pires, while I wouldn’t be shocked to hear that most Galaxy fans would do without him. Not the worst signing by Alexi Lalas but certainly not the best.

Others causing questions:

Rafael Wicky, Chivas USA: The Swiss international has hardly cracked the Chivas lineup, even with all the injury problems.

Tomasz Frankowski, Chicago Fire: Strong play early on but lately hasn’t done nearly a thing for the Fire and their struggling offense.

Ivan Trujillo, KC Wizards: Columbian international that has hardly made an impact on the Wizard’s offense.

Franco Caraccio, Houston Dynamo: Was expected to help Brian Ching and company. Turns out he hardly even starts anymore.

Ian Joy, Real Salt Lake: Expected to help sure up a RSL defense. Just as expected he has seen more cards than anything else.

So who else did I miss?

Yeah, just like that his season is over.

The reason given by the Quakes for Jean Philippe’s ouster is that his right knee, which underwent reconstructive surgery back in 2006, could not withstand the rigors of MLS, with continued swelling preventing the Haitian from playing on a consistent basis.

“So we were willing to take a risk on that. It’s just unfortunate that his knee didn’t hold up,” said General Manager John Doyle.

Some interesting questions can be raised from this news. Of course some will wonder about the price the Quakes will be paying in terms of salary in this.

But the main thing is concerning the all important issue of where they will fall on the allocation list now. I’m a little torn on that subject though. The fair thing for the league is to keep them where they are at, and that is at the bottom. They used their move and it proved to be a costly one. I know the player didn’t stick it out for the season but is it really fair to the other clubs that the move didn’t work out?

Jeff Carlisle had reported that the Quakes did indeed not lose their place:

Doyle did add that San Jose did not lose their place in the pecking order for former MLS players wanting to return to the league. The Quakes had first dibs on Jean Philippe when he returned to MLS, and had the Haitian stuck around, they would have moved to the bottom of that list. Now that Jean Philippe is gone, that is no longer the case.

Well, it turns out the Quakes will be moved to the bottom of the list.

“When Jean Philippe put pen to paper, the Quakes automatically moved to the bottom of the allocation list that is used when former MLS players return to the league from overseas. But when Jean Philippe was put on the season-ending injury list earlier this week…”

“With MLS headquarters saying otherwise, I called up Doyle to clarify his remarks, at which point he apologized and admitted that what he told me on Tuesday was not correct. ”I misspoke a bit,” said Doyle. “No excuses.”

Obviously this move will haunt this club for the remainder of the season. Unless they put some deals in place with other clubs they won’t be able to move up the list anytime soon if some high profile players decide to come across the sea to play in MLS.

Tough break but that is the cost of using allocation in MLS these days. Toronto is still the top dog on the list and are in line for a big pay day either way.