What could the Christian Ramirez move mean for the Dynamo Rotation? Hopefully more Bajamich.

 

Reports coming out of Scotland are that an agreement is already in place to move Dynamo Striker Christian Ramirez to Aberdeen.  Apparently, Ramirez and Aberdeen have already come to financial terms and the only current snag is the obtaining of a work permit from the Scottish Government.  Stephen Glass made a bid to buy Christian away from the Dynamo during his stint as interim manager at Atlanta but was rejected as the Dynamo were not yet ready to move away from him that late in the season.  With Urruti dominating time at the #9, and Rameriz unlikely to pry much of it away, the move should be a good one for both sides.  Ramirez's base salary of $775,000.00 is the Dynamo's 4th highest player, and just like their highest-paid player, and he is not in any real plans for Tab Ramos going forward.  

While the move removes a highly paid, underutilized player from the books, what could it do to the roster?  Ramirez had played 91 minutes on 6 appearances, mostly off the bench.  To be honest, I never really understood why the Dynamo brought a player of his payscale here anyway.  When we brought him here, Mauro Manotas was fully entrenched as the starter in front of him, and we paid him more than Manotas and Elis were making combined.  I'll never disparage the Dynamo front office from spending money, but it seemed like there could have easily been a better utilization of those funds over the last few years.  While I doubt there's a payday of any significance, and probably not enough for them to make a move that would actually strengthen the roster, what could this move do other than dump salary?

Honestly, this move concerns me from the standpoint we are losing a player capable of putting the ball in the back of the net with no proven player or plan to replace him.  My first guess would be Ariel Lassiter would take over this role.  Lassiter has consistently been the first number called by Ramos off the bench, and while I don't really get it I don't see it changing either.  There is one player I'd love to see in that role instead, but really I'm hoping this move opens up more time for Mateo Bajamich.

Bajamich....MORE BAJAMICH.

Honestly, in Bajamich's 42 minutes on the pitch this season, he's showed me just enough for me to say I'd like to see more.  His 2.14 goal-creating actions per 90 is three times higher than anyone else on the team. His 4.29 shot-creating actions per 90 is second on the team (behind Darwin Quintero).  He's shown good ball skills, good first touch, and moves well without the ball.  The Dynamo need someone who can give Urruti a break from time to time, and a player capable of filling in if Urruti happens to go down to injury (I'm viciously knocking on wood at the moment).  The summer months are here, and Urruti is playing a very demanding style.  Not only is he the tip of the spear, constantly trying to hold off multiple defenders while he holds up play, Tab's system also has him defending all over the pitch.  Urruti leads the team in Pressures by a long spell (163 to Fafa's 143) He's getting them in the attacking third (86), the middle third (66), and the defending third (11). His 163 pressures in 601 minutes played means he's spending a lot of time defending.  That's a pressure every 3.6 minutes.....from your center forward.  Bajamich's rate is close (9 pressures in 42 minutes, one every 4.6 minutes) but his success rate is much lower (Urruti - 28%, Bajamich - 11%). It's not Bajamich's defense that I'm interested in, however.  He's young and athletic enough to improve there, but his flash with the ball has been intriguing and I'd like to see more.

If given the option of Bajamich or Lassiter, I'll take Darwin Quintero.....er......uhm..... I mean Bajamich.  Mateo is only 21 years old and has shown good IQ, work rate, and skill.  He moves well without the ball and while he's only gotten 1 shot off on the year there's been enough there for him to see more minutes.  I want to be clear, I don't know that he can do what Christian Ramirez did here, and I don't know he's better than Lassiter.  I just know I want to see more of what he can do and I think he's earned it. He's the only player on the team with a +/- Expected goal that's a positive number (0.75) and his XG +/- on vs off is just behind Joe Corona for third on the team (1.41).  I understand for him to concrete himself in Tab's rotation, he needs to really improve on his defense, but in limited minutes he's made the most of his opportunities.  We know what Ariel Lassiter is, we know what he can do.  He's a better defender than in attack (4 goals, 1 assist in 1,700 MLS minutes), and he's not a reliable finisher.  I'd actually like to see if Bajamich can take Ramirez's role before we look outside the club for another player.  If Bajamich can fill this role, maybe we can upgrade a fullback or CB position in the upcoming weeks.

Thanks again for reading,

#HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange

Brian