Jeff Larentowicz Traded To Chicago Fire

It's the move that we've been speculating all off-season long, and a move that seemed inevitable. Well hello, Mr. Inevitable! Jeff Larentowicz, long rumored to be on the chopping block, has reportedly been dealt to the Chicago Fire in exchange for the No. 11 pick in the MLS SuperDraft as well as allocation money of an as usual unknown amount. Soccer by Ives had the story first on twitter.

(SLIGHT Correction: Rapids Beat Writer Chris Bianchi had technically broken the news of the trade first, but Soccer by Ives was the first one who had the full details about the Chicago Fire.)

Since I'm typing this up using the incredibly terrible Wi-Fi in the Indianapolis Airport with a bus to catch soon, I'm going to try and make this quick: Hendry Thomas re-signing and Pablo Mastroeni coming back to the team, along with the pick-ups of Nathan Sturgis and Shane O'Neill, made Larentowicz expendable after he showed he really didn't have the stuff to fit in as the anchor man in Oscar Pareja's 4-3-3.

In addition, the Rapids had been hinting that they were looking for some more draft picks. In that regard, the trade makes perfect sense, and the added allocation money will probably also come in handy as the fans continue to wait for the 'big signing' that we've seen hints of since the off-season started.

The full haul:

COLORADO TRADES:
Jeff Larentowicz
No. 30 pick in the MLS Draft

CHICAGO TRADES:
No. 11 pick in the MLS Draft
Allocation Money
International slot

Also, fun fact: This off-season, the Rapids have released or traded their top scorer from every single season from 2009-2011, and will finish off the gambit if Jaime Castrillon ends up bolting to Colombia.