It's been a big month for Dax McCarty.
The young holding midfielder scored the winning goal for FC Dallas to defeat MLS Cup favorite Real Salt Lake and send his team through to the MLS Western Conference Final. Two weeks later, he was starting for FC Dallas in the club's first ever MLS Cup Final, and was considered by many to be the game's MVP, despite Dallas ending on the wrong side of a 2-1 overtime result.
The next day, McCarty was surprisingly left off the protection list ahead of the two-team MLS expansion draft, and just two days later, he was selected by the Portland Timbers as the first overall selection.
McCarty was only a member of the Timbers for a few hours though, as he has now been traded to D.C. United, along with allocation money, for defender Rodney Wallace and a fourth round draft pick.
The 23-year old 5'-9" 150 lb McCarty has five goals and 17 assists in 93 games for FC Dallas. United will have to work McCarty into its lineup, as the central midfield is currently occupied by veteran Clyde Simms and Montenegran international Branko Boskovic.
Wallace missed most of the 2010 season, but the 22-year old was having a promising campaign after being moved from left midfield, where he started as a rookie in 2009, to left back, where he started in college at the University of Maryland.
Martin Shatzer of Black And Red United thinks that this is a fair trade, but also questions United on the team's opinion of the draft.
The trade also frustrates me because it shows a total lack of faith in the Superdraft. With Graye and Wallace gone, United now has only two players on its roster from the previous four years of drafts. Chris Pontius and Brandon Barklage, one of whom has played only seven MLS matches. The team gave up a first round pick last year for Troy Perkins, and now they've already traded away their second and fourth round picks in 2011.