The Nick Garcia boo-birds may have finally gotten their wish. The fan's favourite whipping-boy was told today that his option for 2011 will not be picked up by the club.
With a 2010 guaranteed salary of $198,750, it's not at all surprising that the Reds decided to take a pass. Not doing so would have been reckless.
Garcia found his legs in 2010 as a workmanlike fullback. Although he did still occasionally make the odd scary mistake, any objective analysis of TFC's season would conclude that he was hardly the biggest problem. Actually, once he made the move from centreback to fullback his performance improved to the point where he was a useful role player that by all accounts was a positive influence in the dressing room.
That doesn't mean he's worth more than $200,000 to TFC.
If you read between the lines of Earl Cochrane's statement, you might find evidence that Garcia could be back with TFC yet.
"With Nick we simply couldn’t find a way to make him fit within our current budget situation. If we lose Nick through this re-entry process, we will miss his leadership and experience and wish him all the best in the future."
The emphasis is mine. For Garcia to go in first stage of the re-entry draft another MLS team must be willing to offer him a five per cent increase for 2011. That doesn't seem likely. If, as expected, he isn't selected in the first stage he would become eligible to enter stage two of the re-entry draft. There teams are only drafting the rights to sign him. It would be up to Garcia and a club to come up with an appropriate figure. He'd be free to negotiate with clubs, including Toronto, after the first round.
So, it's possible that TFC has a number in mind for Garcia and they have let him know what it is. Garcia is free to search out a better deal with the understanding of what the Toronto offer is.
TFC also declined the option on Fuad Ibrahim and Amadou Sanyang today. Neither is eligible for the re-entry draft. They must negotiate with Toronto to come back at a lower number, or have another team in the league willing to trade Toronto assets for them.
Ibrahim made a guaranteed salary of $133,000 in 2010, with Sanyang making $46,555.55.