When Metro acquired the second Designated Player slot from Chivas USA, we had to admit that we were salivating. David Beckham was just signed by the Galaxy, and the rumor mill was buzzing with the names of Ronaldo, Figo, and Zidane. Everything and anything seemed possible.

And then, Claudio Reyna was signed. Nice, we thought. Not thrilling, but nice. And then, Juan Pablo Angel was signed. Not the biggest name out there, but could turn out to be good, we thought.

And then, Reyna got injured, played a bit, got injured again, and retired. It wasn't thrilling or nice. Angel, of course, exceeded all expectations, and is the perfect example of what a DP should be: not exactly the biggest name, but a great player who makes his teammates better. And now, with Reyna's cap number finally off the books, if only Juan Carlos Osorio could find a second Angel, we thought we might be set...

Not so fast.

Because Osorio wants to deal that second DP slot.

Nonsense, you might say? Perhaps. But there is a lot of logic to this nonsense.

There are two major points for dealing the slot. The first is the DP's weight on the salary cap. The first DP counts as 400K, the second as 325K. That totals 725K, or 32% of the league's supposed 2.3M salary cap. With so much invested in two players, finding salary for the other 18 senior squad members (up from 16 last year) could be a challenge.

The second point is needed depth. Clearly, Osorio is not happy with the team he currently has, MLS Cup finalists or not. And if the slot can be used to acquire multiple proven MLS players, then that might be a better use than using it on one player from abroad. Especially considering MLS's not-so-successful DP record (Angel is an exception; on the other hand, you have Reyna, Denilson, Marcelo Gallardo, Claudio Lopez).

So now the question begs, who would want the slot? The answer seems to begin and end with one name, Chivas USA, the team that traded the slot to Metro in the first place. Chivas has supposedly been wanting to acquire a big-name Mexican, and needs the DP to do so.

What would Chivas deal to the slot? We'll leave the guessing for others. But one thing is for certain: Osorio better use the spot by either signing someone or trading it. Leaving it hanging is just a colossal waste... but no more colossal than signing another Reyna, perhaps.