Just Asking Questions
Grayson
Unfortunately, the FC’s season has been over for several weeks now. Still, in another sense, the offseason finally started with the (former Carl Lindner-owned) BLOCKBUSTER trade of Chidozie Awaziem and Ian Murphy to Colorado Rapids for $1 million in GAM (“General Allocation Money” or “Great American Money,” depending on who you ask) plus incentives, and a sell-on percentage. That trade and the MLS-record Kevin Denkey signing announced in November are the first moves of what “many” expect (when you’re in objective media, you have to say “many” instead of “I” when you want to editorialize) to be an eventful break ahead of the 2025 season.
However, whenever news happens, the first question is: How are fans supposed to feel about this? And if The Post is for anything, it’s for telling fans how to feel and think and act about the FC. So “many” thought it made sense to try to get ahead of some of the expected news items and identify the questions fans ask to draw their own conclusions. (Once they draw those conclusions, The Post will tell them if they are right or not.)
Now, it is important to recognize that when evaluating any move, weight must be given to Chris Albright and his team’s superior knowledge about the FC, its salary spreadsheet, its tactical ideas, the market for players, and the “fit” of any individual player. But, as fans know, there is a difference between knowledge (the “facts” and “data” at the disposal of Albright and his team) and wisdom (a random fan’s gut feeling about kind of how things should be). With that in mind, here are some of the key topics for the offseason and a few questions that, hopefully, the team already has clear answers to.
What was up with the Awaziem/Murphy trade?
The Chief already did a nice job breaking down the context of the trade, but many still have questions.
So…
If the trade is due to budget constraints, why not trade Miles Robinson, who makes more money?
Instead of signing both Hadebe and Awaziem to permanent deals, was there consideration to filling out the CB depth this summer with a U22 player or a loan for a designated player, instead of the Gioacchini loan?
Between Teenage Hadebe, Awaziem, and Robinson, who would get the most GAM in a trade?
How would the team rank the center back room as far as ability?
Did the upcoming expansion draft, and the prospect of otherwise losing someone on the cheap, apply pressure to get a deal done more quickly?
If the budget is tight, why was Sergio Santos’s option picked up? If Santos is so valuable, why was he left exposed for the expansion draft while Kevin Kelsy (who the team has already said is not coming back) is on the protected list?
If the team wants to keep using three CBs, what are the plans to reduce the likelihood that the team will have to deploy Alvas Powell or Deandre Yedlin as out-of-position CBs if, for example, there is an injury or Miles Robinson misses games for duty with the national team?
Is Miles Robinson going to be signed to an extension?
Robinson famously signed a one-year deal with a 2025 option. Awaziem, Hadebe, and Miazga were all under team control through at least 2026. But Awaziem, of course, is not with the team anymore.
So…
Is Miles Robinson going to be signed to a contract extension, or are they going to have to fill another hole at center back next offseason?
What’s going to happen with Alvaro Barreal?
Barreal’s loan with Cruzeiro is over, and Cruzeiro has already wished him well in his future endeavors.
So…
Is he coming back?
How badly were they counting on getting a transfer fee for him, and having the ability to convert at least some of that transfer fee to GAM?
Without that GAM to buy down his transfer fee, does Luca Orellano have to be a designated player next year?
What offers were previously fielded for Barreal and rejected? When were those offers?
The tiny Argentine elephant in the room.
Obviously, much of the attention will focus on whether MVP Lucho Acosta will return to the FC next year. The team has not been competitive or effective without him on the field since he got here, and he was the focal point of the team’s offense. But, as a highly compensated player and team captain, he can’t be replaced until he’s gone, and the team can’t exactly afford to bide time while he goes on a yoga retreat or whatever to get his mind right.
So…
What did Lucho mean when he said “A lot of the things the club did hurt me”? Did anything in particular come to mind when you heard him say that?
What are the expectations for a destination for Lucho (location, transfer fee, and desired salary)?
If Lucho leaves, will he be replaced by this window? Does replacing him depend on whether Orellano has to be a DP or not?
Is Kevin Denkey The One?
Here are all of the strikers (using the term somewhat loosely) signed by Chris Albright at the FC through the 2024 season: Dominique Badji, Nick Markanich, Dado Valenzuela, Sergio Santos, Corey Baird, Kevin Kelsy, Aaron Boupendza, and Niko Gioacchini. Those players have not set the world on fire. In fact, it is nearly inarguable that the four best strikers in the last three seasons were Brenner (signed by Nijkamp), Vazquez (signed by Nijkamp), Orellano (signed to play left wingback), and Kubo (signed by Nijkamp to play striker, then moved to central midfield and wingback before getting more time at striker in the 2024 season).
So…
What stood out about Denkey’s stats/ability/game tape that should give fans confidence versus the other forwards?
Was the presence (or not) of Lucho on the 2025 team a factor in Denkey’s evaluation? Is he expected to be able to carry the offense, or will he require “service”?
How is the club going to use its “budget-advantaged” slots?
Albright mentioned in his press conference after the summer transfer window that the FC attracts a lot of players in the high-“TAM” (“Targeted Allocation Money” or “True American Money,” depending on who you ask) range, meaning players who make in the ballpark of $800,000 to $1.7 million or so in salary. These are salaries above the maximum budget charge but below the threshold that automatically requires a player to be a “Designated Player,” so their salaries have to be accounted for through one kind of “allocation money” or another.
MLS does offer certain budget-advantaged slots – the Designated Players, who hit at the maximum salary budget charge no matter how much money they make or how high of a transfer fee they commanded, and U22 Initiative players, who hit at reduced budget charges, can be purchased for an uncapped transfer fee and can earn up to the maximum budget charge in salary. Teams can have up to three Designated Players and up to either three or four U22s (three if they have three Designated Players, or four if they have only two Designated Players). Last year, despite having little depth at several positions, the FC decided that Kevin Kelsy would be the only U22 Initiative player on the roster.
So…
Does the FC plan to use the 2 DP or 3 DP model? What contingencies (such as the departure of Lucho Acosta, or Luca Orellano’s status) will determine which track is chosen?
Regardless of which model is chosen, how many U22 players does the FC plan to carry?
Given the stated budget restraints, which have already required the team to trade away two starter-quality players, and the presence still of numerous high-earning players on the roster, wouldn’t it make sense to maximize these “budget-advantaged” positions?
Is there still a championship window?
Albright in the past has opined that he viewed the club as in a championship window until about 2025/2026. Not that they plan not to compete after that, but that they had a core group of players under team control through those seasons. This was, basically, before Matt Miazga’s season-ending injury this year, and the club was “left at the altar” in the summer transfer window looking to replace Aaron Boupendza, and it was well before Lucho Acosta said what he said after the FC was eliminated from the playoffs this year.
So…
Is this a year? Or is it another year before the year?
In other words, is this year more of an opportunity to figure out Acosta’s situation/replacement, deal with Orellano’s transfer fee, get the budget right, and load up for 2026, than it is one to expect to win every trophy on offer?
Many expect that the team, fairly, would never answer these last questions directly. But, of course, many would point out that those same questions will be answered, eventually, by the results on the field.
