Red Bulls trade Dunivant to Toronto for Goldthwaite (updated)

The Red Bulls and Toronto FC have made their second deal of the season. The Red Bulls have dealt Todd Dunivant to Toronto FC for Kevin Goldthwaite.

A source with knowledge of the trade has just informed me this morning that the trade is not a straight swap. The Red Bulls will actually  pay a portion of Dunivan't salary in the deal, meaning the trade doesn't free up the large amount of cap space first thought to be created by this deal. So the deal is Dunivant AND cap relief for Goldthwaite.

So what's the point of the deal exactly? If the Red Bulls aren't gaining cap space then it really doesn't make much sense. Goldthwaite (on the right in the photo) is regarded as a tougher defender than Dunivant, and is more versatile, but Dunivant is the better all-around player, a left back who has been on the U.S. national team radar. The Red Bulls can sacrifice the attacking quality they lose in the deal because Dave Van Den Bergh provides enough of an attack from the left wing, but that still doesn't explain trading a more valauable player for a less valuable one.

One factor is Bruce Arena's less than impressed view of Dunivant. According to sources, Arena wasn't much of a fan of Dunivant's since taking over as Red Bulls head coach, which may come as a surprise to some considering Arena had previously called Dunivant into U.S. national team camps. Arena is apparently a member of the camp that believes Dunivant is too soft a player, a camp that counts Alexi Lalas as a member.

I remember one instance when I tried to get Arena to say something positive about Dunivant last season, leading Arena to call Dunivant "One of the top 12 left backs in MLS." It was a pretty funny line at the time but his unwillingness to single Dunivant out for praise was telling.

There is also the question of Dunivant's health. He has been nursing a quad injury for some time now and the Red Bulls may have considered him an injury liability.

The trade is another steal for Toronto coach Mo Johnston, who has been rattling off deals like Howie Mandel. His previous three deals, Marvell Wynne for a draft pick and partial allocation, Tyrone Marshall for Edson Buddle and Jeff Cunningham for Alecko Eskandarian were all absolute steals and this latest trade, coupled with the recent signing of Colin Samuel, has Toronto FC looking like a serious playoff contender with the season still not at its midpoint.

As for the Red Bulls, the trade initially looked like it was made so they could clear cap space to sign one of the defenders they have been linked with (Tony Sanneh, Chris Leitch, Mariano Fernandez), but with Red Bulls eating a large portion of the nearly $70,000 in salary difference between Dunivant ($99,750) and Goldthwaite ($30,870). I still haven't found out how much of the $70,000 the Red Bulls are absorbing but if they are at least recouping $20,000 in cap space then you can at least argue that even that amount of space could help sign a Leitch or Sanneh. It would be a weak argument, but an argument nonetheless.

What do you think of the trade? Are you sad to see Dunivant go or do you like the idea of Bruce Arena dealing for some cap room to sign another defender? Share your thoughts below.

Comments

[Uncle Dave]

The deal is fine, except for the fact that its a straight up deal - Duni's potential worth is so much more beyond that of Goldie. No allocation?? No money? No nothing?

[ag nigrin]

I like Dunivant but it is hard so say I am sad to see him go as he wasn't with the BUlls long enough... I wish him well at TFC and welcome Goldwaithe as well. Bruce and company have made good moves for the most part so far so they must know what they are doing. In Bruce we trust!

[Andy]

Uncle Dave- I get what you're saying, but there IS money involved: salary cap room. RBNY will save quite a bit of money by paying Goldthwaite instead of Dunivant, which will open up space for a potential move down the road.

[Drew Brown]

I've been impressed with Goldthwaite since watching him perform with Houston in the CCC this spring. He was more impressive than Robinson and even Barrett in the back at times. He keeps his composure and makes good offensive contributions. He's done the same in Toronto and I think Arena has picked up a good player in this deal, too.

[centrejack]

I like Dunny, but frankly, we need someone healthy. Also we don't need someone to help with offense. We have no trouble generating goals. We need help defending. Yes Goldy can get forward and has done so successfully since his move to Toronto, but he is a good defender on the left and I think he is bigger than Dunny which can help defend on set pieces. He may not have Dunivant's skill at crossing the ball, but he is tenacious and seems pretty quick. If we didn't free up cap space, I have a problem with the trade. If we did free up space, then it was a good decision.

[moholy]

i have to say that i've never been impressed by Dunivant. He's an "all-round" player in the sense that he's an ok defender and an ok attacking player, but doesn't do anything that really stands out. Arena understands that he needs to fix the defense, and he clearly didn't think that Dunivant was part of the answer.

[sublicon]

definitely sad to see him go. we'll see what happens, there has to be some big things in the works behind the scenes.

[Metrosct]

Decisions on personnel shouldn't come down to gaining $50,000 of cap space. This league needs to continue to move forward and expand the cap. As for this trade, I'd rather have a player in Goldwaite that can stay on the field. Dunivant's injury problems don't seem to be going away.

