MLS Rookie Sent to Salt Lake City for Veteran...

By now you have all heard about the trade sending two young prospects from LA to SLC for an old veteran. This one leaves me scratching my head big time if I'm a Gals fan, and dancing in the streets is I am a RSL fan. Why? Simple. Chris Klein is in the last years of a productive career while Rookie Robbie Findley and second year player Nathan Sturgis are just starting on what could be successful MLS careers.

The only way I can rationalize this trade if I am Alexi Lalas is that...wait...I can't rationalize this move. I'm giving up two young guns in favor of an old guy with not a lot of tricks left in the bag. I've read some people rationalize that LA can use Klein in a central midfield role as opposed to on the wing where he's been playing for the past few years. However, Findley has been showing his ability to run defenders ragged on the wing similar to another Gal who is retiring this season...Cobi Jones. Maybe Lalas is looking for Beckham cover realizing that his mega signing is going to miss a fair number of Galaxy games. Who knows...I am really, really baffled by this one.

Trading Sturgis is another huge question mark. He is a Generation Adidas player so his large contract does not count on LA's salary cap. He has played in each of LA's games so far this season. He plays well as a defensive midfielder and defender. True, the Gal's just got Abel Xavier but in one year LA has traded away the core of a defensive unit that used to be good (Ugo Ihemelu, Tyrone Marshall & Nathan Sturgis). I don't see how 1-3 equals a positive in Lalas' mind. The Gals certainly have a lot of faith in a young back line. The median age of their defensive unit is 24 years old while the average MLS experience is 2 years. Removing Sturgis actually improves the median age but it certainly drains the potential pool.

Findley is the same thing and I suspect the Galaxy decided he was expendable with the signing of Edson Buddle and Carlos Pavon. While I don't agree with the choice, I can at least see the rationale. Findley has shown skills but is unproven. However, the only thing Buddle has proven is that he doesn't have a good work ethic and can waste a ton of potential. Pavon is new to MLS so the jury is out.

Let's not kid ourselves, the Galaxy are having a ton of issues ahead of the impending media circus that will arrive with David Beckham. However, these trades look more like rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic then moves that will help the cause. I would rather have seen the Galaxy hold on to their young talent in the hopes that Becks could have made a positive impact on their young careers. Now the Galaxy have another new player to integrate into their system, which takes time.

I think it is obvious by my post thus far that I think RSL made out like a bandit on this one. RSL have all but thrown this season out the window and are giving Kreis the opportunity to build a team he likes. This move gives him two solid youngsters who have the ability to become some of the top talent in MLS over the coming years. I'm glad to see RSL invest in their future as opposed to searching for results now.

I fear this LA is searching for immediate results and I just don't see how that is going to work out for them at this point. It should be interesting to see how long Alexi and Yallop are allowed to screw around with the team in this manner before AEG decides to make a change in the front office.

***EDIT***
Since I posted this today, I came across the following quote from Galaxy player Santino Quaranta in a blog post of Steven Goff's.

"They're trading everybody, man," he said. "It's a panic. I'm not sure Frank and Alexi are on the same page. It's a bad situation right now."

Deck chairs my friends...deck chairs. It appears Lalas' Super Club is in total disarray. How is this going to affect Beckham's arrival?