And so the silly season continues...
1. YYZ
Toronto FC dominated the headlines of the last two offseasons, signing Jermain Defoe, Michael Bradley, Gilberto, Sebastian Giovinco, Benoit Cheyrou and Jozy Altidore. Some are still there. Some are long gone. All came with impressive CVs.
That was step one in the building process (can't call it a "rebuilding process" in Toronto, because that team was never, ever functional prior to the previous regime). They went big, they went bold, they got names to put on signs 10 feet tall and luminous. They did the LA Galaxy thing.
Step two appears to be doing the D.C. United thing. Right now it looks like the Reds are scouring the league for quality, under-the-radar veterans who are used to the grind of MLS and know how to win. Over the last few days they've added center back Drew Moor, right back Steven Beitashour and now, as rumor turns into reportage turns into confirmation, they've also snatched Canadian national team midfielder Will Johnson.
The acquisition of Beitashour is the most obvious of the moves, since TFC's right back has been a question mark followed by a sadface for, like, ever. Now they have a guy who's a "good enough" defender -- you can't put him on an island and expect him to lock down his side the way, say, Marvell Wynne does -- and intelligent positionally. Just by not being a weak point he upgrades Toronto on that side of the ball.
Offensively he's more than "not a weak point." Beitashour is a smart passer in possession and doesn't give it away cheaply, while on the overlap he can be devastating. His 24 career assists puts him comfortably into the top 10 all-time by MLS defenders, and it's a fair bet that he'll climb into the top three within the next couple of seasons.
He didn't leave the 'Caps without a fight, for what it's worth. This was not a scrap-heap pick-up:
They still have to sign him, of course. That'll be a test for the new front office.
But the fact that they're willing to look within the league and find useful answers to important questions is a positive indicator of their intent. Good teams kick over every stone in search of value, and at this point I feel pretty safe in my assumption that OCSC will spend most of 2016 residing squarely in the "good team" category.
