The shaping of the second Major League Soccer edition of the Portland Timbers took a step forward on Monday with a series of roster moves.
The Timbers announced contract extensions for goalkeeper Troy Perkins and defender David Horst, while releasing seven others.
The players who were not offered contracts for 2012 were goalkeeper Adin Brown, defender Kevin Goldthwaite, midfielders Rodrigo Lopez, Peter Lowry and Ryan Pore, and forwards Spencer Thompson and Brian Umony.
Goldthwaite, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in July, announced his retirement from professional soccer on Monday.
The others are now free agents who can look for opportunities elsewhere.
Because of MLS policy, details and duration of the new contracts for Perkins and Horst were not made public.
The Timbers have 22 players on their roster. The forwards are Kenny Cooper, Bright Dike, Eddie Johnson, and Jorge Perlaza. The midfielders are Eric Alexander, Kalif Alhassan, Freddie Braun, Diego Chara, Jack Jewsbury, James Marcelin, Darlington Nagbe, and Sal Zizzo.
The defenders are Eric Brunner, Mike Chabala, Futty Danso, Horst, Lovel Palmer, Steve Purdy, Chris Taylor, and Rodney Wallace.
The goalkeepers are Jake Gleeson and Perkins.
An eight-year professional, the 30-year-old Perkins was one of the leaders for the Timbers in their first MLS season. The goalkeeper started 29 league games after recovering from an early-season knee injury. He recorded nine shutouts.
The 2007 MLS goalkeeper of the year for D.C. United, Perkins has played six seasons in the league. In 2008 and 2009, he played for Norwegian first-division side Valerenga IF.
According to salary information released in September by the Major League Players Union, Perkins had a base salary of $250,000 in 2011.
Horst, 26, saw his first significant MLS action in 2011. He played in 16 games at center back, starting 11 of them. Horst earned $42,000 for the 2011 season, according to MLS Players Union figures.
Based on union figures, the players released by the Timbers on Monday earned about $452,000 for 2011.
MLS teams are allowed to carry up to 30 players, with players 21-30 on the roster considered off-budget players who do not count against the salary cap.
The salary cap is expected to be $2.675 million per team in 2012.
The salary cap is deceiving because teams can pay more for up to three Designated Players (Diego Chara is the lone Timbers DP), and does not count Generation Adidas players such as Portland’s Darlington Nagbe.
General manager Gavin Wilkinson, who announced Monday’s roster moves, has been traveling extensively to scout international players.
