Major League Soccer’s Tom Bogert has reported that FC Dallas has dealt winger Michael Barrios to fellow Western Conference outfit, the Colorado Rapids.
Update (1/13/21 at 11:00 am): Now official.
Additionally, FC Dallas will receive additional incentives if Barrios meets certain performance metrics while with the Rapids.
FC Dallas press release
Barrios, 29, had struggled in the 2020 season dropping to only a single goal and five assists. In 2019, Barrios recorded five goals and 15 assists.
Bogert reports that FC Dallas will receive an international roster spot as well as MLS SuperDraft considerations.
A further report by the Denver Post states that the consideration is moving up six spots in the draft by trading natural picks with Colorado. The Rapids will also select sixth overall, after acquiring the pick from Chicago for $125,000 in General Allocation Money.
Signing in February 2015, Barrios thrived in a the three pronged attack – with Mauro Diaz and Fabian Castillo – that propelled FC Dallas to a Supporters’ Shield and US Open Cup double in 2016. As Diaz and Castillo departed, Barrios’ importance to FC Dallas grew, featuring in 96 consecutive MLS games and leading the team in assists twice.
Barrios’ last reported salary from the MLS Players Association was $500,000 – although the last release is from 2019 so the current figure is likely considerably higher – and his contract due for renewal at the end of 2021 with FC Dallas having exercised its final option year for the 2021 season.
Barrios holds a green card so this move will not free up an additional international roster spot for FC Dallas beyond the one acquired.
Barrios leaves Toyota Stadium having notched 44 assists, tied for third with Mauro Diaz in franchise history. His 31 goals are the seventh most of any FC Dallas player.
“Barrios’ last reported salary from the MLS Players Association was $500,000 – although the last release is from 2019 so the current figure is likely considerably higher – and his contract due for renewal at the end of 2021 with FC Dallas having exercised its final option year for the 2021 season.”
That 2019 number was also prior to salary concessions in the face of COVID. Wouldn’t that offset?
The concession was 5%, players get a minimum 10% raise each year and they probably back loaded the contract.
According to reports from Venezuela, Dallas will sign winger Freddy Vargas. Do you know anything about that?
I’ve seen the reports but have nothing on the US/Texas end of things.
thanks…
I know social media does not equal reality, but it is hard to ignore. I am curious what you and Buzz make of the constant negative social media reaction to the roster moves this season on IG/Twitter/FB. The optics of both Cannon and Cobra’s departures were not ideal, seemed to leave many with distrust in the organization. And since then the announcement of the non returning players (Ziegler etc) and this trade have stirred up negative reactions from fans. As an MLS dork it seems to me that this might be one of the most active and promising off seasons FC Dallas has ever had. But I wouldnt get that from scrolling through the comment section
I think engaged fans see the bigger picture, while a lot of the social media crowd are more fairweather and only see the headline-making portion of a player’s tenure and forget the difficulty of the roster rules in MLS. FCD didn’t sell 2016-19 Mikey that tore MLS up for $250k/yr, they offloaded a soon-to-be 30-year-old who was just needlessly running into people and struggled to find pace to get around players, who would have been yet another TAM buy-down. Ziegler, Barrios, and Mosquera frees up over $2m of salary and a DP spot, cuts down two international spots, and brings in an extra spot from Colorado, all of which are necessary for the big star signings we all want to see.
Like you say, they’re being very active and making some good moves on paper.
I like all the moves so far, although they are very FCD… Bargain buys with potential.
As for voices on social media, the negative is always louder than the positive. Certainly, Barrios is a fan favorite and will be emotionally hard to swallow.
He didn’t fit the system. I wonder what the value is for an international spot in Garber bucks. The Super Draft swap is worth nothing to me.
Nashville paid $175k for one last month.
I saw rumors about a possible Juan Dinenno transfer from Pumas from earlier? Is FCD just waiting for the Reynolds saga to wrap up?
Dinenno re-uppped in Mexico. There were never any US reports on him, I think that was agent stuff to get his client more money.
Bad “trade”.
You essentially traded your best attacking player for an international spot – gross overpay.
Barrios’ analytics showed he was still a very good attacking player, as pointed on in the article. He was a top 5 chance creator from open play – he didn’t get to pad his stats with a lot of dead ball situations like Lodeiro and Valeri. He’s being penalized because his teammates sucked at finishing.
Why not just overpay with GAM for the international spot from an Eastern conference team? Why send a productive player to a conference rival and help them out in the process?
The justification I hear for this trade is that FCD is clearing space for a big signing. What big signing? What in FCD’s history suggests that the Hunts are going to go out and get an in-his-prime, higher end DP level attacking player? My guess is they get another TAM level player at best. That means this trade is at best a sideways move – not really improving the quality of the squad, but just shifting the same level of production among a different set of players.