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The facts are these:
This morning the Chicago Fire acquired Bakary Soumare from the Philadelphia Union. It's not yet known what they're giving Philadelphia in return. What is known is that Soumare makes $350,000 this year according to the MLS Players Union surgery. Ives Galarcep had this to say:
Final details of Soumare deal being worked out but he's headed back 2 Fire. Next step for Fire will B announcing Friedrich buyout/retirement
— Ives Galarcep (@SoccerByIves) May 23, 2013
So there will be a corresponding move for Chicago eliminating Arne Friedrich's $367,500 salary. If he retires the Fire would be off the hook, but it seems like a buyout would mean the Fire spent over a half million dollars on this move. Keeping in mind that the Fire also hold the rights to Robbie Rogers, Galarcep wasn't done.
Fire are pretty busy. I'm told they're still chipping away at a potential Robbie Rogers trade with LA. Fire want Chicago native Mike Magee
— Ives Galarcep (@SoccerByIves) May 23, 2013
Now that Magee part sent everyone all atwitter, but the math just doesn't add up. All of these moves would see Chicago spend close to a million dollars on salary concerns, without a centerpiece to show off. Usually, especially in MLS, committing that much money to salary has to have a "look what we just did" element to it. Magee-Soumare isn't going to push that many season tickets.
From an on-the-pitch angle, the move wouldn't make sense for LA. The hole in LA's attack is when midfielders get injured and Hector Jimenez has to start. It's having to rely on Homegrown players to be every weekend forwards when they're still learning the flow of the game. Getting Rogers isn't about upgrading Magee, it's about giving LA what Christian Wilhelmsson and Colin Clark were supposed to give. It's about allowing Landon Donovan to pair with Robbie Keane again, something that couldn't be done if Mike Magee weren't on the club.
So good news, talks between the Chicago Fire and LA Galaxy for Robbie Rogers are going somewhere. Bad news, they haven't gone somewhere concrete yet. This latest rumor is just a bit too out there.