The Portland Timbers began their training camp in California on February 5, but the front office announced two separate trades involving allocation money, international roster spots and draft picks. The Timbers will now have nine official international spots for the 2012 season after both announced deals.

Here's an interesting early morning trade for everybody. It appears that the Portland Timbers have traded with D.C. United for an international roster spot for the 2012/2013 seasons in exchange for an unknown amount of allocation money.

Naturally one would expect that this would be used on a new signing and it may very well be for the 2013 season, however, not for the season because.

One rumor making the rounds in the NBA has the Philadelphia 76ers interested in Amare Stoudemire of the New York Knicks. Although Stoudemire is off to a slow start this season, another team may want to acquire him and surround him with better players.

That said, that team is not the Sixers.

Martin Rennie looks to have built an offensive juggernaut. (Photo via Vancouver Whitecaps)

With the news of Sebastien Le Toux joining the Vancouver Whitecaps on a trade today. It has to, no, it must be pointed out exactly how stacked these Whitecaps are on offense.

Just look at these names currently on the roster (and in camp):

• Camilo
• Eric Hassli
• Atiba Harris
• Omar Salgado
• Darren Mattocks
• Davide Chiumiento
• Lee Nguyen
• Long Tan
• Sebastien Le Toux
• Etienne Barbara (not currently signed)

Holy smokes.

Talk about a 180.

Just a week or so ago it was Sebastien Le Toux on a plane to England to train with Bolton. Now he is back in North America and has been traded to the Vancouver Whitecaps.

No word yet on what the terms of the deal will be but the Frenchman just tweeted out that it is official.

When people look back at the 2012 MLS Draft, they will surely look at it as the first draft that didn't feature a multitude of trades. What they might wind up really recalling of the draft, however, is the amount of solid MLS talent that was available.

There were no draft pick trades in this year's draft, but teams still came away with some good talent throughout the league after picking from one of the deeper draft classes in recent memory.

The 2012 MLS SuperDraft has come and gone. With only two rounds this year, the draft flew by like never before. There were no trades during the draft to make it interesting and overall, there weren't too many surprises.

I figured I would give it almost a day before I came back with my draft grades.

The Rapids only had one pick in today's two round Superdraft, their first pick at #14 (The second was traded for Quincy Amarikwa). They used it on UConn midfielder/forward Tony Cascio. He's a senior who played for 4 years with those other Huskies (go Washington!) and last year he was a first team All-American and the Big East offensive player of the year.

So this year the Sounders had the best draft in the history of MLS - again. The thing is, our player scouting efforts are so far above that of the average team, we really should be considered a separate case. As an example, did you see me lamenting the loss of Mo Johnston? Remember when I stripped him for Danny O'Rourke and Will Hesmer for a partial allocation?

Kenny Cooper is moving east to New York. (Getty Images)

The draft day is here and the trades are starting to come in. This one, thanks to Fox Soccer, says that the Portland Timbers and the New York Red Bulls have struck a deal.

New York will acquire Portland Timbers forward Kenny Cooper.

Kenny Cooper is moving east to New York. (Getty Images)

The draft day is here and the trades are starting to come in. This one, thanks to Fox Soccer, says that the Portland Timbers and the New York Red Bulls have struck a deal.

New York will acquire Portland Timbers forward Kenny Cooper.

The 2012 MLS SuperDraft starts at 12 pm EST today, with television coverage starting at that time on ESPN2 (also available through ESPN's web service ESPN3). The Philadelphia Union have two natural SuperDraft selections, the 13th overall pick (13th in the first round) and the 32nd overall pick (13th in the second round), plus the 35th overall pick (16th in the second round) from Sporting Kansas City, received as part of the Shavar Thomas trade in 2010.

The 2012 MLS SuperDraft will start today at 11:00 AM CST. There have been rumors of trades taking place but so far every team has stayed pat. If you have missed some of our pre-draft coverage, be sure to check out how teams have fared in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference between 2008-2011.

