Andrew Gregor Sent to Rochester in Three-Way Trade
By: Bob Kellett | July 9th, 2008
The Details:
The Rhinos have acquired Portland midfielder Andrew Gregor today via a three-way trade involving the Timbers, Rochester and Carolina RailHawks.
Rochester gets: Gregor, who was Portland’s team captain and has been a first-team all-league pick the past two years. The 32-year-old had eight goals and five assists last year (24 matches) and five goals and five assists (23) in 2006 for Seattle. .
Portland gets: Rhinos backup goalie Chase Harrison and Carolina forward Jamil Walker, a Rochester native who played at McQuaid.
Carolina gets: Rhinos backup forward Hamed Diallo, who was Rochester’s top scorer last year but hadn’t scored this season and hadn’t started since early May.
A shocking move midway through the season? You betcha. Getting rid of a hometown boy who has been a stellar, all-league player in the league for years is a bold move. It is also the right one. On a team that has struggled to maintain possession and to score goals, a 32-year-old midfielder who gives the ball away too often, doesn’t play defense, has little speed and has not been able to find consistency on set pieces is extra baggage that comes at a premium (at least by USL-1 standards) cost. It also sends the right message to the rest of the team. If you don’t perform, you don’t play. It sends the right message to the fans. The Timbers aren’t satisfied with being mediocre.
The trade also targets two areas where the Timbers have questions: forward and keeper. Harrison came on last season when Scot Vallow was injured for Rochester and did a decent job in goal for the Rhinos. Walker has not put up prolific numbers for Carolina, just one goal and one assist this season, but is an experienced forward who has 70 MLS games under his belt.
A fair trade? I see this one as being an addition through subtraction. Let’s face it, Gregor’s best days are behind him. His trade value ain’t that great. Sending Gregor on his way allows the Timbers to play Chris Brown in central midfield with Takayuki Suzuki paired with Walker/Chris Bagley/Benjamin Totori up top. It also gives the Timbers some backup if Brad Knighton is recalled to New England. I can’t help but wonder why Rochester would want Gregor when they already have an aging central midfielder in Ze Roberto. The Rhinos are going to surpass the Timbers as the slowest team in the league. If Carolina can get Diallo back in form, they might have gotten the best of this deal. That guy was solid for Rochester last year and was once a member of Ivory Coast’s national team.
Category: Player News
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Hey USL trivia-heads: anyone remember any other multi-team deals? This strikes me as complex enough to actually be unique. But I’m getting forgetful in my dotage…
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It has happened before, but not with any degree of regularity. This one might have been aided by the close relationship between Carolina and Rochester.
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Question: can you ’surpass’ someone in a race to be the slowest? Do you overtake them? Supercede them? Best them? I smell smoke, and I think it’s coming from between my ears….
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Who’s the better forward, Walker or Diallo? That’s the trade Carolina made in all this… they gave up Walker to us and got Diallo from Rochester. Would we have been better off just eliminating Carolina from the transaction and doing Harrison and Diallo for Gregor, instead of Harrison and Walker? I don’t know enough about any of these players to know, but maybe some of the bigger USL nerds out there can post an opinion.
Interesting that Rochester gave up on young-ish guys Harrison and Diallo in order to get a 32 y/o Gregor that, while still somewhat effective, isn’t going to get any better and might not even be playing a couple years from now. Are they thinking they can push on and compete for a title in the next year or two with a Gregor-Ze Roberto partnership in central midfield? Hmmm.
Also, with the addition of Harrison, the Timbers now have four keepers on roster. Something has to give. Reese cut? Knighton loan canceled? James cut? Another trade in the works?
And finally, the juvenile in me wants to point out that any blog post with “three-way” in the title is a good blog post.
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From Rochester’s point of view, they got rid of an aging backup forward and a backup keeper who they don’t need. In return they got an aging all-league player whose contract expires this year. Call it a wash.
Diallo is 31, so not that young. He was their leading goal scorer last year. He’s fallen out of favor this year. He’s more of a flat out goal scorer than Walker. It will be interesting to see how he pairs with Dizzy.
I wouldn’t have minded if the Timbers traded for him, but I’m ok with Walker. He’s one of those guys who might just blossom in the right system. Hopefully that means he is great at kick and chase.
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Ahhhh… I didn’t realize Diallo was 31. Thanks, Bob.
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I have an irrational dislike of Diallo, so I’m glad we didn’t get him. I have no knowledge of Walker or Harrison, but as you point out these are two positions of need for us. More irrationality: I think a guy named Jamil will score goals, it just sounds right. I’m also surprised that in a trade with Carolina Dan Antoniuk wasn’t involved. Forget the Diallo-or-Walker question: would we have been better off to get Dizzy back (league vet who, whatever other failings he has, real or perceived, has proven that he knows how to find the goal)?
I’m conflicted about Gregor leaving, because he’s just one of those players that draws your attention with his attitude and (until this season) his great play on the field. I wish him well, except for on September 6, when I hope he experiences his worst loss as a pro.
Does this mean that Cameron Knowles is our Captain? I’m really happy if this is the case. In two years he has become a pillar on this team, huge in every way. And after hearing about his 4th of July party, whereat he was leading the players in Timbers Army songs; well I can’t think of anyone on the team I prefer to wear the armband.
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Diallo was a real diving drama queen when he played against us earlier this year. He pissed me off so I am glad we didn’t get a player like that.
The keeper situation will be interesting…
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I have seen Jamil Walker play with DC United, and he has loads of pace. He isn’t a very good finisher and isn’t a pure goal scorer, but rest assured, he will get in behind defenses with his speed.
He should be the quickest player on the team. Quicker than Benjamin Totori and Arsene Oka. Walker will be a nice change-up from Brown/Suzuki/Bagley.
That said, I may be the only Timbers fan who is a bit sad to see Andrew Gregor go, because he has served us well in past seasons.
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I would have been a bit sad to see AFG go last year. This year, he’s been nowhere doing nothing, even when he is on the pitch. The lack of passion erased any bit of sadness I might have felt at his exit.
Change for the sake of change = bad. Change because the game plan isn’t working = good.
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So what do we think about the Knighton/Harrison drama here? Personally, I think Knighton is a very solid player: solid skills, works behind Matt Reese (amazing keeper), and is certainly loud enough to work with the timbers fans. Do you guys think that Knighton will continue to start here or no? I certainly think he is very solid!
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P.S. Someone tell the guy in the picture to watch his hands…
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