DeRo Trade: Revisited
By: Jeremy | April 22nd, 2009
In December 2008, shockwaves rumbled through Houston’s soccer community when the beloved Dwayne De Rosario was sent to Toronto FC for a rookie defender and minimal cash. Why would Houston agree to a deal with so little in return? With three first-round picks in the upcoming draft surely Toronto could have given more. Is it possible the Dynamo knew something Toronto didn’t? Is it possible it’s a slow news day and I’m just looking for a story?
De Rosario left Sunday’s game against FC Dallas with an apparent hamstring injury and is expected to miss several weeks of action.
Building up to the match on Sunday it was an issue of him just having a tight hamstring, but you saw from his reaction that he did tear it. I knew straight away what he had done because I could see it was a sharp pain that he was feeling. We’ll find out to what degree it is torn when he has a scan, but he has a tear and that can be anywhere up to three or four weeks. I won’t put him under any pressure to get back before he is right. –John Carver, Toronto FC coach
Now, I’m no doctor, but I’m thinking a torn hamstring isn’t a good thing. Could this be something Houston had foreseen? Has he aged beyond his years and was “put out to pasture?” Is this why they accepted so little in return? The trade looked horrible at first glance but time may show it to be in Houston’s favor.
From today’s standpoint, Toronto’s end of the deal is receiving a large salary and is unable to play for an indefinite amount of time. They also lost Julius James who is/was described as a promising defender while they have yielded 9 goals this season (second most behind FC Dallas.) Meanwhile, Houston isn’t paying a large contract for a potentially injured player, has a young defender (who may or may not be any good) and has some beer money to boot.
One side note about Julius “Jesse” James, is anyone else annoyed that he always pins is left wrist against his waist whenever he fields the ball? Maybe it’s a residual effect from the separated shoulder he suffered last year, but he looks like he’s riding the mechanical bull in Urban Cowboy. Wow, another Urban Cowboy reference for the Houston page. That really needs to stop.
Evaluating this deal is a day-to-day process. It seems to favor Houston at the moment. Now would I say it was a good deal? No way. The Orange lost their swagger when DeRo left. He was an essential piece in bringing home the championship hardware on both occasions. I would take an injured DeRo over a bench-warming defender any day. But who knows, my memory may be much shorter if this Akinbiyi fellow pans out.
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