Like many I was a bit surprised at the Kyle Davies trade announced today. I was surprised because the team seemed genuinely interested in having Davies aboard. I was also surprised because based on his credentials (I've never really watched him play) I assumed that he'd be worth more than a 2nd round draft pick.
However I have gained some additional insight into the reasoning behind this that I thought I would share:
Real Salt Lake talked to a number of teams around the league about Davies. The going rate was a 2nd round pick. This could be due to the fact that teams knew that RSL had a short timeframe to make a deal. It also could be that Davies is a young, largely unproven center back. At least in this case it looks like Dallas' 2010 2nd round pick will be a high one.
Apparently Davies had signed a deal with the league for $80K. This raised some concerns for RSL who is reportedly close to the cap with the addition of Espindola. In addition, that amount would put him ahead of more than half of the roster including starters Will Johnson, Robbie Findley and Yura Movsisyan. For a player that wouldn't start this year or likely even in the next couple of years, this would have been hard to rationalize to the rest of the team. How do you look Will Johnson in the eye and say this guy makes $30K more than you even though he's a backup?
Olave and Borchers are another reason why this wasn't a great fit. Davies came to the league expecting to play. He's being paid like a player who should be competing for a starting job, but the reality is that on this team he wouldn't likely have been a starter for at least a couple of years. To make matters worse for Davies, the team is extremely high on David Horst as a potential center back in the future. The fit just wasn't there.
Center back is also typically a slow spot to develop and one with a lot more failures than successes in the league. That's why you look at teams like the LAG, NYRB, and TFC and you hear center back as a position high on their wish list. Probably the most sought after position outside of striker and a #10.
I still wish we had received more for Davies, but if a 2nd round was the market for him then I like Dallas' 2nd rounder just about better than anyone else except maybe NYRB or LAG.
We'll have to see what the future holds for Davies to know if this trade was a good move or not.
UPDATE: Thanks to a tip from anonymous reader: FC Dallas' Official blog is reporting that RSL will get the lowest of 3 FC Dallas 2nd rounders. I like this deal much less now (although I'm not sure whose pick this was).
