Brian Ching Officially Joins Dynamo, Impact Receive Conditional Draft Pick

The Brian Ching-saga finally has an ending, whether it's a happy one depends entirely on your perspective. The 33-year-old is back with the Houston Dynamo after the Montreal Impact apparently grew tired of the game of chicken they had been playing, receiving a "conditional" draft pick for their troubles (UPDATE: It has been confirmed that the Impact will receive a first-round pick if Ching plays 20 matches.). As a part of the deal, numerous reports said the Ching agreed to a reworked deal with the Dynamo partly in exchange for being guaranteed a front-office job after he retires.

In a situation like this, there really aren't winners, as the whole thing was a bit ugly. But the Dynamo seem to come out looking better than anyone else. They get the fan favorite they supposedly wanted all along and are able to enjoy whatever positive press they get when he runs out of the tunnel at BBVA Compass Stadium. For good measure, they get to do so while taking less of a salary cap hit on Ching's salary than they would have if the Impact had never selected him.

Whatever gamble the Impact were making clearly didn't pan out. Unless they received a first-round draft pick, which seems highly unlikely, they had to deal with plenty of negative press just to come out with a worse pick than they started with. Not having Ching in their starting lineup is not the end of the world by any means, but there were any number of players available in the expansion draft that will likely prove far more useful whoever they end up picking instead.

For more on Ching's trade, be sure to check out Dynamo Theory.

The Brian Ching saga appears to be very close to ending. The latest reports suggest that the deal is now hinging on the Houston Dynamo being able to renegotiate with Ching and that the Montreal Impact would receive a conditional draft pick in return (via Fox 26).

This clearly does not seem to have played out in the favor of the Impact or Ching. The Impact will have essentially gotten a conditional draft pick for one of their expansion draft selections and Ching will have had to take a presumably substantial pay cut.

After taking a bit of a public relations hit initially, the Dynamo now seem poised to come out of this as the winners. They'll have retained a popular player and have him back in plenty of time to help break in their new stadium. If Ching can remain healthy, they'll likely have a reasonably productive player at a much more salary-cap friendly price.

For the latest on the situation, be sure to check out Dynamo Theory.

The Brian Ching saga appears to have taken another interesting turn. Just about a week after making his preseason playing debut with the Montreal Impact, reports came out on Monday that a trade was in the works that would send him back to the Houston Dynamo. Now, it appears the trade is close enough to being done that he's been permitted to discuss a new deal with the Dynamo.

The Impact and Major League Soccer have given Ching permission to renegotiate his contract with the Dynamo.

— Jose de Jesus Ortiz (@OrtizKicks) February 13, 2012

There have not been any reports that would indicate what the Dynamo may be giving up in exchange for Ching. While the Impact were supposedly looking for a player like Andre Hainault in return, such a bounty seems highly unlikely. At this point, it would seem that supplemental draft picks or a limited amount of allocation would be a reasonable trade.

The other interesting part of this is Ching's apparent renegotiation. If that report is true, it could be argued that this whole situation has really played out in the Dynamo's favor. Part of the reason he was left exposed in the expansion draft in the first place was because of his being owed more than $400,000 this year. Presumably, if his contract option was already picked up by the Impact, his 2012 salary would already be guaranteed.

For more on Ching's situation, be sure to check out Dynamo Theory.