Official: TFC Trade Sam Cronin to San Jose

Good luck in San Jose Sam!

The team had a couple weeks off for the World Cup break, so I guess that meant it was time for Mo Johnston to start tinkering with the squad (under the influence of Preki, no doubt), and the latest casualty is Sam Cronin. Cronin has been “traded”, or more acurately, sold to the San Jose Earthquakes. This has been rumoured for a week or so, but now its official as announced on the Toronto FC website.

I just don’t get this deal. Sure, Cronin wasn’t being used very often this season since Preki prefers grittier players like Martin Saric (by gritty, I mean prone to fouling for no reason and getting booked). But doesn’t it make sense to have a capable, no-nonsense defensive midfielder like Cronin available as a sub to help solidify a win (especially after guys like Saric or Sanyang are already on a yellow card)? Cronin started nearly every game for TFC last year, and Mo had implied during the off-season that even though he was getting good offers for Sam, he wouldn’t trade him because he would be a big part of the team’s future. And now the 2nd overall draft pick from 2009 has been traded for…money. That’s it. No players, no draft picks, just cash. And the ability to clear some salary space I guess. They better have ideas to sign someone else, like maybe another DP, because right now this just seems like Preki wanted to get rid of a guy who he didn’t like, despite whatever Mo had seen in him when he was drafted.

So now a little bit of that midfield depth the team had is gone. We didn’t get to see much of Sam this season, but I always paid attention to his play when he did get a chance, and I think he looked solid, and even added some offensive touch with his crosses. I think he played in all of TFC’s Canadian Championship matches too, helping them to win the title. Thanks for the hard work Sam, but you don’t get to join us in the Concacaf Champions League for your efforts… You would think having the extra players on the squad when you are just entering another tournament, and adding who knows how many games to the schedule would be a bonus.

Needless to say, I’m bothered by this trade a little more than I was when the mass exodus of players happened at the beginning of the season. It looked like the tear-down and rebuild was done and the team was headed in the right direction, but now I don’t know if any of the players are safe. We have a few other talented, young players with lots of potential too, so Mo are you taking offers for Frei or White yet? Only time will tell I guess. At some point though I think the TFC management will have to realize that the fans are an important part of this team, and you can’t just throw away all the players they like to see. Cronin was a young, solid and likeable player. Maybe not a big star, but certainly well liked and there was a lot of confusion over his exclusion from the starting 11 when the season began, so I can’t be the only one annoyed by this. Add that to previous fan favourites like Robinson, Guevara, Wynne, Serioux, and you have a lot of favourites gone this year.

Maybe the team will do better with the players they’ve got, and maybe even go far in the playoffs this year. Let’s just hope that by the time TFC are hoisting the MLS Cup, we’ll actually know some of the players’ names.

Category: Toronto FC