The Seattle Sounders Friday traded defender Jeff Parke to the Philadelphia Union in exchange for allocation money and a 2013 first-round supplemental draft pick. Parke, 30, played three seasons for the Sounders and was voted the club’s Defender of the Year in 2011 and 2012.
Parke, who grew up in the Philadelphia suburb of Abington, made 78 regular-season appearances for Seattle, including 77 starts, and has 210 career MLS appearances during his nine-year career. Parke appeared in 39 of 48 matches across all competitions in 2012. He has started 102 of his 105 appearances across all competitions with Seattle, logging 8,848 minutes.
After the Sounders ousted Real Salt Lake from the MLS Cup playoffs, coach Sigi Schmid said that Parke “is playing the best soccer of his career.”
“We would like to thank Jeff for his outstanding contributions to Sounders FC,” said general manager Adrian Hanauer. “Jeff has been a fantastic pro and valuable to our success as a team. Sometimes family trumps soccer, and in this case, we were able to help Jeff get closer to his family. We wish Jeff well and he will always have a place in Sounders history.”
Parke was named MLS Player of the Week after scoring the game-winner over Sporting Kansas City May 21, 2011. He also recorded the game-winning assist in the 2011 U.S. Open Cup Final against the Chicago Fire.
Seattle selected Parke from the New York Red Bulls in the MLS Expansion Draft Nov. 26, 2008, and he signed with the club May 13, 2010. Prior to joining the Sounders, Parke was a five-year starter for New York, where he was named the club’s 2007 Defender of the Year and 2006 Ironman and Co-Unsung Player of the Year. He also earned the club’s Newcomer of the Year honors in 2004.
Parke was selected with the last pick (60th overall) in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft. Parke played college soccer at Drexel University.
NOTES: The Sounders announced four 2012 team awards Friday, naming Osvaldo Alonso Most Valuable Player and just-traded Jeff Parke Defender of the Year. Both were selected by a vote of their teammates. Eddie Johnson received the Golden Boot by virtue of leading Seattle in scoring and David Estrada was awarded the Humanitarian of the Year.
3 Comments
“After the Sounders ousted Real Salt Lake from the MLS Cup playoffs, coach Sigi Schmid said that Parke ‘is playing the best soccer of his career.'”
Apparently not good enough to keep your Defender of the Year on your team for 2013. But, hey, Roth, Carey and Hanauer get that big allocation money AND one of those vitally-important Supplemental Draft picks knowing all well that their fans will buy tickets no matter what they put on the field.
Somewhere, P.T. Barnum is smiling, nodding and saying, “See? What did I tell you?”
Nice points, RadioGuy
The Sounders say they were desperate for allocation money, and I’ve seen the best GMs in any sport say it’s better to trade a player a year early than a year late. Has to be the case here