PawedCast Episode 321: Orlando City Signings, Orlando Pride Not Doing Signings, Preseason Starts, and More

It’s our first show of 2023 and Orlando City has convened for preseason training to prepare for the MLS season ahead. There have been new arrivals and departures since our last show and we’re talking about the new guys and bidding a sad farewell to a fan favorite in Benji Michel. The Lions haven’t quite finished building the roster (or, at least, we hope that’s the case), with a couple of holes still left to address, but the team looks promising on paper as newcomers Rafael Santos and Martin Ojeda join the cause.
We also discussed Michel’s destination and a major award for an Orlando City draft pick. In addition, we touch on some news involving a few former Lions — one who suffered a major injury, one who hung up his boots, and another who has left his 2022 club.
The Orlando Pride did not win the Debinha sweepstakes as we’d hoped and traded out of a high draft spot to acquire even more Allocation Money. We’re not sure what the plan is for this club, as there has been a dearth of signings and there’s still no GM in place, but we sincerely hope there is one. A major part of that plan should take place on Thursday night as the NWSL Draft takes place, allowing the Pride to add some young talent. Will there be a late surprise involving some of that cash and some picks, or will the team just stockpile youth and see who emerges from the pack? We’ll have to wait to find out, but you won’t have to wait to listen to us rant about it.
We’d dearly love to see Seb Hines succeed but the off-season hasn’t exactly been one that fills us with confidence about him getting the right pieces in place to do so — at least not in his first year with the full-time job. We’ll just have to see how it all shakes out.
Finally, we spent some time answering your questions from our mailbag, where we were asked about an MLS SuperDraft player, how we got into both soccer in general and Orlando City specifically, and a brutal hypothetical that made us choose between two things we love. If there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the next show, just ask by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC.
Stay safe and enjoy the show!
Here’s how No. 321 went down:
0:15 - Orlando City’s off-season moves continued with some key additions and one significant subtraction since our last show. We talked about those, as well as the areas that we feel should still be addressed before the season.
36:17 - No new moves by the Pride this week and that’s a major part of the problem, especially when it comes to missing out on a particularly talented Brazilian. What are the Pride doing? We can’t wait to find out!
1:03:10 - Mailbagbox time!
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