The Colorado Rapids are a week away from their season opener at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, and a handful of spots on their roster remain in flux.
The Rapids are unbeaten through the preseason (3-0-2) and take on the Houston Dynamo on Saturday in the final of the Desert Diamond Cup in Tucson — their final tune-up before next Saturday’s opener against the New England Revolution. Despite parting ways with midfielders Jermaine Jones, Marco Pappa and Sebastien Le Toux this offseason, Colorado returns the core of its squad that finished second in the Supporters’ Shield race last year.
Colorado currently has 23 players under contract with at least five unsigned players in camp: three 2017 SuperDraft picks (midfielder Sam Hamilton, fullback Liam Callahan and striker Jamie Siaj), a trialist (goalkeeper Cody Mizell) and a guest player (midfielder Tony Cascio).
A league source said MLS plans to expand the maximum roster size from 28 players to 30 this year, with those two extra spots going to homegrown players. The Rapids signed two homegrowns this offseason in defender Kortne Ford and midfielder Ricardo Perez. Colorado could, in theory, sign all five unsigned players currently in camp and still have two open roster spots.
Rapids sporting director Padraig Smith last week said the club still was searching for additional attacking players, but stressed it was more important to find the right player rather than signing someone quickly.
“We’re still looking,” Smith said. “We’ve identified a number of targets. We’d like to bring in another one or two before the start of the season. It’s a more challenging time obviously with the way the European season goes. So if the right option doesn’t come for us, we’re happy to wait.”
The Rapids have until May 8 to sign players before the current transfer window closes, or they would need to wait until the summer transfer window, which will run July 10 to Aug. 9 this season, a league source said. The summer window aligns better with the end of the European season, when European-based players would be more likely to change teams.
“We’re continuing to look on the attacking side,” Smith said. “There’s no doubt we want to get better on that end.”
Smith said the club was not looking to sign a big-money designated player (DP) this year, despite the fact that it opened up a DP roster slot by paying down striker Kevin Doyle’s contract below the DP threshold.
Hamilton, Callahan and Siaj have all seen playing time with Colorado during the preseason and earlier this month were sent to an MLS rookie symposium, perhaps an indicator the Rapids plan to have them around this season.
Mizell is under contract with the Charlotte Independence, the Rapids’ USL affiliate. However, with goalkeeper Tim Howard not expected back until mid-March at the earliest and goalkeeper John Berner still nursing a wrist injury, Mizell could break camp with the Rapids and backup goalkeeper Zac MacMath in the early going this year.
Cascio, who was the Rapids’ first-round pick in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, has had some bright moments in two preseason games for Colorado and could play his way into the Rapids’ picture as a winger. He played in 22 games last season with Arizona United of the USL, scoring a goal and adding three assists.
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