The Colorado Rapids acquired midfielder Jason Moore from D.C. United in exchange for a 2001 first-round draft pick. Moore, 21, left the University of Virginia after his sophomore year and was the top overall selection in the 1999 Major League Soccer Draft. Moore appeared 16 times for D.C. United in 1999, then went on to make three playoff appearances as United captured the MLS championship. He has also played for the U.S. under-20 and under-23 national teams. “This was an extremely difficult decision for us to make,” United president and general manager Kevin Payne said. “Basically it came down to a numbers situation. We’re deep on the left side but a little thin on the right and up front. We needed to comply with the league’s salary cap rules, because following the draft we were slightly over the cap.” Rapids coach Glenn “Mooch” Myernick said that the acquisition of the 5-foot-11, 170-pound Moore satisfies another of the objectives he was hoping to address over the off-season. “He made quite a big contribution to the championship team last year in what would have been just his junior year in college,” said Myernick. “Jason gives us added speed and another left-footed player and the versatility to play a number of positions.” Myernick said he projects Moore as a left-sided or central midfielder with Colorado. “He is very aggressive and very quick, with the ability to go past defenders, and we do not have enough players on our squad who can go by people.” Moore will not travel to Panama with Colorado this weekend. He will join the Rapids next week for the two-week trip to train and play exhibitions in Portugal.