Shalrie Traded to Chivas USA

Updated: 10:15 AM ET, August 1, 2012

It was news that shook the core of Revolution supporters from Portland to Providence and points in between.

On Wednesday, the Revolution traded club captain Shalrie Joseph to Chivas USA for midfielder Blair Gavin, Chivas USA’s natural second-round selection in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft and allocation money.

“Trading Shalrie was a not a decision we made easily,” General Manager Michael Burns said in a statement. “Shalrie has been one of the faces of the club for a decade, but we had to take a hard look at our roster and decide where we needed to be as we look toward the future.”

The 34-year-old midfielder, who was drafted by the Revolution in 2002, collected eight MLS All-Star nominations during his tenure in New England. He was a major part of the Revolution’s last three MLS Cup runs (2005-07) and was named club captain prior to the start of the 2009 season.

Joseph, who signed a designated player deal during the offseason, scored three goals and added an assist in 18 games this season. But in recent weeks, the club captain had been dropped from the starting XI on two separate occasions.

In acquiring Gavin, along with the Goats’ 2013 second round pick and allocation money, Burns said that the club gets a player with bright future, as well as room to orchestrate additional signings.

“With this trade,” Burns said. “We gain a significant amount of roster flexibility and add a player in Blair Gavin who has great potential, an additional draft pick next year, plus allocation money – all of which provides us options to improve the team.”

News of the deal first surfaced early Wednesday morning after Joseph’s agent, Ron Waxman, posted the following message via Twitter:

“.@cdchivasusa acquires DP @ShalrieJoseph21 from @NERevolution. Great pick up for the Goats. Best of luck to the superstar on the west coast.”

With Joseph’s departure, Matt Reis, who joined the team in 2003, becomes the longest tenured player on the Revolution roster.

4 Comments

1. 

   Mat

   August 1, 2012 at 10:34 am

   I have really mixed feelings on this..while I do think this is going to really help our team in the long run..I hate to see Shalrie go. How much money did the Revs gain in this trade (difference in salaries plus the allocation money)? I hope this means we are bringing in someone worth 500,000 or whatever amount Shalrie was being paid.

   Reply
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     Jeff

     August 1, 2012 at 1:09 pm

     I want to believe this means another DP move is in the works, but I fear the reality may be management is beginning to position themselves for 2013 and beyond.

     Reply
2. 

   MarkxVA

   August 1, 2012 at 1:54 pm

   This is pretty harsh. I know he was paid a lot and his legs aren’t what they used to be, but honestly he CANNOT be worse than mccarthy at centerback. It did wonders for pablo mastroeni when he moved back there. So disappointing. I do like Gavin and think he is a young exciting player, but we need a reliable center back to pair with soares.

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     Brendan

     August 1, 2012 at 2:02 pm

     You would rather have Joseph back there than McCarthy? McCarthy has been a monster on our backline for a month. Easily the most solid player there, since Soares seems to have taken a step back (injured maybe?).

     I will for sure miss Joseph, but I think the office is seeing the writing on the wall that this season is a wash and they need to look to rebuild for the future. And, sad as it is, Joseph isn’t the building block you want if you go that route.

     Reply