Earthquakes Continue to Shake Things Up With Cronin Trade

Given the current preseason battles within MLS for clubs to find new strikers the San Jose Earthquakes have added bucks to their budget by acquiring allocation money from Colorado Rapids in exchange for midfielder Sam Cronin.

The reshaping of the Earthquakes continues apace after last Thursday’s 2015 SuperDraft saw the team acquire yet another midfield player. With a seeming glut of midfielders on the roster the acquisition of selected midfielder Fatai Alashe from Michigan State University might well have been viewed by fans as more "running in place".

The scarcity of top level strikers being generated by the college system again begs the question: does this result from the game played at college level having different rules from the game played by the rest of the world? Could the unlimited substitution rule be hampering the development of players who experience the full ebb and flow of a game and learn to play within that full 90+ minutes timeframe? Bringing on a new striker every 15 minutes in the hopes that one of them might bang in a goal might well be generally counterproductive when it comes to developing top level strikers predatory skills.

Sam Cronin is another of the familiar faces leaving the Quakes team and fans will undoubtedly both miss him and thank him for his achievements with the club.

Cronin, 28, had five goals and 12 assists in 140 games during four-plus seasons with the Earthquakes. After joining the club in a trade with Toronto FC on June 21, 2010 in exchange for allocation money, the center midfielder helped San Jose reach the MLS Cup Playoffs twice and win the 2012 Supporters' Shield.

Cronin began his professional career with Toronto FC in 2009, racking up one goal and five assists in 33 games before the move to San Jose. The former No. 2 overall pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft was a Hermann MAC Award finalist and Lowe's Senior CLASS Award winner at Wake Forest prior to signing with MLS.

Transaction: San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) - San Jose Earthquakes acquire allocation money from Colorado Rapids in exchange for M Sam Cronin.