MLS HQ: Jean Philippe deal cost Quakes their shot at McBride

When the news flashed across the internet this morning that Brian McBride was leaving Fulham and returning to the United States, I thought I’d double check with MLS to see if the Quakes had first dibs on the former Columbus forward, as San Jose G.M. John Doyle indicated on Tuesday. According to a league spokesman, the Quakes do not, costing them a shot at placing a claim on McBride.

The reason San Jose missed out on McBride was due to their decision to sign Haitian international forward Peguero Jean Philippe. When Jean Philippe put pen to paper, the Quakes automatically moved to the bottom of the allocation list that is used when former MLS players return to the league from overseas. But when Jean Philippe was put on the season-ending injury list earlier this week, I asked Doyle if the Quakes would move back to the top of the list. Doyle assured me that this was the case.

With MLS headquarters saying otherwise, I called up Doyle to clarify his remarks, at which point he apologized and admitted that what he told me on Tuesday was not correct. ”I misspoke a bit,” said Doyle. “No excuses.”

While Doyle’s mistake was relatively harmless (other than to raise the hopes of Quakes fans everywhere), the decision to sign Jean Philippe has come back to haunt them. While McBride’s stated preference is either to return to Columbus or sign with Chicago (he’s originally from the Chicago area), at the least San Jose would have been poised to get some form of compensation from either team. Now that honor falls to Toronto.