The rumor mill has gathered some steam once again at Cruz Azul. Plenty of names are being thrown around to take the coaching job in La Noria. At the same time, another name has been mentioned in connection with the general manager/ team president role. However, people in the know like Televisa’s Adrian Esparza have shot down the idea that former Cruz Azul player, and Televisa on air talent Beto Valdes will take a position with the team. The rumors that do seem to ring true though are those revolving around the departure of Cata Dominguez, Rafa Baca, and goalkeeper Sebastian Jurado.
Essentially the idea that is being thrown around is that the 3 are going to be used as scapegoats for the America loss, and the disaster that was the Diego Aguirre tenure at the club. What we are going to do here is look into what the team would have to do to get rid of these 3 players. Just to be clear, getting rid of these 3 would certainly be a move aimed at pleasing the fan base. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the team would automatically get better without these players.
Cata Dominguez Would Be The Easiest One To Get Rid Of
Cata Dominguez would be the easiest one of the three to get rid of because his contract is up in June. So this means that he could potentially be looking for a team already and Cruz Azul wouldn’t need to be compensated for the sale of the player. That’s the easy part, the issue with Cata is that he’d probably find a home on a team that carries a lower pay roll than Cruz Azul. Teams like Queretaro, Mazatlan, or San Luis. If they want to get rid of him in January they are going to have to pay him the salary for the last six months of his contract otherwise it ‘d be hard to find a suitor. Maybe the clearest path he has to leave Cruz Azul is through a loan that sees Cruz Azul pay just part of his salary for the next 6 months.
Rafa Baca’s Automatic Renewal Clause
Rafa Baca seemingly still has a full year left at Cruz Azul thanks to a clause in his contract that stated the player would be renewed for another year on his current deal if he played more than 60% of the minutes in the team’s regular season. The defensive midfielder was able to rack up the minutes, and this puts Cruz Azul in a pickle. Like Dominguez it’s unlikely that he’d be able to find a lucrative deal anywhere else. Maybe Baca has some MLS aspirations, and that could help Cruz Azul. If not they’d have to use the same formula. Find a team willing to take on a loan with Cruz Azul paying a large chunk of the player’s salary.
Who Wants Jurado?
Contractually speaking Jurado is the hardest to get rid of. The team just re-signed Sebastian this year. He’s contracted to the team until 2025. As is the case with his teammates it’s going to be hard for the team to get out of the deal. Especially since other teams know that Cruz Azul wants these guys out no matter what. The biggest problem for Jurado is that his salary is too high for a backup keeper, but there are not that many teams in Mexico looking for a starter. Furthermore, a starter as highly compensated, and as unproven as he is. MLS could be a good route for the Veracruz native. If not it’s hard to see the team finding another club willing to make a fair deal.
