Danny Califf, Heath Pearce, Juan Agudelo Traded

Chivas USA Making Reasonable Gamble - The Goat Parade

It may sound hyperbolic, but there might not have been a more exciting day of player acquisitions in Chivas USA's history than Thursday when they picked up defender Danny Califf and forward Juan Agudelo. The two players are on opposite ends of their careers and are hardly guaranteed to succeed, but The Goat Parade clearly thinks they are risks worth taking on the part of GM Jose Domene.

It's a bold, but reasonable gamble by Domene. It is true that defender Danny Califf does have many, many miles on his legs and is on the wrong side of 30. It also cannot be denied that Juan Agudelo has not yet shown the consistency and goal tallies that his talent suggests.

The risk may not even be that big. To get both players, Chivas USA gave up a bunch of allocation (reportedly as much as $200,000 for Agudelo), Michael Lahoud and Heath Pearce. Considering Chivas USA's seeming reluctance to spend on players, that allocation was unlikely to be used; Lahoud was a useful player but not one who they were going to build around; and Pearce never seemed to really click.

This might not be the move to send Chivas USA to the MLS Cup, but it's not hard to see how they are better today than they were before the trade.

Trading Danny Califf Just Another Head-Scratching Move - Brotherly Game

In case you were wondering how Philadelphia Union fans might react to yet another favorite being traded away for seemingly pennies on the dollar, Brotherly Game has your answer: They're upset. As much as they loved Danny Califf for his willingness to interact with fans, there are perfectly legitimate soccer reasons to be upset, too:

By the way, Nowak's rationalization of wanting to make the defense faster, and accompanying plan to play Sheanon Williams at center back is so stupid as to defy ridicule. Williams is one of the best young right backs in the league, and his speed and long throws down the right side make him as close as the Union can claim right now to a dangerous counterattacking player. So...we're going to take him out of a role in which he excels, and put him in a position where his lack of size is going to be a serious handicap? Ray Gaddis has been very good so far this season, but if Williams and whoever fills that hole at fullback are better than Califf and Williams, I will open-mouth kiss Michael Orozco Fiscal. And if you were going to make over the defense, wouldn't it have been better to do so in the offseason?

The Union did receive some amount of allocation in return as well, but the black-ops nature of that money keeps the amount a state secret, which only adds to the frustration.

It's not hard to understand Union fans' frustrations. At the end of last year, the Union were a promising team that had tons of young players that were on the right side of their development. The good news is that most of those young players are still around. The bad news is that they are basically all that's left.

As promising as their young players may be, they lack any kind of guidance. The older players that are around have almost no MLS experience and the only players remaining from the original Union team were all rookies at the time and largely remain inexperienced.

Peter Nowak may have a larger plan, but he's given outsiders absolutely no reason to believe that's the case.

Chivas USA, Red Bulls, Union All Made Sensible Moves

As lame as it may sound, all parties really do appear to be better off after a wild day of trading.

Juan Agudelo, Heath Pearce, Danny Califf Traded

Chivas USA acquires Juan Augdelo, Danny Califf in separate trades, send Michael Lahoud to Union, Heath Pearce to Red Bulls.

Danny Califf Traded To Chivas USA

Union coach Peter Nowak confirms that veteran center back Danny Califf has been traded to Chivas USA, but that details are still being worked out.