Richard Mulrooney heading to Houston

Toronto FC is keeping busy. Just a day after dealing for former No. 1 overall pick Marvell Wynne, Mo Johnston's club has made another big deal. According to league sources, TFC has dealt disgruntled defensive midfielder Richard Mulrooney to the Houston Dynamo for defender Kevin Goldthwaite and Houston's first round pick in 2008.

The deal comes on the same day that Toronto FC announced the signing of English striker Danny Dichio, giving the team about six strikers.

The deal reunites Mulrooney with former San Jose teammates as well as Houston coach Dom Kinnear. I'm not sure how Mulrooney fits in to Houston's starting lineup but he's too good a player to keep on the bench. A 4-5-1 perhaps? Or is Houston preparing for the possibility that Ricardo Clark is sold in the summer transfer window? It's something to think about.

Toronto unloads a player who didn't want to be in Canada and they add a sorely-needed left back in Goldthwaite and basically replace the draft pick it dealt to the Red Bulls for Wynne. Mo Johnston didn't waste time addressing his defensive issues. Wynne may be raw but he's a solid right back and Goldthwaite has impressed for Houston when he has played.

As for the Wynne trade, it is being held up by MLS, which happens sometimes. You can't blame the league for wanting to unveil the deal later in the week. For those of you wondering if the deal happened or not, Wynne is already in Toronto so the deal is done.

is Toronto FC done dealing? Probably not, but I think it's fair to say the expansion club is done dealing with the Red Bulls. At least for the immediate future.

Comments

[Chris]

Rico Clark is arguably the best d-mid in the league (Sharlie Joseph's fans might disagree). Houston really missed Clark when he was out with injury earlier. Dom Kinnear and Mulroony go way back to their Earthquake days. I can see Mulroony serving as mentor/backup/utility player for the Dynamo.

[ag nigrin]

Hopefully you are correct Ives RE: no more Toronto FC dealings for nYRB which means no Eski here! Which is a good thing IMO.

[JJ]

If the deal goes thru, and we get the Mulrooney of a couple of years ago then it is a good deal for Houston. It really only affects the Dynamo from a salary cap standpoint as Kinnear places little value on draft picks based on how he brings young guys in. Goldwaithe is versatile and actually started last year but got pushed to bench when Serioux came back. He's worth more as a player because of his relative small salary than as an overall talent.

My only concern is we have kind of a logjam at midfield and gave away some depth on the back line and none of our mids (except for Mullan) are really suited for dropping back.

On the forward-looking front, I can speculate on two things: (1) the national team callups (likely DeRo, Clark, Ching, maybe Mullan and possibly Moreno for Copa) had Kinnear worried that we wouldn't survive the summer without better midfield help to fill in during the international tournaments and a heavy fixture schedule for the Dynamo or (2) the trade was some protection in case they sell Clark or DeRo or the DeRo salary dispute gets messy and he forces his way out.

[Juan Pablo Angel]

Jesus Christ!! this team is brand new and thier roster has changed a million times this season. Did Mulrooney even play?

[Mark]

galarcep@northjersey.com

[shaj]

esky sucks why would you want him on the red bulls

[JHJG89]

Wow, TFC's midfield is gonna suck big time! Nagamura, welsh, Robinson...

Maybe if they play a 4-3-3, with Alecko, Dichio, and Casey up top (Buddle is useless).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the reason why Mulrooney was traded from San Jose to FCD was to be close to his family. Therefore, I understand if he was very unhappy to be traded all the way to Canada, and it goes to show the lack of class from the FCD front office.

[JJ]

It may also show a lack of competancy by FC Dallas front office. So far, I believe they have traded Craig Vanney, Ronnie O'Brien and Richard Mulrooney for three draft picks (one of which was a 15-year old), some allocation money, and damaged goods in Adrian Serioux. Add to that the expensive contract for over the hill Shaka Hislop and it's been a strange year for FCD. Now, I know those guys were all making high salaries and probably weren't worth the pay but they had to be so bad in the locker room to make that much addition by subtraction make sense.

[papa bear]

Your analysis sounds spot on to me Ives. Toronto's biggest problem is in the back. The much vaunted Midfield (in preseason) has looked a bit suspect but for whatever reason the front line and midfield tends to take longer to gel and in fairness the team has been together for about a month now. I really do think that part of their team would sort itself out.
Toronto may seem like they are grasping at straws sometimes, but I think the stockpiling of picks and cash is a smart move. Lets you get younger and less expensive next year as I don't think they are gonna do much this year.

[Joe Pamplona]

I see TFC going 4-4-2 now with Goldwaithe, Boyens, Reda, and Wynne in the back. O'Brien, Robinson, Nagamura, and Brennan in the middle and Esky and Dichio up front.

O'Brien is the key to this. Toronto cannot expect Welsh and Canizalez to work the wings with the inexperience that they have.

[DrewBrown]

Ives-Is the cap in Canada before or after their massive taxation? In other words do guys who get $167k take home that much less money playing for TFC?

I know taxes vary from state to state in the US, but not even the Revs in Taxachussetts get hit as hard as the Canadians. Not even close!

[g]

There is a 2 percent difference in the highest marginal tax rate between Ontario and NY. Thanks for trying though.