Sporting Kansas City didn’t wait long to fill the hole left by the release of supplemental draft pick Mike Jones last week, announcing the signing of left back Seth Sinovic on Tuesday to add additional depth to the back line.
Sinovic spent 2010, his rookie season, in New England after being selected in the second round of the MLS SuperDraft. The 24-year-old Leawood, Kan., native made 18 starts and appeared in 20 games but was waived by the Revolution at the end of March and trialed with Real Salt Lake before latching on with Kansas City.
“He's played games in the league, and he has some good experience,” manager Peter Vermes said in a statement. “We're glad to have him here, and he'll provide us with some needed depth.”
Sinovic has been trialing with Kansas City for the past few weeks and will provide another viable option on the left side of the defense, where cover will likely be needed as Sporting head into a busy stretch of games with the possibility that starting left back Roger Espinoza will be with Honduras during the Gold Cup in June.
Jones was released last week after failing to progress the way the coaching staff had hoped after being picked 28th overall in the supplemental draft out of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. He was one of three draft picks to be signed by Sporting along with C.J. Sapong and Konrad Warzycha, who is unlikely to play this year after suffering a knee injury during the preseason.
“We are constantly evaluating players every day,” Vermes said. “If you’re not moving forward, that means you are going backward. If you aren’t moving forward, then we’ve got to move on and find the next guy.”
Sporting likely to stick with Collin and Julio Cesar in the middle for now
Through the first five games of the season as red cards and injuries mounted, the two defensive constants for Kansas City were Jimmy Nielsen and Matt Besler.
That changed against the Red Bulls a little more than a week ago as Aurelien Collin and Julio Cesar manned the center of defense, leaving Besler on the bench for the first time this season. After some struggles for both early on in their Kansas City tenures, the duo had a solid game despite Sporting suffering a frustrating 1-0 defeat.
All indications are that Kansas City will stick with Collin and Julio Cesar after that performance, but Vermes said the choice to change directions wasn’t an indication of Besler’s performances but simply a decision to try a different combination of players.
“(It was) nothing earth shattering, just a decision to go that way,” Vermes said. “He has played well. (Besler) coming out was not an indication of bad play. I like the way he’s progressing. I feel good that we now have a good contingency of central defenders so if someone does go down, we’ve got guys that can go in and play just as well.”
