Monarcas Morelia, Jaguares De Chiapas Make...Interesting Swap

The little nuances make Mexican football what it is. The play on the pitch is always fun, but the ridiculous rules, customs and ownership situations are just as interesting. Though it's much closer to football in Argentina and Brazil than it is to Major League Soccer, trades and the free agent draft are still interesting, American-ish aspects of FMF. Jaguares de Chiapas and Monarcas Morelia executed one of those trades on Monday.

Allow me to editorialize for a moment: Unless there's something I've completely missed, Tomas Boy and the Morelia board really got one over on 'Profe' Cruz and the Jaguares board. Jaguares sent Oscar Razo and Christian Valdez to Morelia, receiving Yasser Corona and Luis Noriega in return.

Razo and Valdez are the vice-captain and captain of Jaguares, or were until the end of the season. Both of them were first choice throughout the year and had solid seasons. Through both fitness issues and being behind superior players, Corona and Noriega were not first choice for Morelia this season. There is not a large age difference between the players, though Jaguares received the slightly younger players.

The only thing that could possibly make sense is that Profe Cruz is desperate for a defender and didn't think he was going to find a better one than Corona. Additionally, he could have a deal locked up for Edgar Andrade, which could make Valdez (a midfielder) and Razo (can play midfield or fullback) expendable.

Unless Cruz rates Corona as a first choice defender for years to come, this deal doesn't make a whole lot of sense for Jaguares.