Just a quick note that the Rapids just waived Yamada and activated Jamie Smith for tonight's game.
My guess is they were hoping to get Smith's green card papers in by today but since they didn't
they needed to waive Yamada so that they had an international slot to activate Smith with. Waiving
Yamada also keeps the team with 10 non-salary cap players after yesterday's signing of homegrown
player Shane O'Neill.
Today Colorado announced they've signed Boulder's Shane O'Neill to a homegrown contract, making him
the second product of the Academy program after Davy Armstrong signed a contract in 2010.
Reportedly its a 3 year contract. As a homegrown player O'Neill does not count against the salary
cap. O'Neill is a MF/FW and has been training with the reserves all season.
Article by Doak Gips Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. Minnesota Stars
It wasn't for a lack of trying, but neither the Rowdies nor the Stars could put anything into the
back of the net, and played to a 0-0 draw in front of 3182 fans at Al Lang Stadium in Tampa Bay.
Player Position Base Guarenteed Ababio Eddie D 44,000.00 44,000.00 Akpan Andre F 57,200.00
57,200.00 Amarikwa Quincy F 44,100.00 44,100.00 Armstrong David M 44,100.00 53,564.29 Cascio Tony M
44,000.00 77,750.00 Casey Conor F 400,000.00 400,000.00 Castrillon Jaime M 50,000.00 68,375.
Colorado has just announced that they've signed midfielder Harrison Henao on loan from Once Caldas
of Colombia. No terms were released but reports in Colombia say its until December and almost all
MLS loans include an option to buy. Henao is a 25 year old player who's been a pro since 2006.
Early indications are that he's a defensive midfielder, which may not be a positive sign for
Pablo's recovery.
Thank you @ColoradoRapids for the great opportunity. Made some friends and learned a
lot. Hope to return sometime in the future.
From this I think its safe to say that the Rapids didn't extend him a contract. Not really a
surprise since he was our pick in the final round of the Supplemental Draft and we already had 3
keepers under contract.
George Brislen-Hall tweeted last night that he was headed home to London today, so we can assume
his trial is over. That leaves us with only draftee Joel Helmick in camp but not signed. The Rapids
site still lists Andres Sarmiento as a guest player, but since he didn't go with the team to Hawaii
I'm guessing he's not a real candidate for a roster spot.
Last night the Rapids had an easy game against the Melbourne youth/reserves squad, controlling the
game from end-to-end in a 1-0 win. The starting XI:
Cascio - Amarikwa - MullanLarentowicz - Castrillon - MastroeniZapata - Wynne - Moor -
KimuraCeus
Other than Ceus and Amarikwa I wouldn't be shocked to see that same lineup on opening day in two
weeks.
I'm sure we'll see an official announcement tomorrow, but Tim Hinchey just tweeted this:
I would like to welcome Luis Zapata to the Colorado Rapids!
So add one more to the roster! That puts us at 30 signed players and 6 out of a possible 6
internationals. Now if any of the other trialists wants a job they'll have to beat out a signed
player to do it.
The team left for Hawai'i today. My sister, brother-in-law, and cousins leave for Hawai'i this week
(though not for the tournament). Me? I'm stuck in cold Denver. Before they left the team made some
cuts from training camp. Aaron Pitchkolan, Issac Cowles, Sterling Copeland, Jefferson Angulo,
Daniel Frias, Alanso Jimenez, and Masaki Hemmi were let go.
Colorado faced Chivas USA in a scrimmage at the HDC today. A late Qunicy Amarikwa goal from a
Steven Emory assist gave the burgundy boys a 1-0 win. Of course its preseason so its meaningless
but wins are always better than losses. The starting XI (trialists makred with a *):
Angulo* - Cummings - MullanLarentowicz - Castrillon - MastroeniZapata* - Marshall - Wynne -
KimuraPickens
After subs the team finished with the the following lineup:
Cascio - Amarikwa - AkpanThompson - LaBauex - EmoryFreeman - Palguta - Guido* - AbabioJoyce
Guido is a local player playing with the team while they're in California.
The Rapids played their first friendly of the preseason today against the Ventura County Fusion at
Oxnard College in California. The game was a scoreless draw and with no coverage its hard to draw
much of anything from the result, but here are the starting lineups for each half (* denotes
trialist):
1st Half:
Cascio - Amarikwa - AkpanThompson - Nane - LaBauexFreeman - Marshall - Palguta - Zapata*Ceus
2nd Half:
Angulo* - Archer* - ArmstrongThompson - Nane - Guido*Huazo* - Marshall - Palguta - AbabioJoyce
Obviously this was a game for some of the reserves to try to make their mark in competing for a
starting spot.
The Rapids had an article today about the trialists where they mentioned that Cascio and Yamada
were signed to contracts with the league before the draft. Their statuses have been updated in my
master list. I've also changed the list so unsigned players are all in one group but I've added a
note next to Helmick to note that he was drafted (as our only unsigned drafted player).
Colorado announced the signing today of Brazilian striker Luis Eduardo Schmidt, commonly known ad
Edu. He had trialed with the team last month and rejoined the team this week. Edu is 33 and has
previously played in Brazil and Spain's La Liga. He's a big guy that would probably fill in well in
Casey's target striker role.
