New England Soccer Today

Shalrie Traded to Seattle

Shalrie Joseph is on the move. Again.

Weeks after first year Chivas USA boss José Luis Sánchez Solá announced that Joseph no longer fit into the club’s clans, the former Revolution midfielder was traded to the Seattle Sounders on Tuesday for two draft picks and a higher allocation spot.

In a complex deal that allowed the southern California club to unload Joseph’s designated player salary ($550,000), the Goats sent Seattle its 2014 and 2015 second round picks. Additionally, Chivas USA swapped its third spot in the allocation order for the 15th spot occupied by Seattle prior to the trade.

“We’re happy to add a player of Shalrie’s experience to our team,” said Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid in a statement. “He’s been to MLS Cups before in his tenure with New England. He’s a player that has proven himself to be a leader in game situations and a player of his quality can only help us be a better team as we move into this season.”

The longtime Revolution midfielder played in 12 games for Chivas USA following last August’s surprise trade that netted New England midfielder Blair Gavin, a pair of draft picks and allocation money. The move was intended to bolster the Goats midfield, but the club went winless (0-10-4) in the wake of trade and fell miles short of the postseason.

Following a last place finish, Robin Fraser, who helped bring Joseph to the west coast, was sacked during the offseason and management brought in Sánchez Solá, better known as “Chelis” in many circles. Shortly after his appointment, Sánchez Solá wasted little time revamping the roster, and as a result, Joseph found himself on the outs.

“He’s a great player, but he is not in my plans,” Sánchez Solá told mlssoccer.com last month. “He showed up the first day (of preseason) with an injury and after that has not returned. Maybe he’s sick, maybe he’s injured, I don’t know what’s going on with him.”

Shortly after Sanchez Sola’s comments, Joseph showed up in Seattle for a brief training spell with the three-time U.S. Open Cup champions, despite still being under contract with Chivas USA.

Nevertheless, the eight-time MLS All-Star remained in limbo after he exited Sounders camp earlier this month.

With a hefty Designated Player contract holding up negotiations, Chivas USA knew it would take a considerable effort to move their high-priced midfielder.

But that effort paid off on Tuesday, when it found a trading partner in Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer. Despite already having two designated players (Mauro Rosales and Christian Tiffert) on his roster, Hanauer knew that a trade involving Joseph would force him to use the club’s third and final designated player spot.

“It was effectively the only way to get the deal done. All in all we’re very happy with the deal otherwise we wouldn’t have done it,” Seattle general manager Adrian Hanauer said in teleconference on Tuesday. “We realize that gives us three designated players between Mauro (Rosales), Christian (Tiffert) and Shalrie. We also have two weeks left and we still have the ability to buy a player out if we decide to do that to open up a slot … if that was something we decided to do. Would we rather have not absorbed a designated player slot sure, but that was the only way to get the deal done.”

Even though he’s relocating for the second time in six months, Joseph expressed his approval of the trade via Twitter on Tuesday.

 

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