Good Friday morning Caps fans. Hope you all are having a lovely week and that you are preparing for a well-earned break this weekend.

We are officially in silly season for the Whitecaps, though we are anxiously awaiting what the Caps do with their player options.

What exactly Vancouver should do with those who are out-of-contract has been a topic of keen discussion lately on Whitecaps Twitter ™. We’re starting to do a dive on some of the more interesting players the Caps will have to decide on and, frankly, those are more informed opinions. But here’s my two cents.

The only players I would unconditionally bring back next year are Fafa Picault and Yohei Takaoka and, even then, there are good arguments to be made against both. Fafa had an excellent season but it is unclear if he hit the performance metrics to trigger the automatic option. Otherwise, you might see him walk to a team willing to pay more money for an aging winger coming off a career year. He was awesome this season but I could see Vancouver not wanting to go there for a guy who isn’t getting any younger and relies somewhat on pace.

Takaoka is likely to be back, based on his public comments this week, and I think Vanni Sartini’s idea of a 1A and 1B arrangement with Taka and Isaac Boehmer confirms that, while they like Boehmer, they don’t see him as ready to be a week-in and week-out starter yet.

I remember when the team was weighing using both Zac MacMath and Maxime Crepeau and, ultimately, made the right decision to ride with Max. This is a bit different, however. Boehmer was awesome at times in goal but also made some mistakes, including one that cost the Caps against LAFC in his one start down the stretch. Not a knock on the guy but I get wanting another veteran around.

I don’t believe the reports, for what its worth, that the Caps are kicking the tires on Emil Gazdov of Pacific FC. The only reason you’d do it is if you wanted to cut Taka loose but have another starting level keeper around. But why roll the dice on a CPL guy (who was admittedly excellent) when you have a league average keeper you can keep around? It doesn’t make sense.

Beyond that, I would lean towards keeping Levonte Johnson around (I know, I know). Let’s face it, Johnson had some struggles but, as Caleb noted in a well done column this year, he largely suffered because the Caps never bought a replacement for Simon Becher. As a depth piece, Johnson is cheap, domestic and, largely, fine. Building a roster is more art than science and it requires guys like Levonte Johnson.

The same is true of Ralph Priso, who I could see returning as well. I’m fairly agnostic about Priso, who is a considerable drop off from Andres Cubas. But as long as he kept the game in front of him, Priso had some good moments as a defensive midfielder. He too may make sense as a cheap depth piece (but the price would have to be right).

Beyond that, I’d be surprised if Deiber Caicedo, Alessandro Schopf, Ryan Raposo or Joe Bednik were back. Raposo seems intent on testing free agency and I’d be surprised if someone wasn’t willing to pay him more than Vancouver was (either in MLS or abroad).

We likely won’t have to wait long for the word from on high on some of these questions. And I’m sure that, no matter what happens, the moves will inspire plenty of #takes.

Shameless Self Promotion

Caleb’s aforementioned argument in favor of Levonte Johnson is well thought out, whether you agree with it or not.

Our podcast breaks down the Caps’ elimination and where things go from here.

Best of the Rest

Matt Doyle’s postmortem on the Caps’ season is surprisingly bullish on their prospects for next season.

Bev Priestman has officially been sacked over Drone-gate but it is possible the ramifications of the scandal won’t stop there.

In on the pitch news for the national teams: A nice profile of Max Crepeau before the men take on Suriname; the women, meanwhile, will travel to Spain to take on Iceland and South Korea.

Taylor Twellman was removed from broadcast duties while an alleged altercation with a production assistant is investigated.