Chivas USA spends to get Arturo Alvarez

Staff Writer

Dec. 5, 2011 11:36 AM PT

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Chivas USA continued in a rebuilding mode Monday, selecting midfielder Arturo Alvarez in the stage 1 draft of Major League Soccer’s 2011 re-entry process.

Under MLS rules, selecting teams must honor the existing contracts of stage 1 players or, if the player is unsigned, offer them a 5% raise. Alvarez made $202,000 last season, which would appear to make him expensive for a franchise not known for its free spending. Alvarez was one of five Real Salt Lake players whose contracts or contract options were declined, which left them exposed to the re-entry draft.

Alvarez, a 26-year-old Houston native of Salvadoran heritage, played 16 games last season. He’s played 179 games in his nine-year MLS career.

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-- Kevin Baxter

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Kevin Baxter

Kevin Baxter writes about soccer and hockey for the Los Angeles Times. He has covered seven World Cups, four Olympic Games, six World Series and a Super Bowl and has contributed to three Pulitzer Prize-winning series at The Times and Miami Herald. An essay he wrote in fifth grade was voted best in the class. He has a cool dog.