Sports

Red Bulls trade De Rosario for United’s McCarty

The Red Bulls acquired midfielder Dax McCarty from archrival D.C. United, in blockbuster trade for veteran midfielder Dwayne De Rosario.

McCarty will be available for the Red Bulls’ game at the San Jose Earthquakes Saturday (10:30 p.m., ESPN2). And while he’s clearly not De Rosario, he’s nine years younger, about $300,000 cheaper, and leaves cap room for further moves to help shore up this team’s holes.

“Dax is an exciting young player who will immediately add his dynamic style of play to our midfield,” said Red Bull GM and Sporting Director Erik Soler. “He is an excellent two-way player who will contribute both to our defense and to our attack for seasons to come.

“To acquire such a promising player, we had to make a difficult decision in trading Dwayne. During his short time in New York, Dwayne has been a consummate professional. We wish him the best of luck in D.C.”

The 24-year-old McCarty has played in 13 games for United, scoring twice and starting the year as United’s captain. D.C. had gotten the two-way midfielder from the expansion Portland Timbers _ in addition to allocation money _ last Nov. 24 in exchange for defender Rodney Wallace and a fourth pick.

“This business is NUTS!! DCU fans, its been a pleasure, truly the class of the league.That said, cant wait 2 get 2 NY! Appreciate the support,” tweeted McCarty, who had been taken by Portland first overall in the 2010 Expansion Draft.

He’d been a big part of FC Dallas’ run to last year’s MLS Cup Final and seeing him notch three goals and six assists in 28 games the year before. On the international level, McCarty made his U.S. debut on Nov. 14, 2009 and has five caps; but there is a clear dropoff on talent in this deal, which can’t even begin to be properly evaluated until it’s clear what the Red Bulls do with the money they saved.  

The Red Bulls give up De Rosario, who they’d just acquired in an April Fool’s Day deal with Toronto. It was a salary dump for Toronto, and the Red Bulls sent midfielder Tony Tchani, defender Danleigh Borman and next year’s first-round pick to Toronto. He had two goals and four assists for the Red Bulls, who poured in 23 goals in their 13 games with him, but just four in their four tilts without him.

But after a long-stated desire for Designated Player money, it was unclear if New York would’ve chosen to or been able to re-sign the 33-year-old after his contract expired at the end of the season.

De Rosario was making a base salary of $425,000 this year, $493,750 guaranteed, and had expressed a desire in the past for Designated Player money in Toronto. Soler had said he planned to open contract talks with De Rosario upon the Canadian midfielder’s return from the Gold Cup; within a week, De Ro found himself playing elsewhere. McCarty is a bargain at $155,000, which would open space for a high-priced addition, be it a keeper or midfielder or whatever Soler and coach Hans Backe feel is needed.