On the Cannon In, Perkins Out Story

Steve Goff is reporting that United may move Joe Cannon into the line up, and Troy Perkins may leave for parts unknown. Now, I personally tend to want to give the front office the benefit of the doubt on things, but unless Troy Perkins was out the door, I dislike this move. Is Cannon a better keeper than Perkins right now? Sure. Does Cannon make fewer mistakes on close free kicks than Perkins? Yup. Does Cannon have better distribution than Perkins? I'd say so. About the only thing where I think Troy has the edge is when it comes to patrolling the air on corners and crosses. Still, I'd rather have Troy Perkins. Because while Cannon is a better keeper, Perkins is the better value.

Perkins' salary impact will be in the 85-90K range, and Goff reports that Cannon will be "the highest-paid goalie in MLS next season (around $200,000)." That's a $110K difference, and if you have that kind of cap room, are you using it to marginally upgrade your keeper, or to add a quality defender, or winger, or third attacker. All of the other options seem like a better options than replace a Perkins, an above average keeper, with Cannon, an elite MLS keeper. Perkins wasn't the reason we lost many games (I can think of maybe two), unless you fault him for some disorganized defense on occasion. Our defense cost us games. Our attack becoming one dimensional cost us more games. This is, on the surface, not the move I'd like to see.

That being said, I'm evaluating this potential development in isolation. Perhaps it makes more sense when we see the full context of roster moves. But right now, I think this is a bad idea. In fact, BDR may be a perpetually worried fellow, but I agree with him that DC United could be "...over-paying for an old goalie who's no better than the underpaid goalie you already have? I understand things change, but it feels like things are changing for the wrong reasons and in the wrong directions. I don't want to root for Greenbelt Galaxy. " I would change "no better" to "marginally better" myself, but that's my only quibble. Of course, for the flip side, Brian Garrison says "I think having Joe Cannon in goal will present DC United a much better opportunity to make a stronger run at any of the 6 possible trophies that United will be up for next season." Perhaps, but I think that unless United is addressing its other shopping needs in short order, this looks like a move we don't need, and it has the potential of closing doors I'd rather remain open.