Well so much for that. Last winter D.C. United went out a bit to get Troy Perkins back in MLS from Europe and today it seems as though that experiment is over.

D.C. United traded the veteran goalkeeper to Portland on Friday in exchange for Timbers goalkeeper Steve Cronin and allocation money.

A year ago, D.C. dealt midfielder Fred, allocation money and the seventh overall pick in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft to Philadelphia for the right to move up in the allocation order and select Perkins. Philadelphia landed a young prospect in Jack McInerney while Perkins battled injuries all season long and eventually lost out on his starting position to academy standout Bill Hamid.

It looks as though D.C. United is blowing up their 2010 roster into little bits and pieces. Seeing them get rid of Perkins in this fashion kind of let me believe that plenty more moves are on the way.

Portland now gets a keeper that will look to bounce back in 2011. If the defense in Portland gets worked out through the SuperDraft and any other move this winter, things could be better for him out west.

What do you all make of this deal? Think D.C. is blowing up their roster here?

John Spencer talks about each signing. (Photo via Portland's press conference)

The Portland Timbers are already taking shape before their first MLS season next year. Today they announced the signing of four players to their MLS roster including three players from their 2010 D-2 roster. All three Portland players were former MLS players and are now returning to the league as well.

The signings included forward Ryan Pore, midfielder Bright Dike, goalkeeper Steve Cronin and striker Eddie Johnson. The only non-Portland player to sign was Johnson who is coming up from the Austin Aztex.

During the announcement Technical Director Gavin Wilkinson stated the club would likely sign at least two more players from their D-2 roster before the expansion draft next month. Most believe those two will either be Ian Joy, Khalif Alhassan or Mamadou “Futty” Danso.

Portland went very attacking minded in their first round of signings which kind of leads me to believe they’ll go defensive in the expansion draft. If their other two signings are from their club I think they’ll be defensive as well but if they go outside of their club again like they did with Johnson I’d imagine they’ll be filling out their midfield some.

Three of the four signings today are proven goal scorers in the D-2 level but two of those three (Pore and Dike) weren’t able to see much on the MLS level before.

About The Four

Ryan Pore had plenty of time in MLS before with Kansas City but was probably never utilized well during the time of Curt Onalfo’s run managing the team. He’s been very good with Portland these last two seasons which leads me to think he’s found a system that works for him. New Portland coach John Spencer will likely know how to use Pore too next year.

Bright Dike was drafted by Columbus in the first round this past year but never made an appearance in a MLS game with the Crew as they released him before the start of the season. I have a feeling Dike will enjoy playing against the Crew next year.

Eddie Johnson was a surprise pick in some ways as most expected Portland to sign only guys from their roster but they pulled a Seattle and went outside of the box in this signing. Honestly I love it as Johnson is a guy that knows his way around goal and could turn out to be another Sebastien Le Toux type of player.

Steve Cronin was the only non-attacking player signed today by the Timbers. He’s been very good with the Timbers the last couple of seasons after spending time in LA. No doubt he’s got MLS quality but it will be interesting to see how he holds up against better attacking teams like RSL and LA this time around in MLS.

What did you all make of the signings today by the Timbers?

The Portland Timbers are expected to announce their first MLS signings today. Head Coach John Spencer and Technical Director Gavin Wilkinson will make the announcement later today.

At this point its anyone’s guess who their first signings will be. More than likely they will be players off their D-2 roster. Its also unknown how many players they’ll take from their D-2 roster into MLS and how many they’ll announce today. If they follow the Seattle model of a couple years ago it will likely only be a few. I’d imagine they’ll also be sure to sign a player via the allocation system as soon as they’re able to as well.

My guesses for today’s announcement are based on their D-2 roster as there have been no indication of any big signings for this club going into today.

1. Ryan Pore – He lead the club in scoring this past season. The former Kansas City Wizard really came into his own this year for the Timbers. In two years with the Timbers he’s scored 25 goals. Not too shabby if you ask me.

2. Steve Cronin – Another former MLS keeper likely seems like a lock to me. There’s some that believe he could have been in MLS these last couple years but I believe his time in Portland has really served him well as he’s grown into a very good keeper.

3. Khalif Alhassan – The 20-year old has been really strong for the Timbers this past season. A lot of potential in this kid from the few games that I saw this season. He could be a stud in MLS.

4. Bright Dike – The former Columbus Crew player draftee could find his way in MLS with Portland. He was easily their best player in the second half of the season. He probably made Crew fans wonder why they released him.

To see a better list of who has potential to move up with the club into MLS head over to Dropping Timber. They’ve had a good list of guys that could make the move or could be in danger of not seeing a MLS contract.

We’ll have more later today on this signing, as well as some other expansion related topics.

In all the Galaxy dumped goalkeeper�Steve Cronin, defenders Brandon McDonald, Mike Randolph and Troy Roberts, and forward Ely Allen.

Not a real shocker to see Bruce Arena clean house a bit. The Gals hadn’t drafted all that well in recent years in my eyes. Getting rid of these five was probably a must due to the guys brought in through trades and the draft this year by Arena.