It's going to be a busy offseason in Major League Soccer.
With the 2012 MLS Cup now in the record books, and the same two finalists and the same Champions at the end of it all, all 19 teams out there are looking to make moves to strengthen their squads as they attempt to be the ones that lift the silverware next year or at the very least improve on this year's performances.
Having taken the Whitecaps from worst to the playoffs in his first season in charge, the pressure is now on Martin Rennie to continue that improvement into 2013.
The bar has been set and with it the pressure increased. Going backwards will not be seen as acceptable.
What the Whitecaps do to strengthen their squad will be heavily scrutinised and the tinkering continued today with the trading of one player, declining options on two more and exercising options on eight others.
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Rennie will be the first to admit that he made mistakes along the way this year and the season was a valuable learning experience for someone who is still a relatively new manager.
But forgiveness and understanding amongst football fans is notoriously short lived. As is patience.
You can spend endless hours debating the various merits or otherwise of Rennie's personnel changes, especially those from July, and many have. The moves today, although still not all clear cut, shouldn't cause too many people to lose sleep.
The headline news is the trading of Atiba Harris to Colorado Rapids in return for an international spot in 2015 and 2016.
Considering Rennie had mentioned previously that Harris was the player he had the most enquiries about, it doesn't really seem like much of a return. What it does do though is to free up $158,275 on the cap.
The St Kitts and Nevis international had a green card so counted as an American, so the trade doesn't free up an international spot and the spot acquired is just an extension to one they already held. They do currently have two free international spots available.
Could they have got more for Harris? Possibly. But after the horrible injuries he has suffered, and the woefully poor performances we saw from him at all the levels of games he did play this season, you can't imagine there were too many clubs out there willing to take that risk right now. The Rapids may find themselves burned.
Harris only made 12 appearances for the Caps in MLS and his record of two goals and three assists looks more impressive than it was. He excelled in some early games but also missed several more chances. At least he was getting into those positions on the other hand.
It's the right decision and any return on moving him on is better than nothing. As we've said all year, we'd have made this decision last December. We're not fans. He's a great guy off the pitch, but that counts for nothing when you're trying to build a winning team.
Two more players who may have seen their last actions as a Whitecap are John 'Sicknote' Thorrington and Michael 'Nano' Nanchoff.
The Caps declined options on both and although they can renegotiate salaries and offer them both new contracts, we would be surprised and disappointed to see that happening.
Thorrington has shown glimpses of being useful to the team, but his $170,000 salary weighs heavy and his fragility on the injury front is simply a liability.
Nanchoff hasn't reached the level we'd hoped. It's hard to develop of course when you're not seeing regular action, but when he did find the pitch this season he played poorly.
It's widely believed that he is coming out of his Generation Adidas contract, which would see his $101,000 salary come into possible Cap play. He's not worth that right now.
Whether the Caps do re-sign him to a lower deal or not, they will still retain his MLS rights and he will not be in Friday's Re-Entry draft. We'll still be amazed if he doesn't end up in Columbus.
It wasn't all goodbyes today, as the Caps extended options on eight players: Jun Marques Davidson, Jordan Harvey, Greg Klazura, Brad Knighton, Gershon Koffie, Young-Pyo Lee, Carlyle Mitchell and Matt Watson.
The only slight surprise there is Carlyle Mitchell, who as much as we love him here at AFTN, did seem to be out of favour with Martin Rennie. His cheap $44,100 salary is obviously a big help in keeping him around.
The moves today takes the Caps squad down to 21 players:
<b>Goalkeepers (2):</b> Joe Cannon, Brad Knighton
<b>Defenders (8):</b> Martin Bonjour, Jay DeMerit, Jordan Harvey, Greg Klazura, Young-Pyo Lee, Carlyle Mitchell, Andy O’Brien, Alain Rochat
<b>Midfielders (6):</b> Bryce Alderson, Gershon Koffie, Jun Marques Davidson, Barry Robson, Russell Teibert, Matt Watson
<b>Strikers (5):</b> Caleb Clarke, Darren Mattocks, Kenny Miller, Omar Salgado, Camilo Sanvezzo
Not a bad squad to build upon, and one with a nice long-term youthful look to it, but certainly not one which is looking like Championship contenders.
Don't get too comfortable with it anyway.
If this year has taught us anything about Martin Rennie it would be to not rush out and buy some personalised jerseys for Christmas.
There are a few players above that may not make the pre-season training camp, never mind the actual season. Add into that mix the fact that YP Lee still hasn't decided whether he is going to continue playing or not, and there will be plenty more additions and changes afoot.
So where do you see the next moves coming from? Anyone in Friday's Re-Entry draft that you'd like to see in a Whitecaps strip?
The Scot Jamie Smith is in there!
The Caps pick 10th and you can find a list of currently available players <a href="http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?3989-2012-Re-Entry-draft-info" target="_blank">HERE</a>. Players can still be re-signed by their clubs or opt out of the draft by 2pm PT on Thursday.
With the transactions that have already taken place this week, it's shaping up for being a very busy offseason and you can just sense that 'Ruthless Rennie' still has a few surprises up his sleeve.
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