TFC Trades Former Dynamo Goldthwaite to RBNY

MLSnet.com reports today that Kevin Goldthwaite has been traded from Toronto FC to Red Bull New York for Defender Todd Dunivant.

The trade comes just months after the Dynamo made a move to send Goldthwaite to a starting position in Toronto in exchange for Richard Mulrooney. Goldthwaite was in the midst of his first season in Toronto. He had started and played in nine matches, recording 801 minutes of play, an assist, and a goal in Toronto FC's first ever win --a 3-1 extinguishing of the Chicago Fire.

Goldthwaite was a key part of the Dynamo back line in their run to the championship in 2006. With an injury to the then Dynamo Defender Adrian Serioux, Goldthwaite made 20 appearances, eight being starts.

It's bittersweet for RBNY Technical Director Jeff Agoos as he is happy with the acquisition of Goldthwaite, but hates to part with Dunivant.

"We're excited to have Kevin Goldthwaite as a member of the New York Red Bulls. We believe he is a good, young talent who has his whole career ahead of him and we expect Kevin to be able to contribute significantly to our team," said Red Bull New York Technical Director Jeff Agoos. "It was a very difficult decision for us to trade Todd. We certainly appreciate everything he's done for our club. He's been a very good professional and a very good player for the Red Bulls and we wish him the best of luck in Toronto and in his career."

Coming via Los Angeles, Dunivant was a mid-season acquisition for New York last year. He ended the season with 22 appearances between the clubs, and two goals --both during his stint with the Red Bulls.

There are speculations that the move was done my RBNY in an effort to clear up some salary cap space. Payment wise, Goldthwaite is in the $30,000 range, while Dunivant sits around $90,000.

This season, Dunivant has appeared in seven games, starting all seven for the Red Bulls. The fact of the matter is that no MLS team will pay a player $90,000 per year to sit on the bench...nor should one have to.

The only bad thing in this move for Goldthwaite is that he's going somewhere where his future is uncertain. He could go back to making spot starts, like he did with the Dynamo. For Goldthwaite, any situation is better than when he was in Houston. He just wasn't getting the playing time he needed or deserved. But then again...not many left backs in the league would get any time playing second string to Wade Barrett.

Bruce Arena constantly starts different combinations of players in the back line, so the good news for Goldthwaite is that the Bruce isn't quite yet set in his ways when it comes to the back. Hopefully he'll be able to get in there and challenge for a spot.