Aug 06
Noonan Signed by New England and Traded to Columbus,
Pat Noonan left last year to make some coin, and hopefully a splash in Europe. Only one of those two things happened. Noonan’s salary tripled when he joined Aalesunds, but his playing time was almost non-existent. He subsequently expressed the desire to rejoin MLS, and Columbus was one of the many teams vying for his services.
New England signed Noonan today and traded him to Columbus for a 2009 first round draft pick, and allocation money.
I’m not really sure how New England saw this as a good trade. Columbus is New England’s closest competitor in the East, and trading them a very good and capable forward doesn’t seem beneficial. There were three or four other teams in the mix for Noonan and they could have easily traded Noonan to another team for roughly the same in return.
This was a good move by Columbus. They picked up a good forward to play alongside Alejandro Moreno, someone who needs some assistance scoring goals. The price was steep, but this move makes Columbus a legitimate contender for MLS Cup.
What do you think of the move? Has New England shot themselves in the foot? Why didn’t they trade him to another team? Is Columbus a legitimate contender now? Your thoughts below.
