Major League Soccer Expansion: Portland Timbers Sign Four Players

MLS Expansion: Whitecaps Fans Getting Antsy Over Timbers Progress

86Forever’s Benjamin Massey asks his fellow Whitecaps fans to cool their concerns over the Timbers’ getting out of the gates first when it comes to filling out their roster.

Portland is up 4-0 on us in the all-important “squad members” category! Of course, the Whitecaps only finished their season on Sunday and the players haven’t even had time to dry their eyes yet, but no matter. Surely we should see the nucleus of our squad assembled sooner rather than later?

Massey goes on to point out that this news was hardly “news” at all. That the Timbers were essentially basking in the spotlight while reading the cast list.

Portland’s announcement of Pore, Dike, and Cronin is indicative of nothing. If Portland was going to take a single player from its USSF D2 team, it was going to take those three. We now know that Portland isn’t completely tearing down the team, but there was no reason to believe earlier that either they would or that they should. From a soccer standpoint, there was nothing to chew on beyond the acquisition of a 26-year-old striker who surely could never be more than a bench player in Major League Soccer. This was a public relations stunt, pure and simple, and with Timbers season tickets supposedly selling very well it’s hard to see what they need a public relations stunt for.

And to be fair, I don’t remember other expansion teams calling press conferences to announce signings as potentially insignificant as these. If the Timbers are planning to be a competitive MLS side, they can’t possibly be planning to start all four of these players. All four of those players have been in MLS camps as recently as last year and none of them are in Division I for a reason. It just seems hard to believe that the Timbers will enter the season with three attacking players who were recently discarded by MLS.

Report: Timbers Had Acquired Johnson In Midseason Trade, Loaned Him Back to Austin

According to Marc Weber of the Vancouver Province, the Timbers were able to acquire Eddie Johnson in a midseason trade with the Aztex and then loaned him back to Austin.

This allowed the Timbers to sign one of USSFD2’s top scorers without exposing him to the Whitecaps.

If true, this is a shrewd move by the Timbers and further proof that they don’t intend to enter MLS as just another expansion side.

Major League Soccer Expansion: Portland Timbers Sign Four Players

A former Manchester United player, two ex-MLSers and a 6-foot-1 forward who was take in the first round of the 2010 SuperDraft are the first four signings by the Portland Timbers.

Following the lead of the Seattle Sounders who signed eight players out of Division 2 for their inaugural season, the Timbers seem to be taking a similar path.

Ryan Pore, Bright Dike and Steve Cronin all played for the Timbers during their final season in USSFD2, while Eddie Johnson was the leading scorer for the Austin Aztex.

The Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps have first priority to the players on their USSFD2 rosters subject to other MLS team's rights of first refusal. Both teams also had the first rights to one other USSFD2 player. In theory, the Whitecaps could have blocked the signing of Johnson if they had wanted him.

The signing of Johnson was the only real surprise announcement. Johnson has played the last two seasons with the Aztex and has scored 19 goals, including 15 this season in 28 matches. He was on trial with the Sounders at the start of the season, but returned to Austin after signing a two-year deal. 

Just 26, he's been traveled since signing with ManU in 2001. Although the Red Devils controlled his rights until 2006, he made only infrequent appearances with the senior team and never played in a EPL match. He was loaned out to three different teams before signing with League One side Bradford City where he spent two seasons and scored seven goals in 64 matches. His next stop was League Two side Chester City for 10 matches during the 2008-09 season.

"He's good with his back to the goal," Timbers coach John Spencer said. "He links up well, sees the game, has good vision and he's another one that also finishes very well."

Pore was probably the best player in USSFD2 the past two seasons, scoring 25 goals in 52 matches. Pore spent four seasons with the Kansas City Wizards, making 58 appearances and scoring three goals.

"I have no problem with this guy's ability to step up to the next level," Spencer said to MLS.com. "There's no questions, no pointing fingers at this guy. He's a top player."

Cronin also has extensive MLS experience, spending six seasons with the San Jose Earthquakes and the Los Angeles Galaxy.  

Dike, a Notred Dame product, was drafted by the Columbus Crew with the 12th overall pick of the SuperDraft but was released before the start of the season. He hooked on with the Timbers and scored 10 goals this season.

The Timbers said they plan to sign two more of their former players before the start of the season.

The Timbers will continue to fill out their roster during the Expansion Draft which will happen in January.