The Colorado Rapids have announced that midfielder Adrian Paz will not return to the team in 1999 after Paz decided not to honor his contract for the 1999 season. Paz, who has been holding out in his native Uruguay for the entire pre-season, made the decision not to rejoin Major League Soccer for the 1999 season. Rapids general manager Dan Counce said that the loss of Paz is unfortunate, but was not the choice of the team. “Adrian gave two years of great service to the club, but unfortunately felt that his current contract was not enough to satisfy his needs. We knew this result was a possibility, so we were very prepared for Adrian not to return and are very excited about the player we will introduce Thursday,” said Counce. Paz recorded six goals and 24 assists in his two seasons with Colorado since joining the team in a February 1, 1997, trade from the Columbus Crew. He also scored the lone goal for the Rapids in the 1997 MLS Cup (a 2-1 loss to D.C. United). The Rapids have called a 2:00 p.m. (MT) press conference on March 4 to announce the allocation of an international player to fill the foreign slot left by the departure of Paz.