Bored? Tired? Pissed off because the DP you bought blew out his knee before playing a single game, limiting himself to the bench for 6-12 months?

Well, I can't preform invasive surgery on Jose Adolfo Valencia, but I sure can give you a wonderful way to waste your time until March. Meet rated90.

The past couple of weeks have filled Fire fans heads with visions of sugar plums dancing around (or in this case world class players running around and scoring goals in Fire red). I have to admit, the Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack rumors got me excited. Most sane fans (including myself) knew these rumors were extremely far-fetched at best and a product of extremely shoddy journalism at worst.

Yeah, I've been getting beat up a bit on Twitter and through email today about my team grades for this winter. Again, I'll revisit those later on to have a final grade.

Obviously this kind of news will impact it. The Portland Timbers announced on Friday that forward José Adolfo Valencia will undergo surgery to repair damaged cartilage in his left knee.

Soler Swag for days

After what can only be described as a highly disappointing season in 2011, the Red Bulls, and more importantly their front office, certainly had their work cut out for them. A roster filled with so much talent but woefully underachieved had to be revamped somehow. And it was Erik Soler's job to fit together the right pieces to assert New York as a top team once again.

D.C. United has signed its fourth-ever Designated Player, acquiring forward Hamdi Salihi on Thursday.

Salihi, 28, joins United after scoring 11 goals in 15 matches in all competitions with Rapid Vienna in its current season in Austria's top division. Born in Shkoder, Albania, Salihi is also a member of his country's national team.

The league's newest DP is a haggis fan, presumably. Think John Spencer, a former Scottish striker himself, had any play in this deal? Toughie. I love that the YouTube description of that first video begins with "A wee collection..." Love the Scots. One plump, juicy fact to get you excited if you're a fan of the league itself: Boyd is only 28.

Last day of the transfer window makes for a fun day.

Two big(ish) points of news on this Monday afternoon.

1. The Portland Timbers have signed their third DP, Scottish striker Kris Boyd. A big stinkin' signing.

2. Faryd Mondragon has left Philadelphia to return to Colombia. Union now down to one keeper in Zac MacMath.

Silly season continues to go on around the world, and today Sporting KC was named in the silliness. Sky Sports is reporting that the "Kansas City Wizards" are interested in Scottish international striker, Kris Boyd. The 28 year old striker was most recently with Eskisehirsqor in Turkey, where he recently had his contract canceled.

Judging by some tweets and information supplied by Juan David Duque, a 21 year old Colombian left winger.

Lets start with what started all he rumors.

According to Goal.com Duque tweeted about being in negotiations with the Timbers and that he would update everyone more this week, the article was posted on 1/23/12.

Late last night, once again Robb Heineman brought us news via Twitter. This time pertaining to the potential designated player that KC was looking to sign. And that news doesn't appear to be good news. Heineman says that "unless something dramatic happens in the next two days, we will not be announcing a DP in this window.

Now that the Timbers have a compliment of 30 players total we can sort of assume that the team is going to settle down a bit and look towards building for their starting 11 in March. I know, I know the hot rumor is that a third DP will be coming soon as a true #9 striker. But even without him we can sort of piece together how the squad will look in this upcoming season as compared to last year.

From Barcelona to Manchester United, there has never been a shortage of interest in Frank Lampard's services over the years as the Chelsea midfielder continues to age brilliantly.

But despite the continuation of his superb form for the Blues, the fact remains that Lampard is approaching his 34th birthday and as many in Europe will say, it is ideal for him to look overseas for a more lucrative opportunity at this stage of his career.

The draft is over and next Friday players report to Portland and the Portland Timbers are hinting they are not done adding to their roster. Rumors are swirling as to who and what position said player plays. All of these leaves us fans in what seems like an internal state of nervous energy.

So lets take a look at what the roster looks like and what we can piece together from tweets and quotes over the last few weeks.

One of the best things about being a Dynamo fan is our players give 200% on the field -- yes, this is mathematically an impossibility, however, none of us would argue they do indeed give a full 200% -- except perhaps the occasional Right Midfielder/Winger from say Jamaica, not to single any one specific player out or anything.