Philadelphia Union assistant coach John Hackworth spoke to reporters via conference call on Wednesday night ahead of today's SuperDraft. He discussed the Union's approach to the Players Combine, the possibility of trades, particularly for an international spot, and how the Union are in a different position going into the 2012 SuperDraft compared to 2010 and 2011.

Somehow, it works out so I am off during the MLS SuperDraft 2012, and thus I've taken on the responsibility of live-blogging the first (and maybe) second round. It's being aired on ESPN2, TSN2 and RDS2 at 11AM CST. That means there are about 3 hours remaining until the Montreal L'Impact -- barring any trades or moves, are on the clock for the 1st overall selection in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft.

There was good news coming out of the TFC universe today as Joao Plata left the loan category and signed for Toronto. The deal was described as "multi-year" and no dollar amount was mentioned.
I like Plata, you have to admire the energy and dedication that he brings to the field. I am still convinced that he should be used as a super sub more often.

Portland Looking to possibly rade Draft Picks

An article from Cincinnati has this quote from one of the draftee's High School Coaches.

"Austin will probably go in the first, according to his interviews," said Summit coach Barnard Baker. "I see him going to Portland, but there seems to be indications of a lot of trades, so that is a guess on my part.

Fire fans have certainly had an exciting week already. From the rumored signing of Rafael Robayo becoming a concrete reality, to the report of Pavel Pardo re-signing with the Fire, there has been a lot of news, and it's only Wednesday. Well, the news will keep on coming Fire fans, as business is about to pick up even more with the MLS draft on Thursday.

The MLS SuperDraft is a bit of crapshoot, almost no matter where you are picking. If you happened to catch my article at SB Nation Soccer (link here), I tried to illustrate just how much of a crapshoot the draft really is. The later you get in the draft, predictably, the more of a crapshoot it becomes.

First I just want to wish everybody a happy New Year and I hope everybody got home safe last night. If you're reading this now then I'm also happy you're not suffering from a severe hang over. Seriously, kudos! I managed to escape one myself!

In any case, with 2011 now officially over I thought it might be a good time to relive some of the year's more interesting moments.

It's that time of year again. Time to consult the D.C. United roster list, see who's been naughty and nice (and who is, frankly, useless), and compile my own off-season shopping list. Ready to begin?

Russell: Finally a replacement for Namoff?

The process of re-shaping the roster has already begun.

The Portland Timbers chose not to use their first round pick in the first round of the MLS -Re-Entry Draft on December 5, but three teams made selections. Other clubs have been busy with various trades of players or future draft picks, while rumors of upcoming signings for the Timbers continue to gain some steam.

Bobby Convey is headed to KC. (Getty Images)

You have to like what some clubs are doing right now. This week has been a big week of trades as clubs get ready for the First Stage of the Re-Entry Draft next week. Today another trade came down the pipe and while others haven't been as big this one certainly has the makings of being pretty huge.

Bobby Convey is headed to KC. (Getty Images)

You have to like what some clubs are doing right now. This week has been a big week of trades as clubs get ready for the First Stage of the Re-Entry Draft next week. Today another trade came down the pipe and while others haven't been as big this one certainly has the makings of being pretty huge.

Photo by Don Feria/ISIphotos.com

Sporting Kansas City's week of wheeling and dealing has ended with an exclamation point.

The club acquired Bobby Convey from the San Jose Earthquakes in exchange for an international roster slot.

Convey, who did not have his contract option picked up by San Jose after this past season, was part of the initial list of players available in the MLS Re-Entry Draft, but that is no longer the case after Sporting KC stepped up to trade for the veteran left winger.

The Montreal Impact aren't wasting any time here in building their roster. In the second move of the day for the new club they have traded for veteran international keeper Donovan Ricketts from the Los Angeles Galaxy in exchange for allocation money.

I had a sneaky suspension that Ricketts would get traded this winter or at least before next season by the Galaxy.

Finally. The NBA lockout, which never really made that much sense, is over. The NBA owners softened there stances are a number of key issues and a deal was reached early Saturday morning. While both sides have to vote to make this deal official, that is all just a matter of time.

Among the issues the owners softened on were rules regarding the mid-level exception, sign-and-trades and even the overall BRI split.

