Manny Aparicio, Daniel Lovitz, Quillan Roberts assigned to Wilmington Hammerheads.

Toronto FC announced today the first of the players that will see time with the Wilmington Hammrheads, 3 choices that all make a lot of sense.

Dan Lovitz had of course already told the world, but his signing, as well as his being sent down was finally officially confirmed today, and the draft pick will be joined by homegrown teens Goalie Quillan Roberts and midfielder Manny Aparicio.

"We feel this will be of great benefit for Quillan, Daniel, and Manny and it will allow them to earn valuable match experience in a professional environment," said Toronto General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko. "Throughout the course of the season our coaches will make trips to Wilmington to observe our players. We had very productive meetings during preseason with Jason Arnold (general manager) and David Irving (head coach) and really feel comfortable about the environment our players will be developing in."

All these assignments make a lot of sense, as it's unlikely any of the 3 would have seen playing time with TFC this season. Aparicio put in some impressive performances in pre season but would have been well down the depth chart so getting in playing time with Wilmington can only help his development. Lovitz, well his fate was likely to be the same as Emery Welshman, Demetrious Omphroy and many other draft picks who were never played and then released after a season, this gives him a chance to play regularly and show he's worth more time. As for Roberts, he was signed in April 2012 and has never come close to getting playing time, and with him being the 4th choice goalie, that wouldn't change, so this is definitely a good move for him.

There should be a similar announcement soon as the partnership calls for a minimum of 4 players to be on loan. Not sure exactly what they're waiting for, it may be waiting for injuries to clear up (Jordan Hamilton) or for players to be officially signed (Kene Eze) before final decisions are made.  I don't know how long they have to make that decision, but the Hammerheads first league game is April 5th, and there'll be pre season games before then, so we should hear something soon.