Toronto FC pick up Warren Creavalle from Houston Dynamo in deal for allocation spot and DaMarcus Beasley

For a long time now it seems, there's been talk of DaMarcus Beasley coming back to MLS. American international so presumably through the allocation process, and hey look who's at the top of that, it's TFC. But where would he want to go? What might TFC get back in exchange for the top spot in the allocation ranking? Would he be able to skirt that process like Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley did and TFC end up with nothing?

Finally we have all the answers, and yes he did have to go through the allocation process, he ended up at Houston, and in exchange for that top spot (and also a bit of allocation money thrown Houston's way apparently), TFC end up with Warren Creavalle, as confirmed here by Houston reporter Darrell Lovell

Confirmed: @Houstondynamo have traded Warren Creavalle to Toronto FC for top allocation spot and allocation money.

— Darrell Lovell (@DarrellLovell) July 23, 2014

We'll have a more thorough look at Creavalle via our friends at Dynamo Theory up later, but the basic info is that he's almost 24 years old and has played over 50 times for Houston since being picked in the 2012 SuperDraft. He's a midfielder, generally central and defensive though has also played as a right midfielder for Houston as well as occasionally in defence. He's scored 3 goals for the Dynamo, including the equaliser at BMO Field last year (Darren O'Dea gave up a dumb corner in injury time, then no-one marked him and he headed the corner home. Good times). His cap hit is $90,000 base and $100,500 guaranteed so TFC won't be breaking the bank at all by bringing him in.  Also, his nickname is 'The Octopus' which is fun, and explained here.

"We call him octopus as a kind of joke, but it's actually a compliment saying he has extra limbs to win the ball and kick the ball away from you in ways that other guys can't," center back Bobby Boswell said. "He's a pretty special talent in his athleticism. He's a skinny guy, but he's as strong as can be. He looks gangly, but he keeps the ball and gets out of situations that you wouldn't think."

For now, I'd be surprised to see him in the first team, but he should be a versatile option off the bench and good competition for Collen Warner for the spot alongside Michael Bradley. He's still young so may eventually become more than that.

So, good work from Little Tim, turning an asset that wasn't far from disappearing into nothingness into an actual useful player. The steady, less spectacular work of building an ok squad behind the flashy big name player continues.