Trade: Pat Noonan To Colorado Rapids

On a day when most eyes in the soccer world are on South Africa and the Confederations Cup, a trade has gone down in Major League Soccer. The Columbus Crew have shipped forward Pat Noonan to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for their natural first-round selection in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft and an undisclosed sum of allocation money, the club announced this afternoon.


Noonan, 28, appeared in 16 games for the Crew after signing with them mid-way through the ’08 season, scoring once to go along with two assists. Prior to his brief stay in Columbus, he had an even shorter stint with Norwegian side Aalesunds FK, appearing in just 11 games before opting to return to America. He was originally selected by the New England Revolution with the 9th pick in the 2003 MLS SuperDraft, playing 119 games for them through 2007 while scoring 37 goals.

Injuries have limited Noonan’s time on the field this season; he missed several games earlier in the year while recovering from a herniated disc in his back. In the time that he was out, Guillermo Barros Schelotto morphed into a goalscoring machine, finding the back of the net a league-leading ten times this year. Along with Venezuelan international Alejandro Moreno, head coach Robert Warzycha must have felt that Noonan was expendable, given the presence of serviceable forwards Jason Garey and Steven Lenhart on the roster.