The Seattle Sounders have announced earlier today that they have traded Jeff Parke to the Philadelphia Union. There were rumors floating around last Sunday that Philadelphia expressed interest in Parke and a day later, appeared to have reached in agreement that would bring him to PPL Park, but Jonathan Tannenwald from Philly.com tweeted that no agreement would be reached at that point. I've kept a close eye on this all week, knowing that the deal would more than likely go trough and found out this morning that Parke has indeed been traded. Parke is a native of Abington, Pennsylvania and his family currently lives in the Philadelphia area and the last time I checked, his wife was due to give birth to their first child. So again, Parke will on the move to his hometown to be with his family and of course to join his new club, the Philadelphia Union. In return the Sounders received allocation money and a first round pick in the 2013 Supplemental Draft.
Parke was selected by the Sounders in the 2008 Expansion Draft after five seasons with the New York Red Bulls. However, he struggled to settle in at the time and he ended up signing with the Vancouver Whitecaps, who were still playing in the USL at the time. After making seven appearances for the Caps' in 2009, Parke returned to Seattle on trial and made an appearance in a Community Shield match against Portland, who were also a USL team back then. Two months later, he signed with the Rave Green and was immediately inserted into the starting lineup and has since then been a huge asset to the back line. In his two and a half year stint with the Sounders, Parke has appeared in 105 matches in all competitions and of course has that lone goal from the match last season against Sporting KC which turned out to be the winner.
Thoughts on the move:
Well, his contract with the Sounders was due to expire at the end of the year and I half expected 2012 to be his last year with the Rave Green. So I'm not at all surprised to see him leave, especially since the fact that he is or will be a father, but at the same it's sad to see him go. It's a long offseason because you're always asking yourself "who's coming, who's going, who's coming, who's going?" and wondering if the moves they're making is right or wrong. Again, it's sad to see Parke leave but at the same time, I wasn't expecting him to return to the Sounders in 2013.
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