Toronto FC sends Barrett to the Galaxy

In a stunning move, Toronto FC has sent striker Chad Barrett — who finished second in club scoring last season — to the Los Angeles Galaxy for future considerations.

Barrett found the net seven times last season, and had impressed fans with his work rate as he tried to shake the tag of being a striker who missed far more chances than he converted.

Barrett’s shining moments as a Toronto FC player came in the club’s 2010 CONCACAF Champions League qualifier against CD Motagua of Honduras. Barrett scored the only goal in the first leg at BMO Field. Then, in the second leg, he broke in and scored the goal to knot the second leg 2-2, ensuring TFC would go through.

But new coach Aron Winter made it clear that Barrett — or at least his salary — might not fit in the new system he envisions for Toronto FC.

“We made this move to give us more flexibility in building our squad for the new season,” said Winter in a release. “This creates more cap space which will help us create a team capable of playing the style of soccer we are looking for.”

TFC got Barrett in a trade with the Chicago Fire back in 2008. When Brian McBride announced he wanted to return to MLS from Fulham of the English Premier League, Toronto was at the top of the allocation ladder. McBride wanted to finish his career in Chicago — which he did this season — so TFC dealt his rights to the Fire and got Barrett in return.

Barrett scored 16 times in 65 MLS games for the Reds.

Toronto FC has said it expects leading scorer Dwayne De Rosario to be back in camp after his trial/training session with Celtic ends Friday. This move can be taken as a sign that the Reds are confident this will happen, or that another move for a forward is in the cards — because the kitchen is awfully bare at the moment.

The Galaxy is tryig to fill the void left by 17-goal man Edson Buddle, who left MLS for FC Ingolstadt. The Galaxy already picked up striker Adam Cristman from D.C. United and drafted former New York Red Bulls Designated Player Juan Pablo Angel in the re-entry draft, even though there is no word on a contract.