Sounders 'actively shopping' Osvaldo Alonso, according to Grant Wahl

Osvaldo Alonso is 30 years old, coming off a season in which he missed 15 matches (including all three playoff games) and made $800,000. While he remains one of the Seattle Sounders' most important players, it would appear there are significant efforts being made to move in a new direction.

Here's what Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl said in his latest column: "I'm hearing Seattle is actively shopping Alonso for a trade around MLS."

Disappointing as this may be to hear, it can't possibly come as a massive shock, either. When fully healthy, Alonso remains arguably the best defensive midfielder in MLS. But dating back to last year, Alonso has rarely been fully fit. Although he missed only one regular-season game in 2014, Alonso battled muscle injuries and also missed the first leg of the LA Galaxy series.

Similar injuries cropped up before the start of this season, costing him most of preseason and causing him to miss the first three games of the season.

Even after returning, Alonso struggled to fully regain the form that made him so good during his first six MLS seasons. Once a reliable two-way player who specialized in transitioning from defense to offense, Alonso only had eight shots and failed to register a goal or an assist for the first time in his career.

Still, this would be a rather earth-shaking move. Alonso is one of just four players remaining from the 2009 season and is one of the team's most popular players. It will be very interesting to see what kind of return the Sounders could get.