About a week after bolstering one of their deepest positions, the Seattle Sounders addressed an area a bit more in need. Like last week’s signing of Brad Smith, this too was with a familiar face.
The Sounders announced on Monday they had re-acquired Román Torres in a trade with Inter Miami. The move will cost them a conditional first-round draft pick. According to The Athletic, the pick would revert to a 2022 second-rounder if it ends up being among the top 19 in 2021. Torres will be eligible to join training once he finishes his required 10-day quarantine, which would likely make him eligible for the Oct. 7 match against Real Salt Lake.
“We are pleased to welcome Román back to the squad,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said in a team release. “His leadership has always provided an important presence on and off the field for us. I look forward to having back in training and games as soon as possible.”
Torres had spent most of the previous five seasons with the Sounders, a time in which they went 45-18-17 in his 80 MLS appearances, including an astounding 11-2-1 in the playoffs. Torres also started in three MLS Cup finals, winning two of them.
Despite those contributions, the Sounders and Torres were unable to come to terms on a new contract and he was allowed to join Inter Miami as a free agent. He was signed before Diego Alonso was hired as the head coach, however, and appears to have fallen out of favor as the season wore on. After starting four of Inter Miami’s first five matches, Torres only logged five total minutes and has not even made the bench the last two games. One theory is that Torres’ passing was not what Alonso wanted.
For the Sounders, though, Torres is a known commodity who was a popular player in the locker room. At best, he manages to regain the form that saw him start three of four playoff games in 2019 and ended with him raising MLS Cup. At worst, he provides another veteran option off the bench late in games, almost certainly at a discounted price.