Tressor Moreno leaves San Jose Earthquakes, on his way to Chile

When midfielder Tressor Moreno approached the San Jose Earthquakes coaching staff to express his displeasure at getting a lack of playing time, the seeds were planted for his exit from MLS. The Colombian playmaker, brought to San Jose in the preseason with high expectations that he would be the "Number 10" the team had been searching for since returning to the league in 2008, only saw the field in about a third of the available minutes so far in 2012, and he had failed to dislodge second year midfielder Rafael Baca in head coach Frank Yallop’s preferred starting XI.

Moreno’s representatives began the process of looking for other opportunities for the 33-year old, and they called on his prior team Santiago Wanderers of the Chilean Primera Division to bring the midfielder back into the fold. Reports began surfacing earlier in the week that Moreno was heading back to Wanderers, but he was still on the roster of the Earthquakes. On Tuesday in Portland, Moreno entered the match against the Timbers as a second half substitute. By Thursday’s Earthquakes training, it was clear that his days in San Jose were numbered.

Moreno was reportedly did not travel with the team to Texas for the Earthquakes match against FC Dallas on Saturday. Instead, he announced via Twitter an update on his tenure with San Jose.

Viajando para chile a una nueva etapa donde DIOS en mi guia y mi yayis mis fuerzas!!

— malher Tmoreno(@tressormoreno10) July 8, 2012

The rough translation is: "Traveling to Chile to a new stage where GOD is my guide and my yayis my strength!" The Earthquakes have not formally commented on the Moreno situation as to whether he is being transferred to Wanderers or being released from his MLS contract outright.

The silver lining for San Jose is that removing Moreno from the Earthquakes roster gives the team additional cap space to look for a replacement during the summer transfer window. And while there have not been any players brought into training to fill space on the roster, the team does gain some flexibility with Moreno’s exit.