To nobody’s surprise, Toronto FC officially parted ways with forward Danny Koevermans and goalkeeper Stefan Frei on Friday, deciding not to sign the pair to new deals.
The Major League Soccer club also passed on re-signing one more out-of-contract player in forward Justin Braun.
Braun, 26, failed to impress during his time in Toronto, scoring two goals in 21 league appearances since coming over in a trade from Real Salt Lake in 2012. With Toronto actively pursuing two designated forwards—Jermain Defoe and Alberto Gilardino have been identified as targets—Braun’s lack of offensive production meant he was more than likely going to be cut loose this off-season.
Also on Friday, TFC announced that they have declined the options on midfielders Bobby Convey, Michael Thomas, Darel Russell and forward Robert Earnshaw. They could still return to the club at a lower salary. If they can’t come to terms on new deals with TFC, the players go into the league’s re-entry draft
Earnshaw (who earned $155,150 US last season) was the team’s leading scorer with eight goals in 2013, while Convey ($215,000) and Russell ($109,874) added a bit of creativity to the midfield. Thomas ($60,173) only made one league appearance, so of the four players, he is the least likely to return to Toronto next year.
“We are writing a new story for TFC, and it begins with our current players,” general manager Tim Bezbatchenko said in a news release.
“We have not had a solid core group like this in a long time, and this core is prepared and excited about taking this club to the next level. We will continue discussing the possibility of returning next season with those players whose options were declined.”
Toronto picked up the options on 12 players: goalkeepers Joe Bendik, Chris Konopka, and Quillan Roberts; defenders Gale Agbossoumonde, Mark Bloom and Ryan Richter; midfielders Kyle Bekker, Reggie Lambe and Jeremy Hall; and forwards Bright Dike, Emery Welshman, and Andrew Wiedeman.
The departures of Koevermans and Frei are hardly surprises. Frei lost his job as the team’s starting goalkeeper to Bendik at the start of the 2013 season. He then fell further down the pecking order when the Reds traded for Konopka in September to serve as Bendik’s backup.
Koevermans, 35, is coming off an injury-plagued year that saw him make only four league appearances in 2013. The Dutch forward and designated player suffered a season-ending knee injury in July, 2012 and returned to action this past June, but then picked up a nagging calf injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the campaign.
Nine TFC players already under contract for the 2014 season are defenders Jonas Elmer, Ashtone Morgan, Doneil Henry, Richard Eckersley, and Steven Caldwell; and midfielders Matias Laba, Jonathan Osorio, Manuel Aparicio, and Alvaro Rey.
Though Eckersley is still under contract, coach Ryan Nelsen in on record as saying the Englishman likely won’t be back next season due to his high wages—he made $310,000 last season, and is due a raise in 2014. That might not seem like a lot of money, but in the context of the league’s $2.95 million salary cap, it’s a lot to spend on a fullback.
TFC could trade Eckersley—although it’s hard to see another MLS team picking him up at his current salary—or allow him to engineer his own transfer move to another club, most likely back in his native England. Another option for the Reds would be to buy Eckersley out of his contract.
