Something that really didn't shock most MLS fans and watchers finally happened today. Brian Ching, the forward taken from Houston by the Montreal Impact was traded back to the Dynamo for a draft pick.
Yes, most of us saw this coming, but I think it's really lame. There's been a whole saga surrounding this. Houston left Ching unprotected for the expansion draft, believing that his DP-like salary and age would deter the Impact from selecting him. Sure enough, they were wrong. Ching and Houston cried foul, and Ching threatened to retire rather than play in Montreal. If rumors are true, Houston immediately began talks on trying to get Ching back in a Dynamo uniform. However eventually that died down, and Ching reported to camp in Montreal and participated in training, saying he would play and make the best of it. Then abruptly last week, he took a personal leave from the squad, causing the rumors to fly again. A trade was first reported by SoccerByIves yesterday, and was made official by MLS today.
There's a couple of ways to look at this. Ching is a talisman in Houston, their captain and all time leading scorer. Houston supporters largely seem to believe that the Impact never really intended on keeping or playing Ching, that they took him to extort something from the Dynamo, namely another protected player or a draft pick, which is what they ended up getting.
The Impact haven't seemed to make as much noise about it, but I've seen comments to the effect of "Hey, we're just playing by the rules. If you wanted him, you should have protected him. He didn't want to play here, so we sent him back and got compensated." This theory largely makes Ching out to be the Carlos Tevez of MLS.
Here's my take. I do think the Impact largely knew what they were doing when they picked Ching. However, I'm not sure extortion is the right word. Many neutrals have seen Ching as in a decline, and a bit over-payed at a DP-like $450,000. Certainly there have been other non-DP strikers that have played a lot better than Ching. He's spent a lot of time injured in recent years, and hasn't impacted, pardon the pun, the game all that much. What did he do in MLS Cup against LA? I'll wait for that answer. My point is, I don't think Montreal rated his value as high as Houston did. I think Montreal saw a chance to get a stable veteran on the squad to help settle what would most likely be a young team. I just don't think they drafted him with the intent of extorting Will Bruin or Tally Hall or somebody away, because Ching isn't really worth that much. I'm not trying to bag on Ching, just calling it like I see it.
At any rate, Ching threw his hissy fit and has returned to Houston. Montreal got a draft pick that will probably come out of the middle of the pack at best. Not much to be excited about. At least it's done.
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