Already two trades have become known. Ryan Smith goes to Chivas USA for 1st and 3rd Round Supplemental draft picks. That's picks 43 and 81 overall. so we're talking no-risk, flyer types in a draft that constantly adds more picks. Also, it came out today that the Portland Timbers loan of Ryan Pore also included an international slot and a promise from the Montreal Impact that they wouldn't take a player who ended the year on Portland's active roster.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. Flanked by the men who hired him, newly-appointed head coach Jay Heaps spoke confidently about the immediate changes that need to take place in order to return the Revolution back to respectability.

"Fundamentally, a few things have to change right off the bat," said Heaps as President Brian Bilello and General Manager Michael Burns looked on.

The DeRo for Dax trade was one of the biggest in 2011. (Getty Images)

Each year I do season predictions and nearly every year I boldly state that a trade will shake up the season (take that with a hint of sarcasm if you will). Well, this season is just like many of the past where teams wheel and deal in hopes of bettering their playoff hopes.

Following Keith Millen's exit from the managerial post at Bristol City earlier this week, we are very pleased to welcome Paul Binning for our latest interview. Paul trades under the name @cider1977 on Twitter and runs the consistently enjoyable blog, The Exiled Robin. He also contributes a regular feature on social media and football that appears in the Bristol City matchday programme and I was

So tomorrow by 5 PM all teams in Major League Soccer must submit a final list of all available rostered players, not to be altered until after MLS Cup. In other words, the MLS trade deadline is upon us, and I'm here to pontificate on what the New England Revolution may or may not do in the next 17 hours or so.

Following yesternight's demolition of Villareal more and more people are vying for the much coveted 3-4-3 fomation to be used at Barca. Already everyone is going gaga over the fact that we played almost 9 midfielde players and one defender in the starting line-up. A look into the line-up which started explains why people are so thrilled - Busquest, Mascherano who played in defense are natural defensive midfield players.

Robbie Keane is set to become a member of the Galaxy. (Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Galaxy have reportedly agreed to purchase Robbie Keane's contract from Tottenham for a reported £3 million, but the signing is not yet official. The summer transfer window closed on Sunday at 11:59 p.m., but Galaxy president Tom Payne said on Twitter that an announcement may come on Monday.

There are two deadlines coming up for the roster. The first is the more well-known summer transfer window that shuts on August 14th. The second is the playoff roster eligibility deadline, or more simply the MLS trade deadline. That ends on September 15th. Both will, and should lead to roster changes for the Seattle Sounders according the General Manager and Minority Owner Adrian Hanauer in our chat today.

This time of year, the Pittsburgh Pirates are usually selling off their good players to bolster the rosters of playoff teams. This year, a funny thing happened on the way to the baseball trade deadline. The Pirates are a playoff contender and they're acting like it.

The Pirates are currently 4.

Denmark International Manager Morten Olsen has spoken about Denmark's crucial encounter with Norway on the 6th September. He has talked also about featured player Nicklas Bendtner and four other members of the Danish national eleven. Morten Olsen declared that theres still a long way to go till the transfer window closes and his hopes for the NB and the other 4 to be fighting fit come kick off time.

Okay so I was impressed by the amount of discussion that proceeded from the first post in this series. Now, we make the challenge a lot harder, but yet still a lot of fun. After all, speculation is what we fans do when we realize hope is pretty much lost for this season, right? So let's have a lot of it.

Lovel Palmer is headed West to play for Portland. (Getty Images)

The deals keep on coming in MLS. Today, the Portland Timbers acquired defender/midfielder Lovel Palmer, defender Mike Chabala and an international roster slot through the remainder of the 2011 season from the Houston Dynamo in exchange for midfielder Adam Moffat and allocation money.

Sky Italia has nailed the preseason advertising market with some holy commercials designed to highlight the miracle that is calcio. Or miracle that it, despite the constant shitstorm, still stands as a structure.

Ambrosini, Mauri, Eto'o and a Totti statue in one, while Andrea Pirlo dons stripes (or trades a red for a white) for the first time in the other.