Amid a slew of draft-day dealings, the Chicago Fire said goodbye to Trinidadian left back Joevin Jones on Thursday, sending him to Seattle Sounders FC in exchange for general allocation money and the No. 15 pick in the SuperDraft.
A second transaction, this one with the Colorado Rapids, turned that No. 15 selection into the No. 12 pick, where the Fire nabbed centerback Jonathan Campbell out of North Carolina.
The departure of Joevin Jones after a single but solid season in Chicago caught the attention of fans and pundits around the league. Jones played in 28 games with 26 starts in his debut MLS campaign, featuring primarily at left back but also showing an ability to glide into the attack, adding a goal and an assist.
He also impressed with his performances at the international level in 2015, most notably throughout Trinidad and Tobago’s run at the CONCACAF Gold Cup as well as in a Sept. 4 friendly vs. Mexico.
“Joevin Jones was a player that was coveted by many teams around the league,” GM Nelson Rodriguez said following the draft. “Over the course of the entire offseason, there have been steady offers made for his services. Through the combine and as we got closer to the draft, those offers increased.”
The execution of Chicago’s agreement with NYCFC to turn the No. 1 pick into highly touted outside back Brandon Vincent -- who last week was added to Jurgen Klinsmann's U.S. National Team January training camp -- and allocation money sealed Jones’ move to the Emerald City.
“It got to the point that in the scenario that could be viable, securing Brandon Vincent would enable us to move Joevin’s services, get a draft pick that we felt we could convert into a player, which we did, and again add more money to our allocation war chest," Rodriguez explained. "For us, it was a natural flow of events and part of things that we had outlined prior to walking into the draft room today.”
