The defending MLS Cup champions added the veteran Seattle defender in the Stage 2 of the Re-Entry Draft.
It was a busy day in Stage 2 of the Re-Entry Draft on Wednesday, with 11 players being selected in a whirlwind 15-minute conference call.
Former Sporting Kansas City teammates Josh Wolff and Jimmy Conrad went first to DC United and second to Chivas USA, respectively, kicking off the day’s transactions. With their pick in the first round, the Sounders FC selected goalkeeper Chris Seitz from the Philadelphia Union and moments later lost Tyrone Marshall to the Colorado Rapids.
Marshall, a 12-year MLS veteran, came to the Sounders in a trade with Toronto FC, with Seattle sending allocation money to Toronto for the defender prior to the 2009 season.
He had 46 regular season appearances for Seattle, 39 of which were starts, and had three goals and three assists. He also made seven appearances in CONCACAF Champions League and two in the US Open Cup.
“First and foremost we want to thank Tyrone for his service to the club for the last two years,” owner/GM Adrian Hanauer said. “He was a contributor and a leader and we wouldn’t have had the success that we had without him.”
With Jhon Kennedy Hurtado returning from a knee injury that kept him out of all but 9 games in 2010, the resurgence of Jeff Parke and the emergence of Patrick Ianni, center back became a position of much depth for the Sounders. Add in the ever-capable Taylor Graham, who featured in Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League play, and the versatility of Zach Scott and Tyson Wahl and the Sounders had plenty of depth at that position.
“The realities of managing the salary and roster limitations in the league made it close to impossible to keep Tyrone in the group. We felt comfortable with our strength in the depth of our center back group,” Hanauer said. “Unfortunately, someone had to be the odd man out.”
Marshall, 36, has 270 career MLS matches with 15 goals and 20 assists to his credit, playing for the Rapids in 1998, then moving on to the Miami Fusion, LA Galaxy, Toronto FC and Sounders FC. In his career, he has won two US Open Cups with Seattle in 2009 and 2010, two MLS Cup titles in LA in 2002 and 2005 and a Supporters’ Shield with the Miami Fusion in 2001 and the Galaxy in 2002. He also has 70 caps for the Jamaican National Team.
Marshall will join another former Sounder, Sanna Nyassi on the Rapids. Nyassi was drafted by the Vancouver Whitecaps second overall in the Expansion Draft, then subsequently traded to the Rapids.
The off-season has already featured the Expansion Draft and two stages of the Re-Entry Draft. Now, players who weren’t taken in the Re-Entry process become free agents, able to negotiate with any team in the league.
The priorities for the Sounders include their own college invitational combine this weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the MLS combine in January in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, prior to the MLS SuperDraft on January 13.
That is not all that is on the plates of Hanauer and the Sounders staff though.
“Finalizing Kasey Keller is our top priority and that should be done very quickly,” Hanauer said. “We are also currently renegotiating with a few players to extend their contracts and continue to have conversations with other teams about possible trades.”
The remaining players selected in the Re-Entry Draft were former Houston Dynamo defender Ryan Cochrane to the New England Revolution along with former Philadelphia Union midfielder Fred; forward Juan Pablo Angel and midfielder Luke Sassano went from New York to Los Angeles; former Revs defender Cory Gibbs joined the Chicago Fire; Columbus Crew defender Frankie Hejduk went to Sporting Kansas City; and forward Jeff Cunningham went from FC Dallas to the Crew.
