Where are they now? 2010-2014 edition

2010 was the golden year for the Colorado Rapids—we finally took the MLS Cup, defeating FC Dallas in an epic game. This was the roster that gave us some of the all-time great players for the Rapids, many of whom would return to the club in a technical staff spot. But I’ve been wondering, how many of these players are still active? Join me as we take a look back on the players of the Rapids yesteryear, and find out where their journeys have taken them.

In this 2-part series, we’ll take a look at a semi-arbitrary list of some of the bigger names of the Rapids’ roster who have since left the team since 2010. In this first part, we’ll focus on players that were with us between 2010 and 2014. For every player, the ‘years active’ means when the player was with the Rapids.

• Omar Cummings
• Years Active: 2007-2012

Omar Cummings was one-half of the greatest offensive duos that the Rapids have ever had. Racking up 39 goals over his 5 years, his pairing with Conor Casey made him one of the all-time greats for the club. After getting traded to the Houston Dynamo, he spent some time with the San Antonio Scorpions in the NASL and then joined FC Cincinnati and retired in the middle of last season. He is now an FC Cincy Club Ambassador.

• Conor Casey
• Years Active: 2007-2012

Conor Casey is, of course, the other half of the greatest offensive pairing the Rapids have ever had. In fact, some people might consider Casey the greatest player the Rapids have ever had. He totaled 50 goals with the team, and after retiring from Columbus Crew SC in 2016, joined the Rapids Front Office as an assistant head coach.

• Jeff Larentowicz
• Years Active: 2010-2012

Jeff Larentowicz has been around a bit, and while his time with the Rapids was brief, it was nonetheless effective. After his time with the Rapids, he went to Chicago Fire and then to LA Galaxy. He has been with Atlanta since they started as a club in 2017 and has been a rock for their team, with 45 appearances in their year-and-a-half in the league. Larentowicz has mostly played as a defensive midfielder, and despite being 35 years old, has shown that he’s capable of playing with the best of them.

• Pablo Mastroeni
• Years Active: 2002-2013

Oh, Pablo. Probably the most controversial player on this list, but most of the controversy surrounds his coaching, not his on-the-field work. But something no one can deny is that when you think of the face of the Rapids for the 2000s, you think of Pablo Mastroeni. Sticking with the team for 11 years, helping to bring home the MLS Cup in 2010, and eventually going on to be head coach from 2014 until 2017, Pablo bleeds true burgundy.

After he stopped playing, things got more complicated for him. In truth, his playing career and his coaching career seemed to mirror each other quite well: many years of disappointing results with one highlight in the middle. In this case, it was the 2010 MLS Cup and the 2016 season, earning a club record of 59 points and finished second in the league. Despite this, his overall record with the club is pretty weak. We all remember the 2017 season, which saw us finish close to the bottom (only LA Galaxy and DC United were below us in the standings).

I happen to have a co-worker who has played golf with Pablo a few times. His contract ran through the end of 2019, so he has been partially retired as he is still technically on the Rapid’s payroll. He has taken up golf, and according to my co-worker, has gotten pretty good at it. Pablo is still around in the Denver area. Personally, I hope we see him again. I just hope that his legacy as a coach doesn’t eclipse his legacy as a player. Here’s to us seeing more of you eventually, Pablo...

• Drew Moor
• Years Active: 2009-2015

Man, it is hard to ever get mad at Drew Moor. The defender was with us for a long time, and it was sad to see him leave for Toronto FC. He has been a near-constant presence with Toronto, including during their run to the 2017 MLS Cup. Whenever he is in town, it’s always good to see him. I remember when we had the CONCACAF Champion’s League game against Toronto FC, and even though it was about 3 degrees outside, he still came over to the C38 to say hi. Class act, my dude.

• Kosuke Kimura
• Years Active: 2007-2012

Kosuke Kimura is a pretty interesting player, partly because he was the first player in MLS to be born in Japan. The dude is a true journeyman, having played with (in order) the Thunder Bay Chill of the PDL, the Rapids, the Portland Timbers, the New York Red Bulls, Widzew Łódź (a Polish team), the Atlanta Silverbacks, Rayo OKC, Tulsa Toughnecks, and finally Nashville SC (along with Rapids draftee Alan Winn, past Rapids keeper Matt Pickens, and Rapids MLS Cup-winning head coach Gary Smith). Though he has been with nine different teams, his longest tenure was with the Rapids. His future with Nashville is unknown, as they may join MLS in 2020.

