The roster reshuffle continues for DC United as they send Goalkeeper Troy Perkins to Portland in exchange for Goalkeeper Steve Cronin and some allocation money.
Cronin has appeared for the Black and Red before in 2009 on a loan from Portland and started two games, ending one with a shutout. Cronin spent last year with Portland in USSF-2.
Last season for Portland, Cronin racked up a lot of shutouts and have a pretty small goals against average. Perkins on the other hand struggled mightily. But in Perkins defense, not everything was his fault as he was playing behind a pretty poor back line. The entire DC United defense leaked goals like a rusty freighter, so it is difficult to hang the fault on Perkins. But when he is carrying a guaranteed salary of $200,000 (and Cronin sure to be less), the writing may have been on the wall to ship Perkins to clear some cap space.
Perkins, who is still young for a keeper, may find a resurgence in Portland--I hope so, he is a quality goalkeeper who just had a bad year.
The test for Cronin will be a) having a season in MLS as strong as his last season in Portland and b) fending off a challenge for the starting slot from young Bill Hamid, who impressed many people last season. Cronin was a quality starter for the L.A. Galaxy in the past and probably fell victim to the dominance that is Donovan Ricketts. I am glad to see Cronin return to DC on a permanent basis.
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