The Offseason So Far: I just can't see much changing with the Sounders. They already replaced Joevin Jones on the cheap, getting Francis from the Crew for pennies, and other than that it's been mostly an exercise in shuffling backups out of the deck.
The lone exception there is long-time captain Brad Evans, who was crucial to everything good that happened in Seattle from 2009 through 2016, but missed the bulk of 2017 with various injuries. Evans didn't figure this season, but replacing his presence in the locker room isn't like replacing a back-up.
And look ... I'm actually a touch worried about the locker room. Garth Lagerwey did the right thing in leaving Ozzie Alonso unprotected for the expansion draft, but Ozzie nonetheless threw a fit (since deleted!) on social media. So that's one legendary veteran out, and another unhappy, and that's before you even consider the reactions of Stefan Frei and Chad Marshall after losing MLS Cup:
Um, don't read his lips. Neither Marshall nor Frei were the regular kind of angry after losing. This was the white-hot "I can't believe we came into that game without a plan" kind of anger.
For what it's worth I think the Sounders will be fine – probably the best team in the West again. They'll buy Alonso down with TAM and add another DP (probably a No. 9, but I'm not 100 percent sure about that), and they'll add some young, dynamic depth in central defense to take some of the burden off of Marshall and Román Torres. Logistically speaking, they will be able to make themselves the most talented team in their conference.
But they'll do so while navigating a generational change and maybe while having to confront the notion that Brian Schmetzer hasn't been able to go toe-to-toe against the league's elite tacticians. Those two things can breed a lack of confidence or, at the very least a lack of buy-in from guys who really need to be bought in.
It's going to be an interesting 2018 in Seattle. They can't afford to punt the first half of the season for the third straight year.
JAN. 2 UPDATE: "Sounders questionably linked to Croatian left winger" is how SounderAtHeart put it, and I'll buy what they're selling. Seattle already have seven-ish guys who could plausibly play winger, and I just can't see them adding a mostly unproven 28-year-old on a DP contract as the eighth. That doesn't make much sense. At all.
Still waiting for the young, dynamic central defensive depth. Maybe they intend to promote 18-year-old Homegrown CB Sam Rogers from S2?
JAN. 24 UPDATE: They signed Homegrown attacking midfielder Handwalla Bwana. They drafted Cristian Roldan's little brother. There have been no other signings, and precious few rumors.
The most intriguing and well-sourced of those rumors point toward Colombian attacker Andres Felipe Roa:
Niko Moreno has broken lots of Seattle-related news in the past. Don't bet against him here.
Will Lagerwey et al keep the powder dry until mid-season again? That's been their way the past couple of years, and it's a (mostly) winning formula. I'll just reiterate my early warning: They can't afford to punt the first half of the season again.