[EmorySoccer]

Ives,

On an unrelated note...

Just got forwarded a .pdf for the RB "Overnight Soccer Tournament" following the RBNY-Revolution game on 7/14. I am 100% in for this. Great idea.

[h4]

Interested to hear Lalas is not a Dunivant fan, because my initial thought was that Mo was preparing to bring Jazik up north with Dunivant as bait.

[kpugs]

According to the source for this the Red Bulls will not gain much, if any, cap space. So I can't see how anyone would say it's a good deal.

If it was a straight swap I'd almost say it was okay due to saving $70k. But they're still paying most of that. So they give up a good (but soft) player and agree to keep paying him while getting a tougher but worse player in return.

I'm not sad to see Duni go, but it's another instance of me wondernig why we couldn't get more for him, or at least not throw more money at Toronto.

[scott]

This might explain part of the reason for the deal. Mo Johnson quotes in an article on mlsnet.com following TFC loss to New England on Saturday

"We defended like schoolboys,we didn't defend well."

"We were very disappointed with one player in particular. You'll see the effects of that next week."

[Trex]

Even if Goldwaithe ends up being a good pick up the problem is that most parties seem to agree that Dunivant was the greater value. In that case you have to get more out of it than straight up (and it is pretty much straight up because we don't save much at all if we're paying half his salary still). I'm not doubting Arena's perception at talent as the Freeman trade may have worked out well, just think he could have gotten more.

My other thought was that if Lalas is not high on him then he must have really been good!

Good luck Duni and welcome aboard Goldie.

[nathan3e]

I don't think Johnston is capable if picking one plan and going with it. I am not sure about this trade, but I am sure that Dunivant cannot stay healthy. I am also sure that “Jeff Cunningham” and “absolute steal” do not belong in the same paragraph. Cunningham is often readily available in trades because he has effectively and repeatedly demonstrated that he cares about nothing but himself, and he will eventually grind on the nerves of everyone in Toronto if he hasn’t already. He is the anti-Angel. Also – I am not sure why the signing of Colin Samuel is reason for optimism. He banged in a whopping 5 goals in 37 matches for mighty Dundee United, the previous home of Peter Canero.

[DCU Fan]

So they traded for Van Wilder?

http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/artisan_entertainment/national_lampoon_s_van_wilder/ryan_reynolds/vanwilder3.jpg

[PS]

Dunivant was a Red Bull? Never would have known from the games I've seen this season.

[anon]

someone above said they would be happy to see Goldthwaite because NYRB need defense... and someone above said they'll miss Dunivant's crosses.
I think these comments reveal that some people have not seen Goldthwaite play very much. I've watched him in every TFC game. This is his style: He's weak defensively and can get beaten one-on-one pretty easily. He likes to back up a lot and usually the offensive player can take him on and beat him or cross it without interference. He makes a lot of dummy mistakes (own goals, balls glancing off him to strikers etc). He is tough, however, and is always willing to tackle dangerously (no fear!). His strength is actually on offense. He can get upfield and is a great crosser into the box. Has a good shot as well (scored a nice goal early in the season). His discipline is a problem.

[Joamiq]

I've actually been more impressed with Goldthwaite this season than Dunivant anyway.

[inkedAG]

I'll have to wait and see with this deal. So far, it sounds like a stinker. But when we got Hunter Freeman and traded Wynne, I didn't know that that was going to be so good.

[alex]

Ives as a TFC fan, I'm really hoping for both our sakes that Goldthwaite isn't a better defender than Dunivant. He's terribly undisciplined and gets exposed often. He's definitely more of a offensive left back (sounds like Dunivant is the same?).

[Jeff]

I like Goldthwaite, and I will venture to say that he will be better than Dunivant one day. MLS needs more attacking outside backs, and I don't see too many of them hitting screamers of goal like Goldthwaite has this season. I think that there is only more to come, and it is unreasonable to say Dunivant has more potential.

[anon]

if this trade works out as well as the Wynne trade, I'll be a happy TFC fan. I still don't understand how Arena could let Wynne go. He's been great and exactly what they needed. A great young player.
He wins one-on-one battles consisently, he makes decent passes, he makes up for the mistakes of the others with his speed.

[Steve]

Yeah, I'd definitely have to say Dunivant is more talented though, I agree with some of the previous comments people made, particularly Kpugs and Trex, and I am not exactly stoked, but I guess we'll have to wait and see, there is a good reason I'm not a GM

[JHJG89]

I remember Bruce saying that Dunivant will surprise a lot of fans with his great play. I swear I KNOW I remember hearing that.

[Matt]

For the record, I believe that Yallop has twice traded Todd Dunivant away (once with SJ and then again with LAG), so I don't see even the slightest possibility that Duni will be going to LA again. I don't rememebr if Lalas was also the GM both times or not, but could have been.