COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Crew took the first steps toward rebuilding after a down 2019 season. After a quick sale of the team to new ownership, general manager Tim Bezbatchenko and head coach Caleb Porter didn’t have much time to groom a roster. Now with a full offseason to work, the decisions have started to roll in.
The Crew exercised the options of defenders Waylon Francis, Héctor Jiménez and Jonathan Mensah; as well as midfielders Luis Argudo, Pedro Santos and Wil Trapp and reached new contract agreements with goalkeeper Jon Kempin and defender Josh Williams.
Declined contract options include goalkeeper Ben Lundgaard; defender Alex Crognale; and midfielders David Guzmán, Edward Opoku and Eduardo Sosa.
The club is also currently in negotiations with out-of-contract defender Harrison Afful. Likely due to this situation, a decision on the contract option of Connor Maloney has not yet been made.
No negotiations are ongoing with Ricardo Clark and Federico Higuaín, meaning the club legend has likely played his last game with Columbus.
“As we continue preparations for the 2020 season, our goal is to build a roster that can compete for championships,” Bezbatchenko said. “Although we were disappointed to miss the postseason, the team evolved throughout the year and was trending in the right direction at the end of the season. We want to build on the work done by our technical staff and players this season as we continue to solidify our identity in this new era of our club.
“While it is never easy to make difficult personnel decisions at the beginning of each offseason, we are confident the roster will continue to evolve in the coming months as we look toward 2020 and beyond.”