Onstad intéresse San Jose dans la MLS.

[François]

San Jose shakes up Rhinos


Rochester GM asks A-League to look at tampering in the case of Pat Onstad


By Jeff DiVeronica
Democrat and Chronicle


(February 13, 2003) — Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes are interested in Rhinos goalie Pat Onstad.

Rochester general manager Chris Economides said an MLS official called him Tuesday asking about the availability of Onstad, who is under contract for one more year.

“I told (MLS) if we came to an understanding between us and them, I would allow them to talk to Pat,” Economides said.

No agreement was reached, he said.

The Rhinos could trade the 1998 A-League Goalie of the Year or transfer Onstad’s rights to MLS in return for compensation.

Onstad’s experience and talent won’t come cheaply.

Economides also has asked the A-League to investigate whether San Jose has “tampered,” meaning spoken directly to Onstad, 35, without the Rhinos’ permission.

The suspicion stems from a newspaper and Internet report. Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop told the San Jose Mercury News that he is interested in Onstad, his former teammate with the Canadian national team. Another report on MLS.com says Onstad’s name is on a player list for the Feb. 28 MLS Supplemental Draft. A team, likely San Jose, would have had to submitted Onstad’s name for that list.

On Tuesday, San Jose traded Devin Barclay to D.C. United to obtain the first overall pick in the draft.

Onstad, who has played four seasons here, has been out of the country since Friday. He is in Europe with Canada for exhibition matches. He couldn’t be reached for comment, but his wife, Becky, said her husband was unaware of what was going on until she told him Wednesday.

She also said he has not spoken with San Jose or MLS. Pat Onstad, who is scheduled to return Saturday, and Economides plan to speak today.

The Rhinos also met with former Rochester goalie Scott Vallow, 25, on Wednesday. A free agent, Vallow left midway through last year to join Dallas (MLS) but didn’t see any action. Vallow, who lives in Chili, said his name is also on the Supplemental Draft list and he has offers from two A-League teams other than Rochester.

The 2000 A-League Goalie of the Year told the Rhinos he would consider coming back only if Onstad wasn’t here.

He also said: “If there’s another offer I can’t refuse (elsewhere) I’m not going to refuse it.”

Some of the friction between the A-League and MLS stems from their player-development agreement not being renewed after last season.

The previous agreement included affiliations and allowed freer player movement between leagues.

San Jose has goalie Jon Conway but needs another because MLS and Jonny Walker, who was trying out for the team, couldn’t come to contract terms, according to a report in the Mercury News.