Big deals are an inexact, often tedious science, according to those who make them.
Chicago general manager Peter Wilt says a player once resisted the Fire's efforts to acquire him, citing his dog's comfort.
''They do allow pets in Chicago,'' Wilt remembers saying at one point in negotiations.
Ironing out players' concerns is just one step in the complicated process of pulling off a major trade in MLS. League records show roughly 165 trades in its seven-year history. Each team makes about five deals a year, but many of these involve draft picks or role players. Only on rare occasions do they influence the core of a team or its place in the standings.
The bigger trades usually take longer to negotiate, especially since the league owns all player contracts. Kansas City coach Bob Gansler recalls the arduous process that finally landed him defender Peter Vermes and midfielder Matt McKeon from Colorado in 2000.
''It wasn't just myself and Glenn Myernick and our general managers, it was also the league and [McKeon's] agent, because his contract was up,'' Gansler says. ''It was soap opera-like, and it took forever. There was a lot of, 'It's on. It's off. It'll never friggin' happen. Now it's 99 percent done.' But it obviously was worthwhile.''
Wilt says it took ''25 to 30 conversations'' over three weeks for the Fire to complete the trade that brought Chris Armas and Jorge Campos to Chicago while allowing Kevin Hartman and Danny Pena to remain in Los Angeles after the 1998 expansion draft.
''They had offered Jorge and just about every other player on their roster,'' Wilt says. ''For a long while it was Campos and Robin Fraser. If push came to shove, we probably would have made that deal, but we were really holding out for Chris.''
UNDER WRAPS? Theories differ on whether to keep players abreast of possible trades. It's a fine line between sparing the player from complete shock and making him feeling unwanted.
San Jose coach Frank Yallop's first actions of his head coaching career were to acquire Jeff Agoos from D.C. United, then do damage control.
''[Agoos] was leaving a good situation for what looked like the worst team in the league, and he was taken aback,'' Yallop says. ''I needed a captain, I needed a top-quality defender, but I didn't want to force him into anything. I tried to explore other things for him, but once that didn't work out, I just asked him to give us a chance to build a competitive team.''
Agoos bought into the Earthquakes and helped them to their first championship.
In part because of that experience, Yallop believes in warning players of possible moves.
''There are talks all the time that players don't need to hear, but if you think something is getting serious, you might want to give him a heads up,'' Yallop says.
With the multiple parties involved and the length of time required to tie up loose ends, Gansler says most trades end up leaking into the press prematurely anyway.
''You'd prefer a player could hear it from his old club first, then the new club could contact him and assure him everything is going to be all right,'' Gansler says. ''But usually the cat was already out of the bag.''
WIN SOME, LOSE SOME. Ultimately, most trades come down to the gut feelings of the coaches involved.
''You're always wary of whether it's going to work out,'' Yallop says. ''You just try to improve the team. … I won't go sideways for the sake of trading.''
The ever-volatile Miami Fusion traded more frequently than any team, making an average of seven deals a year. Next in line are Chicago (6.6 per year) and D.C. United (5.5), while the least trade-happy have been Kansas City (2.57) and Los Angeles (3.0).
Wilt thinks the best trades help both teams and that getting a specific player can supersede getting equal value.
''Sometimes you need to overpay to get the right player,'' Wilt says. ''This isn't about beating the other team in the trade, it's about making your team better.''
Gansler sees now that parting with Chris Henderson before last season to get Roy Lassiter was a bust, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
''When you see the all-time leading scorer and a solid wide midfielder, you've got to go with the goals,'' Gansler says.
But looking around the league, no team is without its share of failed deals.
''I don't see anyone in this league who you could say, 'This guy does nothing but come up with nuggets every time,' or on the other hand, 'This guy does nothing but crap deals,''' Gansler says. ''I think it evens out.''
by Soccer America Managing Editor Paul Kennedy