Kobayashi was not the most productive of players in 2013 in his first year of MLS duty, snagging two goals and four assists in 30 appearances for the 7th place Whitecaps. He was the quietly solid type throughout the year though, and I feel that part of the reason he failed to do more is because he was on a team that was built around getting the ball to Camilo more than anything else.
Kobayashi is experienced, steady, smart with the ball at his feet and I would rather have him as the first attacking option off the bench than any of those other guys at the moment. He can play on the wing or as an attacking central presence, which would guarantee him minutes since he'd be the man called when one of the wing-strikers or Dillon Powers went down. He also won't have to wait until the Re-Entry draft to get picked up, since he doesn't fit the requirements. The Rapids could get him off of waivers if they so desired.
The fact that he used to play for my favorite J-League club is merely icing on the proverbial cake. I think I've used the word 'proverbial' more in this post than I have in the last 1,000 combined on this site.
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Matt Pollard 