• Marvell Wynne
• Years Active: 2010-2014

Marvell Wynne was another rock for the Rapids. Over the four seasons he had with us, Wynne totaled 140 appearances. If there was a game, he was probably there. Afterward, he played with the San Jose Earthquakes from 2015 to 2017, then was more or less forced to retire from professional soccer after battling with MLS to be able to play. Eagle-eyed viewers may have seen him at the game against San Jose a few weeks ago.

• Claudio Lopez
• Years Active: 2010

Claudio Lopez had a brief stint playing with the Rapids, and his legacy lies more with the Rapids Front Office. 2010 was his final year playing, meaning he capped his senior career with the MLS Cup. Not a bad way to end an 18-year career. He joined the Rapids as the Director of Soccer in 2014, but his contract ended after the 2017 season and was not renewed.

• Tony Cascio
• Years Active: 2012-2014

Cool dude, that Cascio. The Rapids signed him in 2012 and started his senior career. He made 42 appearances with the team, but we were really the only team that he played for in MLS. He made six appearances for Houston Dynamo, and though Orlando City selected him in their expansion draft, he never made an appearance. He actually played with the Rapids again a few years ago during the Desert Diamond Cup, where he came in clutch due to injuries on the team. There were rumors of him re-joining the team, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. He signed with Sporting Arizona FC of the UPSL in 2018.

• Shane O’Neill
• Years Active: 2012-2015

Shane O’Neill was one of the most promised Homegrown players for the Rapids, but was—to say the least—mishandled. He signed with Apollon Limassol, a Cypriot team, but never played for them. He was instead loaned out, where he had some good success with NAC Breda, an Eredivisie team. Most recently, he was signed by Orlando City SC during the summer transfer window that just passed. He has made a few appearances, but hasn’t been with the team very long.

• Deshorn Brown
• Years Active: 2013-2015

Deshorn Brown was another player with a lot of promise that didn’t pan out for the team. In 2013 and 2014 he was our golden boot winner with 10 goals in each season. In early 2015, he was sold to Norwegian team Valerenga, and he played for Shenzhen in the Chinese League One division in 2016. In 2017 Brown played for the Tampa Bay Rowdies and made a mini-MLS comeback, signing with DC United and scoring 2 goals in 16 games. He has since moved to Lorca FC, a Spanish team in their fourth tier league.

• Nick LaBrocca
• Years Active: 2007-2010, 2013-2015

LaBrocca is one of the few Rapids players to have two different spells with the team. The first time was from 2007 to 2010, and then he was traded to Toronto FC early on in the 2010 season. Because of that, LaBrocca wasn’t with the team when they won the cup. He also spent some time with Chivas USA until he was traded back to the Rapids. His last year in professional soccer was 2016 with the Chicago Fire.

• Vicente Sanchez
• Years Active: 2013-2015

Autocorrect, stop trying to make me spell his name as Vincent Sanchez. The Uruguayan forward played for a few years with the Rapids, but his contract was declined before the 2016 season started. He was picked up by his hometown club Defensor Sporting where he played for a single season. He returned to Houston Dynamo for 2017, but retired after the season had ended.

• Gabriel Torres
• Years Active: 2013-2014

I know that the very act of saying the name Gabby Torres makes some Rapids fan’s clench up in shame. He holds the distinction for being the first Designated Player for the team. He was acquired from Zamora FC, where he returned to after the Rapids didn’t extend his contract. Currently, he is playing with Huachipato, a club in the top division of the Chilean football league.

• Dillon Powers
• Years Active: 2013-2017

Dillon “Big Dill” Powers… Man oh man. Another controversial player, to say the least. He made some appearances for the U-18 and U-20 USMNTs, but hasn’t made a senior appearance. In 2013 he was named MLS Rookie of the Year, beating out Deshorn Brown. Powers had a lot of promise and alternated between being a player that the Rapids would be building around and a bench player. He was traded to Orlando about a year ago for Luis Gil and $100,000 TAM. He is still with Orlando, but has just three appearances for a total of 69 minutes in 2018.

In Part 2 of this series, we’ll take a look at the players from 2015 to today.