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  "description": "Other sides only want the players you like.",
  "path": "/2026/03/the-sadness-of-being-a-selling-team/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-28T18:41:02.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.sounderatheart.com",
  "tags": [
    "The Pipeline",
    "Josh Atencio is playing more minutes and starting more games",
    "Reed Baker-Whiting is one-third of the way",
    "personal first-team minutes and starts record",
    "wonderful men who grew up",
    "beautiful tales of challenges they've overcome",
    "Use our affiliate links",
    "Do you own your copy of IV magazine yet?",
    "We've added some new features",
    "Sounders, Reign offer season-ticket holders chance to enter lottery for World Cup tickets",
    "Georgi Minoungou traded to Rapids",
    "Good luck in Colorado, Georgi",
    "Jordan Morris is ready to run",
    "Charlotte FC wants to be the Sounders of the Eastern Conference",
    "Has Nouhou actually leveled up?",
    "Sounders move two matches to later in season",
    "Full Pull Wines",
    "Join their mailing list",
    "streaming guide here",
    "Match preview: Seattle Reign vs. Racing Louisville",
    "Reign ride first-half goals to 3-0 win over KC",
    "Reign vs. Current: Highlights, stats, quotes",
    "Valkyratings: Sofia, Peerless",
    "Valkyratings: Red cards and highway blues",
    "Support Sounder at Heart",
    "'This is people's lives': Canadian soccer star Quinn continues trans advocacy",
    "USWNT goalkeeper Claudia Dickey breaks Seattle Reign’s all-time record for shutouts",
    "Charlotte FC’s goal: Try to become the Seattle Sounders of MLS's Eastern Conference",
    "Cristian Roldan, USMNT look to show \"what we're capable of\" vs. Belgium, Portugal",
    "Inter Miami unveil the Leo Messi Stand at Nu Stadium in tribute to current captain and Argentine icon",
    "It Was Never Just Me | By Kim Little",
    "U.S. 2031 Women's World Cup bid waiting on Trump guarantees while host cities want better deal",
    "NBA approves expansion process for Seattle, Las Vegas"
  ],
  "textContent": "In every sport your favorites move on. The greats leave. The cult favorites leave.\n\nFor soccer clubs that become known as selling clubs, that 'feature' of sports accelerates. Maybe that's one of the curses of The Pipeline. Over the past year+ Seattle's pipeline is turning into a money generator. This is wonderful for the team, especially for Craig Waibel as he builds towards trophies.\n\nIt can be good for the players – Obed Vargas is making a lot more money on one the largest stages possible. Josh Atencio is playing more minutes and starting more games for a squad that seems likely to make the playoffs. We're barely into the 2026 competitions and Reed Baker-Whiting is one-third of the way to the starts he had in Seattle last year. Danny Leyva will set a personal first-team minutes and starts record in April.\n\nNow Georgi Minoungou has moved on. He'll go from sixth best winger to third or fourth. He'll move from a team with trophy ambitions to a team competing for home playoff games (and maybe a trophy, if things break well).\n\nIn Seattle, outside of Obed, these were valuable but underutilized talents. Each showed at times the makings of greatness.\n\nThey were one of us.\n\nAnd now they're not (at least in the kit they wear).\n\nThis curse of losing the talents you love, adore and want to see succeed is part of the process of becoming a serious developer of soccer talent. I hate it. I love it.\n\nThese are wonderful men who grew up in front of us. Their absence will hurt. Some will come back, because the Sounders do a solid job of returning talents. They'll be different when they do return.\n\nLosing five in 13 months is probably not the pace of the future. It was an intense wave of movement unlikely to be replicated.\n\nSelling clubs will do this, regularly and frequently. At times these will be your favorite prospect – it will always be someone's favorite prospect. These men will have wonderful stories, beautiful tales of challenges they've overcome.\n\nPuget Sound will be part of their family forever. A thread will always connect them to their home here, even as they build homes in other places.\n\nGeorgi is one of us – forever.\n\nAnd the curse is that we have to watch from afar now.\n\n> Use our affiliate links__ to support your bloggers when buying merch and tickets.\n\n* * *\n\n## Enjoying this content?\n\nSign up to get it delivered to your inbox everyday.\n\nSubscribe\n\nEmail sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup.\n\nNo spam. Unsubscribe anytime.\n\n## Catching up on Sounder at Heart\n\n> Here's what you missed on the site this week.\n\nDo you own your copy of IV magazine yet?\n\nWe've added some new features\n\nSounders, Reign offer season-ticket holders chance to enter lottery for World Cup tickets\n\n### Sounders\n\nNext match: Saturday, April 4 at Houston Dynamo FC | 5:30 pm PT | Apple TV\n\n  * Georgi Minoungou traded to Rapids\n    * Good luck in Colorado, Georgi\n  * Jordan Morris is ready to run\n  * Charlotte FC wants to be the Sounders of the Eastern Conference\n  * Has Nouhou actually leveled up?\n  * Sounders move two matches to later in season\n\n\n\nSPONSORED\n\nThis newsletter was made possible through the support of Full Pull Wines, a boutique wines reseller that has been sponsoring us since 2011.\n\n\n                            Join their mailing list\n                        \n\n### Reign\n\nNext match: Saturday, March 28 v. Racing Louisville at ONE Spokane Stadium | 3:30 pm PT | ION (33 on broadcast, 3 on Comcast, streaming guide here)\n\n  * Match preview: Seattle Reign vs. Racing Louisville\n  * Reign ride first-half goals to 3-0 win over KC\n    * Reign vs. Current: Highlights, stats, quotes\n    * Valkyratings: Sofia, Peerless\n  * Valkyratings: Red cards and highway blues\n\n\n\n### Defiance\n\nNext match: Sunday, March 29 vs. Ventura County | 8 pm PT | OneFootball, MLSNextPro.com\n\nSupport Sounder at Heart\n\n* * *\n\n## Looking back at the news\n\n> Everything else you need to know\n\n  * 'This is people's lives': Canadian soccer star Quinn continues trans advocacy (CBC)\n  * USWNT goalkeeper Claudia Dickey breaks Seattle Reign’s all-time record for shutouts (All For XI)\n  * Charlotte FC’s goal: Try to become the Seattle Sounders of MLS's Eastern Conference (Backheeled)\n  * Cristian Roldan, USMNT look to show \"what we're capable of\" vs. Belgium, Portugal (Scarves & Spikes)\n  * Inter Miami unveil the Leo Messi Stand at Nu Stadium in tribute to current captain and Argentine icon (Yahoo) No word if the Paul Rothrock end is part of Seattle's Longacres plan\n  * It Was Never Just Me | By Kim Little (Players Tribune)\n  * U.S. 2031 Women's World Cup bid waiting on Trump guarantees while host cities want better deal (New York Times)\n  * NBA approves expansion process for Seattle, Las Vegas (KOMO) Several steps still to go before the Sonics are back.\n\n",
  "title": "The sadness of being a selling team",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-28T18:41:05.227Z"
}