Ah new year, new MLS season. I've said that ad nauseam now, but it's true. And with a new season comes, well, new everything! We'll see new players, new tactics, new matches, new business partnerships... really the door is wide open.

As such, I've decided to compile a list of 2012 predictions.

Could Lampard go west to the Galaxy? (Getty Images)

I know this comes from The Sun but a couple interesting comments in this article though about how David Beckham has been talking to Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard. Beckham tells Lampard to go to California because he'd enjoy a life out there.

Every single agent should say that their player, particularly one of Alvaro Fernandez' quality, is interested in playing for Palermo, a team in a better league for more money. That Fernandez' agent did so is not a surprise. Palermo is a mid-table team in Serie A this season already on its third coach.

"Torsten played in Bethlehem Bremen"SkyDome is being hung with wreaths, Stan Bentley has put on his festive gentleman's loungewear, The Rumoumeter is frozen this week by TFC's lack of activity and Collin Samuel just ate all the stuffing. With the holidays upon us, we want to take the time to join together with you, our cherished readers, for a classic Christmas carol sing-a-long in the key of "Hark The Herald Angels Sing".

While nothing continues to go on in MLS per se, there remains a bit of an offseason shuffle for loans and trades. There's been talk of some pretty huge names going across the pond, be it for a trade or a loan, and regardless of whether the rumors have any actual merit. That said, we could see some big moves in the near future.

Grant Wahl, failed candidate for the FIFA presidency and writer at SI.com on all things football has listed all 19 MLS franchises in order of perceived ambitions. Not surprisingly, LA is #1, followed by Seattle and NY. Not surprisingly either, our beloved Revs are last.

Here is the commentary that follows the Revs entry:

No fan base sends me more complaints about its own team ownership than New England's.

After months of speculation, it is finally official: Mauro Rosales has re-signed with the Seattle Sounders. Exact terms of the deal were not released, as this is MLS, but the team has confirmed that Rosales has signed a multi-year deal that could make him a Designated Player. Rosales will be announced as the team's newest signing as the first order of business during Tuesday's End of Year Business Meeting

Rosales' contract would qualify him to be categorized as a DP, but the team is holding off on finalizing that part until they determine if the required allocation dollars would be better used elsewhere.

Omar Bravo is gone. David Beckham could be gone. Nicolas Anelka isn't coming.

The Designated Player landscape in MLS is changing and evolving, and even with teams having the flexibility to go after younger DP options or giving players like league veteran Shalrie Joseph a DP deal, the lure of landing a big-name, marketable superstar is still prevalent.

A quick thought to kick off the work week. Top of the list is Shalrie Joseph. The captain of the New England Revolution is returning to the Revs in 2012. The 33 year old inked a new deal with Revolution president Brian Bilello under new head coach Jay Heaps. After months of speculation we now know that Joseph will not depart the team.

Young DP player signed soon. world-class potential..big addition for us and league. turning 20 soon. no announce until ITC approved #RCTID

Via Merritt Paulson's twitter.

Word on the street is that it is José Adolfo Valencia. I believe he would be the youngest DP in the league, though correct me if I'm wrong.

Back in July, the Philadelphia Union were linked to Deportivo Saprissa striker Josue Martinez, and reportedly even made a bid of nearly $1 million for him. MLS Rumors spotted a new report, out of Norway, that says that the Union are set to bid for the forward again, but this time are the most likely destination for Martinez with Norwegian club FFK unable to afford a transfer themselves of between $400-500,000.

The last few weeks have been pretty brutal for Seattle Sounders fans. Finally, it appears as if some good news is on the way. Multiple sources have confirmed that Mauro Rosales' extension has essentially been finalized and that it could be announced very soon. The contract is expected to pay Rosales somewhere in the neighborhood of Alvaro Fernandez and Fredy Montero, but it is unclear whether or not he will count as a Designated Player.

photo courtesy Jarred Donalson
Sporting KC made 4 more roster moves today, waiving four players before today's waiver draft. KC waived Jeferson, Craig Rocastle, Milos Stojcev, and Scott Lorenz. Jeferson Rocastle, and Stojcev all three take up international spots that are now open to be used next year.

