Out With The New, In With The Old

On my way into Toyota Park for today's media scrimmage, I saw some players walking out to their cars, and something in the back of my mind asked "hey, isn't that John Thorrington?" I figured no, it couldn't be, but the Fire have announced that they have re-signed the 27-year old midfielder.

Also, the team has traded first-round draft pick Jerson Monteiro to DC United for a 2008 conditional draft pick, and gave Columbus the rights to defender Leonard Griffin for a fourth round supplemental pick in that same year.

This may seem like a bit of a head-scratcher, but it really isn't. Head Coach Juan Carlos Osorio was quoted in the press release saying "we decided to let Jerson go because we already have four strikers." There was a notion when he was drafted that Monteiro could play on the right side of the midfield, but at the end of the day, it would seem that Thorrington is considered a better option at that position right now. If he can stay healthy, of course, which is a mighty big "if" in his case.

Once again, though, it seems this team is wholly incapable of actually trading one player for another player. Yes, it's possible that Thorrington is a better right mid than anyone we might have gotten from another MLS team, but I can't shake the feeling that there's something inherently wrong with our player acquisition strategy over the last three or four years.