Sporting Kansas City starts its offseason roster overhaul, bids adieu to Aurelien Collin and C.J. Sapong

Sporting Kansas City handed off its Major League Soccer championship from a year ago to the Los Angeles Galaxy, which defeated the New England Revolution 2-1 in extra time Sunday to claim the league’s top prize for 2014.

For Sporting Kansas City, the 2014 campaign was a difficult one — a season fraught with injuries, a busy slate of competitions and stretches of uninspired play. The team grabbed the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference but was jettisoned quickly by the New York Red Bulls.

Sporting KC’s front office isn’t sitting on its hands and merely hoping that next year gets better. Sporting KC CEO Robb Heineman confirmed on Twitter that club mainstays Aurelien Collin and C.J. Sapong were headed elsewhere. His tweet on Monday morning buttressed reports that MLS newcomer Orlando City had traded for Collin in exchange for what the Orlando Sentinel claimed was allocation money and future considerations for Sporting KC.

Separately, Sporting KC will send striker C.J. Sapong to the Philadelphia Union in exchange for what the Philadelphia Inquirer reported was a first-round draft pick in 2015.

Both moves make sense for Sporting KC, although casual fans may not appreciate seeing Collin and Sapong go.

Collin, a Frenchman who played in clubs across Europe before coming to Sporting KC in 2011, was a fan favorite with an entertaining style of play and an exuberant personality. He will be remembered best as the player who erased Real Salt Lake’s late lead in the 2013 MLS Cup Final and later scored the decisive penalty kick to deliver the franchise its second league title.

But to anyone closely watching the game, Collin was a high-risk/high-reward central defender. What he contributed in size and strength in the middle of the Sporting KC defense, he lacked in his penchant for getting caught out of position, committing careless fouls, and at times getting beat by smaller, quicker and more nimble opposing forwards. 

Sapong, meanwhile, made a big splash with Sporting KC after the team picked him up in the first round of the 2011 MLS draft. Sapong scored five goals during his first season, picking up 2011 Rookie of the Year honors on the way. The following year, Sapong scored nine goals, but his production and playing time dropped during the following two years. With Sporting KC finally finding a reliable goal scorer in Dom Dwyer, Sapong became expendable.

Meanwhile, Sporting KC acquired Columbus Crew midfielder Bernardo Anor in exchange for allocation money, according to The Kansas City Star. That deal shores up an already formidable midfield for Sporting KC. Heineman hinted that more deals would happen in the coming weeks. Last month, Sporting KC declined contract options on several players, most prominently goalkeepers Eric Kronberg and Andy Gruenebaum. Unless Sporting KC thinks that young goalkeeper Jon Kempin is ready to become a full-time starter, look for the club to try and find a veteran player to occupy that role.

In other Sporting KC-related news, former club defender Mike Harrington was traded today to the Colorado Rapids. Harrington was a role player (and the victim of a splendid April Fools Day prank) who struggled to find playing time with Sporting KC and was shipped off to the Portland Timbers in 2013, where he became a fixture in the club’s back line. Sporting KC fans will likely see plenty of Harrington during the 2015 season as the team moves to the Western Conference, where it will play teams there at least three times during the campaign.