Castro and Shuttleworth re-sign

The Revolution have announced the re-signing of GK Robert Shuttleworth and MF Mauricio Castro. Terms of the two deals were not disclosed. However, the Revs recently traded for veteran GK Preston Burpo, which makes it appear that Shuttleworth will be the second string goalie going into this year, and probably third once Reis returns. Remember: the Revolution lost their 2009 second stringer, Brad Knighton, to Philadelphia in the expansion draft. The Shuttleworth signing suggests that Burpo is strictly a stop-gap solution while Reis is out, and therefore that Shuttleworth is looked at as the long-term successor to Reis. With all of this in mind, it's a good move for the Revolution.

The other signing of Castro is very difficult to analyze since we don't know the terms of the deal. Last year he made $120,000. For what Castro has done the past couple of years $120,000 is about $90,000 too much. Castro's got some talent but he just hasn't shown it in a Revolution uniform, and now with the departure of Steve Ralston the Revolution either need someone to step up (lets face it there's not much of a chance of Mansally stepping up but that's another post) or they need to go out and sign someone. Castro could step in and fill in the void left by Ralston but it's far from a sure thing. If we knew the terms of the deal it'd be much easier to analyze. If the Revolution did get Castro for $50,000 or less then it's not a bad deal as Castro does have the potential to be a starter on the team. However, if they paid more than that then it's too much of a risk.

-Andrew