Summer Transfers 2012: Revolution Waive Jose "Pepe" Moreno

The New England Revolution have waived Colombian striker Jose Moreno this morning, according to the team's official twitter feed. "Pepe" Moreno, 30, made seven appearances in 2012 (five starts), scoring one goal.

New England acquired Moreno on loan from Once Caldas in February, but it took over a month for the striker to arrive in Foxboro. He made an instant impact, scoring his only goal of the season on April 14th against D.C. United, but injuries and the emergence of Saer Sene limited his appearances thereafter.

Moreno last appeared for the Revs on June 16th, where he featured for 45 minutes before being subbed out with an ankle sprain. Recently, Moreno had been listed as healthy but wasn't making the matchday 18-man squad, leading to speculation that his days in Foxboro were numbered.

Losing Pepe doesn't seem like much of a blow. Really, it just looks like more comedy from the Revolution. Who doesn't remember this tweet from Revs president Brian Bilello this past winter?

Revs fans then waited for two months through a bizarre transfer fiasco that saw Moreno announce he would not leave Once Caldas, then suit up and play for Once Caldas again despite being announced as a loanee, and then not show up in Foxboro until the season had already started. After all the hype, one goal in seven games is not the return fans - or staff, it appears - were looking for.

Coupling this with the Shalrie Joseph trade makes it look a lot more like the Revs might be gearing up for a big late-season move. According to the MLSPU, Moreno was earning $149,000 in guaranteed compensation; taking that and Joseph's $350,000 off the books, while adding Gavin's $60,000 (if that's even a cap hit, given MLS's roster rules about players 21-28), earns New England a net gain of $439,000 in salary cap room. That number might be pro-rated based on where we are in the season, but any incoming contracts would be pro-rated as well (I think), so that doesn't matter.

Then again, with New England effectively out of the playoff race in the East and Jerry Bengtson about to return to Foxboro from his successful Olympic adventure, this may have just been a housecleaning move that the Revs felt they had no reason to wait for. It may be a pessimistic view, but it still seems more probable that the transfer fireworks - at least the incoming ones, if there will be any - will occur in the offseason.

What do you think of this move? Are the Revs doing the right thing? Was Moreno a waste, or was he denied the opportunity he needed to shine? Leave your comments below!