Noonan done for season; Evans could return

UPDATE: Don Ruiz of the News Tribune has some more information regarding Nate Jaqua and James Riley. Jaqua apparently had reoccurring headaches after the RSL match, but appears fine now. Riley has joined the team in Columbus.

Looks like the big move the Sounders made before the roster freeze deadline was placing Pat Noonan on the disabled list and taking Brad Evans off.

This means Noonan is done for the season and it would seem unlikely that he'll ever appear in Rave Green again. Noonan has battled injuries all year and has never made much of an impact. Considering he makes almost $100,000 a year, plays a position of relative strength for the Sounders and is 30 years old, it would be a significant surprise if the Sounders brought him back.

As for Evans, he'll be eligible to return on Oct. 2 against Toronto. He hasn't really been practicing, so that's probably an optimistic target date. It would be good to have the versatile midfielder back in the fold, though. He offers a solid box-to-box option when healthy and if nothing else provides some depth.

This also appears to signal the end of the season for Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Peter Vagenas, who are still on the disabled list.

In other injury-related news, Nate Jaqua made a surprise appearance on this week's injury report with a "head injury."

But back to Noonan, a player the Sounders signed just as the season was starting and ending up drawing the ire of many here.

The biggest knock on Noonan was that his contributions never seemed to measure up to his playing time. Noonan showed flashes of some of the form that once made him one of the top players in MLS, but injuries have obviously slowed him considerably. His signing, in retrospect anyway, seemed even more dubious after injuries continued to pile up and his salary limited the Sounders' ability to sign new players.