I have yet to track down exactly who it might be but here are a couple of things I have found out:

• 1 Portland Timber is Retiring possibly more
• 2 or more Portland Timbers did not have their contracts renewed
• 1 DP Signing could be announced in the next two weeks as Wilkinson is in talks with an international player
• 2 or more Timbers will be getting their Green Cards and therefore will not be using an international slot

The 1 retiring player is not Adin Brown but I believe he is one "possibly more".

The second step in the MLS offseason also occurred today as MLS teams waived players to make room on their rosters. Not surprisingly Portland did not waive a single player but quite a few other teams did waive players. Including Vancouver, who waived 3 players and Toronto, who waived 7 players.

All of the waived players are now free to sign with any club in any country they wish.

Immediately following the Montreal Impact's expansion draft, MLS conducted its waiver draft, and only one selection was made.

The Philadelphia Union used their spot in the order to nab former Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Nizar Khalfan. An energetic, athletic winger, the Tanzanian international scored a goal and assisted on four others this past season with Vancouver.

Time for the midfielders and don't forgot to vote for the others here.

How it works

• Vote by posting a Yes (to Protect) or No (don't Protect) in the subject of a comment, then explain why in the message
• We (the editors) will keep track of all the yes/no votes for each player
• At the end of the whole roster we will total up the results and post the community's Protected list
• Your list will be compared to the list of each contributing editor
• The only player we will not be voting on is Darlington Nagbe as he is automatically protected based on his Generations Adidas Status.

Today the MLS Cup finalists will be decided and two teams will earn humble silverware with a conference championship. Sporting Kansas City and the Houston Dynamo will square off to decide the East while the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake square off to decide the West. For the first time in what seems like ages, teams from the east and west are playing in their respective conference championships.

Get Used to It: They're StayingIt was bound to happen. It might even have happened if the Red Bulls had found a way to progress beyond the Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday and make it all the way to MLS Cup. What am I talking about? The boatload of scathing editorials asking for Hans Backe and Erik Solér's heads on a plate as a result of the Red Bulls' failures this season.

So, amidst all the Steve Nicol farewells and the new coach speculation, the 2012 Expansion Draft is rapidly approaching (November 23rd), and the Revs have some decisions to make-11 decisions, to be precise. For those unfamiliar with how the Expansion Draft works, here's a brief breakdown of the rules, per an October 19th MLS Press Release:

NEW YORK (October 19, 2011) - Major League Soccer will hold the 2012 MLS Expansion Draft via conference call on Wednesday, November 23, at 2 p.

Let's begin the expansion draft dance, shall we?

Some rules of the road:

• The rules allow teams to protect eleven players.
• United must protect one of their international players (Jakovic or Boskovic).
• I'm going to make the assumption that Kitchen will be graduated from GenAd and thus will need to be protected.

Vancouver didn't have too much to celebrate this season. (Getty Images)

Oh yes, it is that time of the year again when teams are going to have to start paying attention to who they want to keep and not keep for the 2012 season. Over the next couple of weeks I'll have every team covered for this year's expansion draft.

The Montreal Impact may be months away from taking the field as a MLS club but manager Jesse Marsch and company are already beginning to make the transition a big one for the club. Today they have announced the signing of Colombian defender and former Inter Milan man, Nelson Rivas.

Rivas will be eligible for MLS games in 2012 pending receipt of his International Transfer Certificate and work visa.

Well, here I am, once again reeling from another disappointment, trying to figure out just how to sum up yet the latest uninspired performance by New York. I swear, with all the talk of how great this team is better on paper, I propose we so all go out and cover RBA in 8 ½ x 11's on Saturday...

Last Friday's "must win" game could not have gone better for the Portland Timbers. Unfortunately, aside from the Seattle Sounders beating D.C. United, the rest of the weekend went pretty terribly. With the New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union, and Houston Dynamo winning their respective matches it effectively keeps the Timbers out of that 10th spot.

The Major League Soccer Players' Union has released the latest batch of player salary numbers. The numbers are offered both by team and player and show the wide range of salaries in the league. This latest release is most interesting because it reveals the wages of some of the league's most recent signings.