Seattle announced Monday that they have traded midfielder Peter Vagenas to the Rapids for defenders Julien Baudet and Danny Earls.
The Colorado Rapids 2010 MLS Cup championship was less than 24 hours old before their players became sought-after pieces for other teams looking to build for the 2011 season.
On Monday the Sounders FC announced that they had acquired defenders Julien Baudet and Danny Earls from the Rapids in exchange for veteran midfielder Peter Vagenas.
Vagenas played in 21 matches over two seasons with Seattle after coming to the Sounders in the 2008 Expansion Draft, registering two assists in 2009. The 32-year-old UCLA product played nine seasons with the LA Galaxy before coming to Seattle. He has 204 career MLS appearances.
“Pete is a great pro. He’s a good leader, a good communicator and has been the glue that connected some of the groups within our team. He could hang with the veterans and some of the young guys and he speaks Spanish, so from that perspective he was very helpful,” Sounders FC owner/GM Adrian Hanauer said. “He had a tough time with some injuries, but when he was healthy he helped us win some games.”
Baudet, 31, started 14 matches for the Rapids in 2010, his second MLS season. Before coming to MLS in 2009, he played in his native France for Toulouse, then in 2001 started in England for Oldham Athletic, Rotterham United, Notts County and Crewe Alexandra. He played 110 matches for Crewe Alexandra in his longest stint with one team from 2006-2009, coming to Colorado in July of 2009 after three seasons with the English League Two club.
He appeared as a substitute in second-half stoppage time for the Rapids in their 2-1 extra time win over FC Dallas to win the MLS Cup. He appeared in all four Rapids playoff matches, logging 88 minutes. His was the final goal scored in the penalty kick shootout that advanced the Rapids past the Columbus Crew and into the Eastern Conference Final against the San Jose Earthquakes.
Earls, 21, started 15 matches in 2010 after two seasons with the Rochester Rhinos in the USL First Division, where he registered one goal and four assists in 41 matches. Previously, he had played with the Aston Villa reserves for two seasons before coming stateside in 2008. Earls has been capped for the Republic of Ireland at the U15, U16, U18 and U19 levels.
