The World According To Ives

I've said it before, but Ives Galarcep really seems to be turning into the Sam Smith of MLS. Twice now, he's raised the possibility that Houston might trade Brian Mullan in order to draft Brek Shea, but as far as I can tell, this is entirely his own opinion. Nowhere have I seen any mention that Houston actually wants Brek Shea, or that they'd be willing to give up Mullan.

Both times he's mentioned the Houston winger, it's been couched as "Houston might be willing to give up a veteran like Brian Mullan," and I'm sorry, but that's idle speculation dressed up as journalism. I hate it when Sam Smith does it with the NBA, and I hate it now.

It's entirely possible he's got some inside information that he's not willing to share, but willing to bet on, sure. It's also possible that his soccer brain is so fine-tuned that us mere mortals cannot possibly comprehend things as he sees them. But I'm not buying it. If Houston wants our first pick and is willing to give us one of the best right-sided midfielders in the history of the league, though, I'm all for it.

UPDATE: Okay, I was skimming too much over the weekend, as Ives did explain Houston's relationship with Shea previously. But the Mullan stuff still seems like either idle speculation or pretending that you thought of something someone told you off the record, neither of which sit well with me. But, again, I'd still take Mullan in a heartbeat for that #7 pick.