Well, I was planning on writing a review of the last week for the New York Red Bulls, but bigger news has pushed that to the side.  In a move that until further notice can only be called head scratching from a Red Bulls perspective, the team has traded midfield playmaker Dwayne De Rosario in a straight swap for DC United’s Dax McCarty.

 I can’t even begin to wrap my head around this trade.  De Rosario finally seemed to be settling in nicely to the team, scoring the equalizer against Portland last week and also having his hand in other goals.  De Rosario was tied for the team lead in assists with four, and with Thierry Henry and Luke Rodgers both having suffered ailments throughout the season, would have effortlessly slotted into a forward role.  Further, the Red Bulls fared much better with De Rosario in the fold: in the 13 games with De Rosario the team scored 23 goals; without him they scored only 4.

Early reactions are that United won the trade outright.  De Rosario will add a lot to an extremely young squad and will help propel the team into the playoffs, while McCarty will join an already established New York midfield, but should still see minutes playing either behind the strikers or in a more defensive role.  McCarty is an all-action type player and could make an impact in many ways.  The other question surrounding this trade is the cumulative price New York paid to get McCarty.  In effect, the trade amounts to McCarty for Tony Tchani, Danleigh Borman and a first round pick in next year’s draft.  While DC General Manager Dave Kasper says "NY wanted him [McCarty] moving forward” and Erik Soler has made similar comments, the price paid is steep.

Why trade a player who’s had such a big impact impact for New York?  A few reasons immediately come to mind.  First, De Ro and Thierry Henry never really formed the potent relationship Soler and Hans Backe had in mind.  De Rosario is truly a forward, and forcing him into a new position may have blunted the offensive threat he provided at times.  Henry also prefers to be a drifting player who makes plays up field and takes defenders on, something else De Rosario likes to do.  It’s possible (though not entirely plausible), that Backe decided that although De Rosario was a nice piece, he was an expendable piece.  And at 33 years old, even players of De Rosario’s quality suffer a dip in form eventually. Bringing in McCarty will give Backe a solid option at defensive midfield, where Finn Teemu Tainio – himself 31 years old – has carried some lingering injuries this season.

The other, more plausible reasons are purely financial.  In the final year of his contract, De Rosario made it known that he wanted to get paid Designated Player money.  Toronto FC was unwilling to do so and instead opted for a youth movement and New York was also apparently unwilling to do so.  De Rosario was owed close to $500,000 this year, while McCarty is due less than half of that.  Furthermore, letting go of De Rosario frees up an international player spot and considerable money for the bulls to make a run at some overseas veteran looking to end their career at Red Bull Arena.  With needs at goalkeeper (the Bouna/Sutton platoon just isn’t cutting it – could a play at Marcus Hahnemann be on the cards?) and in midfield (Mehdi Ballouchy has never been the creative spark envisioned), this move could, and likely will, be nothing more than a precursor of bigger things to come.  However, only time will tell.