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The Houston Dynamo, as they were known then, named Matt Jordan as the club’s Technical Director and General Manager on November 4, 2014. Jordan just finished his sixth season in charge of player personnel and is returning in 2021. Things started quiet this offseason, with just the acquisitions of Joe Corona, Fafa Picault, Maxi Urruti, and Tyler Pasher to speak of. Then the Tim Parker trade came down and the Dynamo got a bonafide center back. With several fans vocally wanting a new GM in place this offseason, how has the “Jordan era” gone for the Dynamo? Let us have a look.
On the field, the team has one US Open Cup win and one MLS Cup playoff appearance. The team’s record under Jordan, 57 wins, 82 losses, and 54 draws. A negative twenty-one goal difference. 57 wins from 196 games is a less than 30% winning percentage. The team has earned 225 points from those 196 games, which comes out to about 1.1 point per game. You do not need me to tell you these numbers are not ideal.
Now let’s take a look at the transactions. The following list is signings made by the Dynamo under Jordan. HG are homegrown players and RED are players taken in the Re-Entry Draft. Outside of Alberth Elis and Memo Rodriguez, there is not much to write home about. Romell Quioto was a good signing as well but he just turned out to be a difficult player and had to be moved. Memo appears on the list twice because after signing as a homegrown, he was released, and later re-signed. The 2016 and 2017 seasons saw a few players signed who never even played in Houston.
Dynamo Signings
2014
Memo Rodriguez (HG), Chandler Hoffman (RED), Nathan Sturgis (RED), Erick Torres
2015
Leonel Miranda, Raul Rodriguez, Rasheed Olabiyi, Christian Lucatero (HG), Calle Brown, Bradley Bourgeois (HG)
2016
Jalil Anibaba, Sebastien Ibeagha, David Rocha, Yair Arboleda, Keyner Brown, Jose Escalante, Kevin Garcia, Dylan Remick (RED), Alberth Elis, Adolfo Machado, Romell Quioto, Juan David Cabezas
2017
Leonardo (RED), Vicente Sanchez, Memo Rodriguez, Taylor Hunter, George Malki, Phillippe Senderos, Chris Seitz, Eric Bird
2018
Conor Donovan, Erik McCue (HG)
2019
Tommy McNamara (RED), Maynor Figueroa, Michael Salazar, Jose Bizama
2020
Marcelo Palomino (HG), Cody Cropper, Kyle Adams, Juan Castilla (HG), Daniel Rios (HG), Joe Corona (RED)
The next list we will look at are trades the team has made with Jordan at the helm. Will Bruin, Giles Barnes, Brad Davis, and Kofi Sarkodie all got traded in 2016, with not much to show for in return. The trade for Zahibo last year turned out to be a bust but the Darwin Quintero deal looks to be a plus, at least in the short term while the Tim Parker deal is giving fans hope that the defense will be greatly improved.
Dynamo Trades
2014
Andrew Driver for Tally Hall and Samuel Inkoom
2015
Corey Ashe for allocation money and 2nd round pick
Cash for Sheanon Williams
1st round pick and allocation money for Andrew Wenger and Cristian Maidana
Servando Carrasco for 2nd round pick
Jason Johnson for Alex
2016
Brad Davis for 2nd and 3rd round pick
Conditional pick for Abdoulie Mansally
2nd round pick for Collen Warner
Kofi Sarkodie for allocation money
Allocation money for Eric Alexander
Giles Barnes for allocation money
Will Bruin for allocation money
2017
$125K GAM and $50K TAM for AJ DeLaGarza
2nd round pick for Arturo Alvarez
2018
$225K allocation for Darwin Ceren
$100K TAM for Jared Watts
3rd round pick for Chris Duvall
2019
Chris Seitz for 2nd round pick
$175K GAM for Marlon Hairston
$250K allocation money for Christian Ramirez
$75K TAM for Niko Hansen
$600K allocation and Marlon Hairston for Darwin Quintero
Joe Willis for Zarek Valentin
$100K allocation and Romell Quioto for Victor Cabrera
2020
Tommy McNamara and $175k allocation for Wilfried Zahibo and $175k allocation
$275k allocation, $50k performance incentives for Fafa Picault
2021
Kiki Struna and international spot for Maxi Urruti and 2nd round pick
$450K GAM and performance incentives for Tim Parker
The last chart we’ll look at are Jordan’s draft picks from the MLS SuperDraft. To be quite honest, nothing from this list is super. Sam Junqua saw some time in 2020 and scored a goal. And…..well…..yeah.
Dynamo SuperDraft Picks
2015
Rob Lovejoy, Zach Steinberger, Oumar Ballo, Taylor Hunter
2016
Robert Casner, Ivan Magalhaes
2017
Danilo Radjen, Joe Holland, Jake McGuire, Robby Sagel
2018
Pablo Aguilar, Sheldon Sullivan, Manny Padilla, Michael Nelson, Mac Steeves
2019
Sam Junqua, Andrew Samuels, Brad Dunwell
2020
Garrett McLaughlin, Luka Prpa, Duncan Turnbull, Kyle Edwards
So, 1 trophy and 1 playoff appearance, along with a mixed bag of acquisitions. Yet, Jordan was signed to a 1 year extension in December to remain as GM of the club for the 2021 season. “In evaluating the season, nobody is happy with not making the playoffs,” said Houston Dynamo FC President of Business Operations John Walker. “That said, there are several things that Matt and the rest of the technical team have been doing over the last couple of years that we think really positions the club nicely…and all of those things, we think, position us well for the future.”
The club clearly has a vision of the future and it seems they are giving Jordan another opportunity to help further that vision and continue building it. The Parker trade further shows a renewed commitment to improvement. With Tab Ramos’ success with young players and the signing of some promising homegrown signings, perhaps the club is headed in the right direction. However, the youthful approach will still need to supplement with key veterans and designated players. With Mauro Manotas and Alberth Elis sold, and Tomas Martinez’s option being declined, the Dynamo currently have designated player spots available. Will Jordan, and ownership, go out and make a big splash to help the team compete in a league that is heavy with star power? If the past is any indication the answer is no, but like I said above, perhaps the club is turning over a new leaf? We shall see.
So, are you happy with Jordan’s tenure? Are you ready to give him and Tab another year at building a solid, young core? Let us know in the comments.