Dynamo announced today the signing of 19-year-old goalkeeper Erich Marscheider. He's been training with the club during the preseason and cleared waivers, allowed the team to sign the young keeper. Marscheider is listed at 6'2", 185lbs. and was born in Austria to American parents.

From what I can find about him, he's a rated fairly well and adds to the impressive group of young goalkeepers the Dynamo already have signed or are part of the team's academy program. More importantly, goalkeeper coach Tim Hanley likes him and that's good enough for me.

Here's the official press release on the signing:

HOUSTON, TX (Wednesday, February 22, 2012) -- The Houston Dynamo have signed goalkeeper Erich Marscheider, it was announced today. Marscheider cleared the waiver process after Major League Soccer signed the promising goalkeeper to a contract. The Dynamo then put in a player request to sign Marscheider. Per team and league policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Marscheider, 19, has been in training with the Dynamo since the beginning of preseason. He previously played three-and-a-half years for the Colorado Rush Soccer Club. The Colorado Springs-native was awarded the Golden Gloves as the top goalkeeper in 2011 for the Colorado Rush program.

"He has a good attitude, he works hard and has good size," Dynamo goalkeepers coach Tim Hanley said. "Age is also a factor because there is a big upside to a kid who is only 19 years old. Erich is very polished technically, which shows that he has been coached before, and I do not have to do a whole lot to change how he plays. Mostly important, he has a good attitude, which is something I value highly in my goalkeepers."

Since joining training camp with the Dynamo, Marscheider has seen action in four games.

This release came from the Houston Dynamo at 10:30 a.m., about the same time he walked out to practice, probably the first and last time he'll be the last guy out to the field. Someone on Twitter said it best. All Dynamo newbies are about to get an object lesson on what it means to train and play the Dynamo Way. The 2012 season begins now.

Dynamo reacquire forward Brian Ching
Houston sends conditional draft pick to Montreal Impact

HOUSTON, TX (Thursday, February 16, 2012) - The Houston Dynamo have reacquired forward Brian Ching from the Montreal Impact in exchange for a conditional draft pick in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, it was announced today.

Ching, an original Dynamo player and the club's all-time leading goal scorer, was selected by the Impact in the 2011 MLS Expansion Draft in November. Ching returns to Houston among the leaders of several franchise records, including games played (fifth, 168), games started (fourth, 144), and assists (third, 24). His club record 63 goals is nearly twice the amount of the second player on the all-time list (Dwayne De Rosario, 32 goals).

"I am very happy to have Brian back with the team," said Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear. "This is a very important year for the Dynamo, and if anyone deserves to be involved with the team, it's Brian."

In 2011, Ching was limited to 20 appearances due to injury, but still tied for the team lead with five goals. The forward was instrumental in Houston's run to the 2011 MLS Cup Final. In the playoff series victory over Philadelphia, he assisted on the game-winning goal in the first-leg win and scored the lone goal in the second game, the final MLS goal scored at Robertson Stadium.

"It feels good to have Brian back where he belongs," said Dynamo president Chris Canetti. "It was a long and difficult process, but we got the right result. I am happy that he will have the opportunity to play in the new stadium in front of his Houstonian fans who so badly wanted him here."

The perennial MLS All-Star forward led or tied for the team lead in goals in five consecutive seasons (2007-2011) and set a franchise and personal record with 13 goals in 2008. Ching has tallied ten or more goals in two other seasons, recording 11 in 2006 and 12 in 2004.

Ching, a native of Haleiwa, Hawai'i, became the face of the Dynamo franchise by scoring four goals in Houston's inaugural game in 2006. He capped the season by winning MLS Cup MVP after scoring the tying goal and converting the winning penalty kick in a shootout win over New England.

It's been an interesting day in which a lot and basically nothing has happened at the same time. Here's the details.

First came this tweet from the official Montreal Impact twitter feed:

Next, there was this tweet from FOX26's (Houston's FOX affiliate) Sports Director Mark Berman:

Finally, a full article posted on FOX26's website:

League sources also told FOX 26 the Dynamo are in the advance stages of contract negotiations with Ching that would enable the Dynamo to bring him back to Houston.

A new contract agreement between the Dynamo and Ching must be agreed upon before the trade can be consummated.

So here we go again. Either there is something about the happen very soon or people are going to get in a furor again and get their feelings hurt if a deal can't be reached. If the Dynamo can get Ching's right for a reasonable cost and they are able to rework his contract to not annihilate what cap space Houston has left, it's a great move. We shall see.

The Dynamo have added another forward/midfielder to the roster, trading a conditional draft pick to the Colorado Rapids for Macoumba Kandji. Kandji is a tall, athletic forward with good quickness, but he's had his injury struggles the last couple seasons.

