Good Friday morning Caps fans. April has absolutely zoomed by and May is right around the corner — hope you all are mentally prepared.

I jinxed the Caps on Monday when I predicted they would be silent on deadline day. While there are no in-comings to report, the club did send out Cristian Dajome to DC United for 350k in guaranteed GAM, plus additional money conditional on performance benchmarks (which Dajome may well hit; DC United is sorely in need of some wingers and he will likely get plenty of minutes).

This was a move that will serve all involved well. Dajome was unlikely to get minutes in this retooled lineup and has looked off the pace when he has played in 2023. Deiber Caicedo’s return to fitness will likely boot him even further down the pecking order and the Caps have some cheaper potential options in the Whitecaps 2 side if they need a depth piece.

DC United could use a winger and they got the Caps to pick up half the tab on Dajome’s considerable 2023 salary. But Vancouver gets him off the books next year and obviously gets a not insignificant amount of GAM for a guy who really wasn’t playing much.

It is important not to overlook Dajome’s contributions. The guy had 10 goals in 2021 and looked like a pretty solid signing. Not a world beater or anything but a decent signing and a coup for the fledgling scouting apparatus of Axel Schuster.

Then the Caps made perhaps their most ill-advised move in recent memory and handed him a massive raise and extension, a move that has been a slug around their neck ever since, particularly as Dajome’s performances began to slip. Part of this, I am convinced, is because of the Caps shifting him around to basically every position short of keeper last year and part of it is the likely natural regression for a guy who relies on pace and is getting older.

Dajome is, by all accounts, a good guy and did everything Marc dos Santos asked of him, even when it meant playing as a wingback. But the Caps frankly did well to get DC United to pay even half of his salary this year and made out like bandits in this deal. He could kill it for DC and I would still say this — a clean break was needed for all parties involved and there was little chance he was going to relive his 2021 season ever again. The Caps have a chance to put together a good season and don’t need to burn minutes or money on someone who is unlikely to help them do that.

So far thee well Dajo; hopefully he can link up with the fighting Carl Robinsons and avoid the wooden spoon in the east.

Shameless Self Promotion

Caleb has a deeper dive on the Dajome move and what the lesson should be for the Caps’ brass. Meanwhile, the latest pod dives into the Caps, CPL and much more.

Best of the Rest

The Caps 2 are reportedly set to add a new defender from Europe. Is this a good signing? Eh, maybe? But the reserve side has hit on its most recent roster moves so they get a pass on this.

Sources! #VWFC are set to sign 19-year-old Serbian center-back/right-back Darko Ilic from 2. Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Ilic will initially join the MLS Next Pro side. Ilic has played 12 games and scored once in the U19 Bundesliga West this season. 🇩🇪🔜🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/a7p2a50Aw7

— Manuel Veth (@ManuelVeth) April 27, 2023

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(Photo Credit: Wesley Shaw/ ShotBug Press)