Galaxy Trade Rumors (Or: Return of Ruiz, El Pescadito?)

By: Laurie | May 13th, 2007

Something’s gotta give.

Right now I’m feeling like the Galaxy is one big puzzle box containing pieces from several different puzzles, each with a few pieces missing. Maybe it’s time to start trading off some of those pieces so we can end up with one complete picture. What do you think?

Grahame Jones of the LA Times has an article today (Sunday) discussing trade rumors, and he tosses out some interesting possibilities. One of which is the return of El Pescadito, Carlos Ruiz. In English: the little fish. Rumor has it that this nickname comes from his penchant for flopping around on the field like a fish out of water — something that everybody who watched the Galaxy-Dallas game has witnessed firsthand. But I don’t want to be too hard on the gentleman, because he and I share a birthday, which means he has to be a decent guy, right? And now that I’ve told you this, I expect a card.

From the article:

Another hot rumor was that Guatemalan striker Carlos Ruiz would be returning to the Galaxy, which lacks an accomplished goal scorer and a Latino flavor. Ruiz, immensely popular in his time with the Galaxy, fills both bills.

To get him, though, the Galaxy would have to give up quality for quality, and the talk was that it might be right back Chris Albright who ends up going to FC Dallas, possibly along with recently acquired forward Nate Jaqua.

Albright AND Jaqua? What do you think? Is Ruiz worth that? Granted, Jaqua hasn’t quite worked out as expected, and Albright isn’t playing at his best. (Can somebody tell me what caused him to get subbed out in the eleventh minute against New York on Tuesday? That’s what the Galaxy homepage says. Is that a typo? I haven’t read anything about an injury. If he wasn’t injured… Wow. How bad do you have to suck to get subbed out after just eleven minutes?) UPDATE: He apparently didn’t suck THAT bad, and this WAS a typo. 111th minute, perhaps?

But the question is, could Ruiz perform as desired? Your opinion, especially if you’ve been a fan since his Galaxy days.

And if we were to let Albright go, who would start at right back? Ian Russell’s done some time in that position, but is he a starter longterm? The article lists another possibility:

one scenario being talked about was the acquisition in June of a top-class defender from a European club, possibly free-agent Portuguese right back Abel Xavier.

I’ll leave that discussion to somebody who’s actually see Abel Xavier play. But no matter what, after last night’s game, it looks like some kind of changes are in the works. So who’s headed out that door? And who’s headed in?

(Thanks to Nathanhj for the article tip.)

Some Related Galaxy Posts:

Category: Player News, Team News

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marco

Carlos Ruiz works for the galaxy lets not forget he is the best all time scorer for the galaxy and I dont think he got all those goals by not being a good player we need flavor in the game lets hope hes still go it?
fred

pescadito sucks he is not good at all he just lucky to get on big teams that by error get him enyway he sucks big time in guatemala he was one big looser get him out galaxy
daisy

carlos ruis,right from the start i can say hes a really great player.i think it would really be a great way to help out the galaxy.hes an amazing player,he calls the viewers attention a long with helping out the team.which i really think he could do that.and thats why i think he should go with the galaxy.
Monique

Ok!!
lets get one thing stright, Ruiz is a really good player and if some people say if he goes to LA they stop watching then who cares. J. And he is a good player, so they just have to give him a chance thats all.
Laurie

Also, speaking of central defenders, I watched a bit of the Chivas game and Shavar Thomas looked pretty solid.
Laurie

"Oh, and Albright played almost the whole game vs. the Red bulls."

Thanks for clarifying, Lane. I knew something didn't sound right about this.
Joe

Ruiz has what most people enjoy about soccer; unpredictability, He can make goals that most strikers can't, after all is said and done,,don't we all just want to enjoy the game & watch some goals!!!????...Trade him and i'll stop watching the LA Galaxy Games and you can be sure of one thing,,, i will not be the only one..
Hannah

At the moment I'm not too pleased with Jaqua but I wouldn't trade him for Ruiz. I think we could do better then getting Ruiz back.
Lane

I hope Galaxy does not get Ruiz. They don't need him and his off-the-field shenanigans are just as bad as his on-the-field stuff. I mean, he skips out on two practices for Dallas just this last week and is fined and suspended - and he's their captain?! No thanks.

Plus, lack of a striker was not the problem vs. the Revs. Scoring 2 goals at home should get you the win. the problem is in central defense. We have a rookie and an aging Tyrone Marshall. The rookie is ok - you expect his mistakes. Tyrone, the veteran, though should be solid, and he's not.

Oh, and Albright played almost the whole game vs. the Red bulls. In fact, he took the captain's armband when Cobi got sent off. I think maybe it was the 111th minute he got subbed out - anyway it was late in overtime when he was relieved of his duties.