What Is Jeff Larentowicz Worth?

What happened in 2012 was a bit of a disappointment, of course. He was thrust into a position that he wasn't used to. Jeff was always good at passing the ball, but in Oscar Pareja's 4-3-3 he was forced into a sort of 'Anchor Man' spot that saw him making twice as many passes as before, while still needing to put all of his efforts into helping defend. With the defense often crumbling down around him last year, he looked a bit lost. His foul count went up, his successful passing rate went down and it was just disappointing all around for the ginger ninja.

Through all that, the question was, did his stock take a hit? I would argue that it shouldn't have. Larentowicz wasn't the only player to suffer from the big changes that Pareja implemented. Losing Pablo Mastroeni hurt what was already a tough transition, as it left him really the only defensive-minded player that wasn't actually a defender. He was never really meant to be an anchor man, and it showed.

Fortunately, most teams in the league don't play the same type of 4-3-3 that Pareja was going for. That means there are probably 10-12 teams in the league — teams that play a 4-4-2 or some other formation that keeps their holding midfielders in the center of the field rather than the back — who could probably do well with him in their Starting XI. Great defensive midfielders are hard to come by in MLS, and Larentowicz has had enough great years to prove that he's worth it. (Not a one year wonder like Omar Cummings was, for instance.)

Chris Bianchi, who probably has the most knowledge of anyone related to the club who isn't actually part of the club, has put out some varied reports on twitter about the trade situation.

What's the right deal? That is the question.

If I were to wager a guess as to what the Rapids are looking to acquire in a trade for Larentowicz, I would guess they would want a player and a draft pick — the draft pick being the important part since the team has made it very clear that they want to build from the draft if possible. What teams have players that the Rapids need as well as high draft picks? Plenty of them.

Despite his bad 2012 season, I would be surprised if the Rapids asking price for the Ginger Ninja was any less than a Top 12 pick or so and a player who could at least make the Starting 18 every week. Then again, that asking price might be what keeps Larentowicz from leaving Colorado any time soon — the team has already said that they really enjoy having so much depth at that anchor man spot.