RBNY Acquires Santino Quaranta from LA

The Red Bulls filled one of their empty roster slots on Friday by acquiring midfielder Santino Quaranta from the LA Galaxy for a conditional fourth round draft pick.

Quaranta is expected to join the Red Bulls in Columbus for their match against the Crew. No word yet on whether he'll actually be on the bench for the match.

What role will Quaranta play for the Red Bulls? He'll be a winger/forward off the bench and it makes you wonder what future Markus Schopp has on the team. Don't be surprised to see the Austrian midfielder depart soon.

Actually, the player who should be looking into a moving company is Mike Magee, who may also be on the way out.

By signing Quaranta, the Red Bulls have one open roster spot left to sign a defender, unless they part with another player, likely Magee or Schopp. Which defender will they sign? Good question.

In other news, Dema Kovalenko did not make the trip to Columbus.

What do you think of this trade? Excited? Angry? Indifferent (yes, please)? Share your thoughts below.

Comments

[yo]

Cool. Kid's got alot of potential and is still very young. Let's hope Bruce can put his head back in the right place.

now about that defense...

and ives, lets see your all-star ballot.

[Nathanhj]

Any word on whether or not "conditional draft pick" means a rent boy for Alexi and a full-body Thai Soap Massage for Frank?

[Nathanhj]

Good riddance. You can have him.

He's got lots of upside if by upside you mean "doesn't get match fit and has the first touch of a child molester".

Don't understand why the Gals didn't take Schopp in return. Didn't they institute a team rule that they only take aging former national team players when trading their future away?

[Miguel]

Well, if Quaranta will be the backup to Richards then this is a good aquisition. Schopp hasn't been worth the cap space this season. If Schopp is waived then we can get a much needed Designated Player at Center Back. I don't know if that Argentine player who is currently training with us will be the DP but I doubt it.

[Steve]

Umm... isn't there a limit of maximum 2 DP slots for a team? We can sign someone up to like 260k or whatever based on whatever cap space we'll have, but thats it. Boot Schopp and we'll have at least 1 SI slot, not sure how many are open, but Schopp isn't a DP

[kahlva]

Do you know if we're picking up his salary (100k?)?

And what's the word on his fitness/skill/value? The folks on the LA boards seemed thrilled to be done with him.

[EdTheRed]

Ha-ha! Enjoy the Tino Show, RB fans. He's just like Kwame Brown (overhyped underachiever traded from DC to LA, where he gets even more petulant), except that Isiah hasn't traded for Kwame yet.

[sprool11]

Tino's been a bust!

[Joamiq]

Wha...?

I mean, in terms of cost-benefit, Quaranta for a conditional 4th rounder is great value - if he's a bust, whatever, we gave up nothing; if he partially realizes his potential, great. I guess he'll be nice to have off the bench. But isn't our primary issue right now the depth of the backline? Is the one addition we have left going to be enough to address that? I would not at all be opposed to getting rid of Magee and adding another defender. I'm going to continue to put my trust in Bruce - when a move seems counterintuitive, I assume he is simply working in mysterious ways.

(We have used both of our DP slots and getting rid of Schopp probably still wouldn't leave us with enough cap space to sign a DP.)

[Randall]

looks like were stocking up on head cases

[Tat106]

I guess Schopp goes back to Salzburg to make way for Quaranta. Given Santino's track record, I'd rather see Magee get on the field a bit before we cut him loose (preferably via trade).

I thought Santino was going to KC? That's what had been reported on other sites a few days ago.

[David]

Hey,thanks guys. I was hoping to unload Quaranta on someone, and the Galaxy get something in return. We win, we win, we win!

[Chris]

I'm pretty sure the Galaxy would have traded Santino for a anything at this point. For Santino's sake, I do hope that Bruce can get him on the right track.

[Andrew]

Great pick-up for RBNY. SQ is a quality player. If he can shake the injury bug, he'll contribute.

[Rene]

As a Galaxy fan, I am glad to have traded Quaranta. He just didn't seem like making any effort at all this season (at least he put in a bit of effort last season). For Quaranta's sake, let's hope Bruce Arena can get him on the right track again. As a Galaxy fan once again, I hope he doesn't have a breakout game against us (knock on wood).

[Miguel]

Regarding my earlier post about aquiring another DP in place of Schopp: I actually meant an Allocated Player (Like Guevarra, for instance). I understand that JPA and Claudio Reyna are our two DPs.

[JHJG89]

I thought he was already traded to KC earlier this week?

He's talented, I've seen him play, but it is his attitude that worries me.

[jeff]

"if he can shake the injury bug." Translation = if he can drop 15 pounds. LA fans had taken to calling him cheeseburger.

See you later lunchbox!

[other jeff]

Not so long ago he was playing for the National team and now he relegated to bench work.

[Sean]

Quaranta has been useless. After Gaven's horrible performance in the US game, I'm sort of through with giving these 'players with potential' a chance. What the heck was Bruce thinking?

[Lalique]

Gaven has been useless and given many chances to get his head screwed on straight but still nothing to show for it. But sometimes a player needs a new surrounding and a coach that can motivate them..... case in point - Mathis. Hopefully Arena can get the best out of Quaranta.

[John]

1. To argue that Quaranta is useless and will contribute nothing is a bit silly. How much have Schoop and Magee contributed this year? Exactly. This is about taking a flyer on a young player that at times as been impressive. His stats his first 2 years in the league were better than Adu's (and Freddy played more and on a better team).

2. I would think that both Schoop and Magee are history. That's b/c unless both go, you only have 1 slot open and you've just released 3 defenders. So if for nothing else than practice depth, you've got to get some more defensive bodies back there.

3. Steve Goff reported that for some bizarre reason, Quaranta only counts $60k on the cap this season. So just like Mathis, Arena is taking a flyer on someone who has shown some good things in the past, has been erratic at best, but comes at a much reduced fee. Call it a gamble but likely a smart one. If it doesn't work, all you likely did was swap Schoop for Quaranta except reduce your cap hit in the process.

[Allen]

Just remind BA that if he shops for garage sales too often he'll turn the club into the Colorado Rapids of the East. That isn't a good thing.

[Fred]

Have they been Schopping Marcus around?