It's an inexpensive move for Kinnear to make and makes good sense as Kandji has experience in the league and has shown the ability to score goals and create chances for teammates in the past. If he can stay healthy, he could be a great fit for the Dynamo.

It probably means that Kinnear isn't seeing what he needs from some of the trialist forwards currently in camp. I like the trade, it makes sense and doesn't hurt the Dynamo long term. It doesn't hurt either that Kandji helped the Rapids defeat FC Dallas in the 2010 MLS Cup final...he'll have a head start towards being a fan favorite for that.

Kandji isn't cheap on the salary cap, at least in MLS terms. He made just under $150,000 last season, but the Dynamo should have plenty of cap space at the moment to handle that.

Check out the full press release after the jump.

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Judging by the general content of the comments around here (and in other places), the main concern going into the 2012 Houston Dynamo season is that team has dipped in quality with the loss of Brian Ching and Danny Cruz. The fear seems to be that we are in for yet another long season of middling to above average results with the possibility of a serious drop in form. Or do I exaggerate?

Neither Jose de Jesus Ortiz nor Glenn Davis have much to say so far today about potential player transfers. However, adding potential fuel to the fire of perhaps some supporter discontent is a pair of stories filtering from points south. The first one (link here) says that that CD Olimpia have decided not to deal Oscar Boniek Garcia, despite entreaties from his family and apparent contact from our Orange. It's hard to say whether or not this is just another negotiating ploy as this wouldn't be the first time we've seen stories like this in the middle of negotiations, but still, it's pretty far from encouraging.

A second story from Honduran paper Diez.hn (link here, which unfortunately is in Spanish) states that Carlo Costly is at Real España, but would prefer to play abroad. It then goes to say that España has received offers for Costly's services from Deportivo Cali in Colombia, some team in China and, you guessed it, the Houston Dynamo. So the question is, is it possible that we can see more from Costly over an entire season than we saw in the second half of last year. In a forward corps of Will Bruin, Cam Weaver, Calen Carr and Chris Rolfe (not to mention possibly a trialist), would Costly fit in? Would he get minutes? Would he be a distraction?

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Follow the yellow brick road, and there might be a powerful wizard at the end able to grant you whatever your heart desires. Or, as so often we find, after having stumbled through the many potholes on that road you come to the end of it only to be met by an eccentric myth of a person capable only of offering up false promises and trinkets. In the business of player transfers, these promises typically come down to playing time and money--quite often with a heavy emphasis on the money aspect--which is why a number of notable overseas players offered contracts with Major League Soccer clubs have gone elsewhere.

Granted, were any of us afforded the chance to be in a similar situation, a contract promising the grander payday would likely be taken over the one on offer in the US or Canada, even if it meant having to consult an idiot's guide to the Chinese language. Still though, while Kris Boyd decides whether to join Houston Dynamo or keep traveling down that road in search of greater riches, he might wish to consider some cautionary tales of fellow Scotsmen who, when offered up a deal by Houston, chose to pass only to find a possible U turn at journey's end.

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The Dynamo announced today that midfielder/winger Danny Cruz has been traded to DC United for allocation money. The trade was announced around 2:45pm CT.

Cruz graduated from Generation adidias in the off-season and the Dynamo declined his contract option. The team had made attempts to re-sign Cruz but apparently a deal could not be reached. What does that all mean? Cruz was already technically off the roster and the financial books, but due to not having accrued enough service time in the league, he wasn't eligible for the Re-Entry Draft. The Dynamo retained his rights, even with him being out of contract, so in order for him to play with another MLS team, he has to be traded.

Cruz spent three seasons with the Dynamo after being drafted in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft by the team. He played in 51 matches (started 27), scoring four goals with five assist.

Dynamo president Chris Canetti made this statement on Twitter:

The Dynamo's official press release is after the jump.

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Free agent Scottish striker Kris Boyd, formerly of Rangers, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest and most recently, Eskişehirspor, is apparently considering an offer from the Dynamo, at least according to Bryan Swanson of Sky Sports.

Boyd is 28 years old and has a fairly strong goal scoring record from his Rangers days, including three 20+ goal seasons. I'm digging for some more information on this rumor, but this is likely a by product of Kinnear and Ralston's scouting trip to Scotland. Hopefully Adam Moffat can put in a good word for the team and living in Houston. At the very least it's something for us to chew on as we await the draft on Thursday.

Descriptions of Boyd's style of play say he's a goal poacher that likes to play on the shoulder of defenders and close to goal, sounds like exactly what the Dynamo need to balance out their attacking options.

Take a look at all 102 of Boyd's goals during his time playing for Rangers...the music is pretty bad so you might want to mute your speakers.

UPDATE: BBC is reporting the Dynamo offered Boyd a two-year contract.