The Portland Timbers and Chivas USA kicked off their Re-Entry day by swapping players Thursday, with the Timbers acquiring utility man Jorge Villafaña for center back Andrew Jean-Baptiste.
The Timbers also moved up to the No. 2 spot in the Re-Entry Process, where they selected former Seattle Sounders attacker Steve Zakuani.
The parting of ways with Jean-Baptiste comes as a bit of a surprise, considering his recent selection to MLS’ 24 Under 24 list, denoting the league’s top young players. The 21-year-old former Big East Conference defender of the year out of the University of Connecticut started 26 games for the Timbers last season, his second in the league after being Portland’s first pick (eighth overall) of the 2012 SuperDraft.
But he fell out of favor after the Timbers played Chivas to a 1-1 draw on Sept. 14 and didn’t play a minute after that.
Villafaña, 24, who can play either left back or a midfielder winger position, recorded a career-best four assists and scored one goal over his 20 league appearances (15 starts) this past season. "Sueño" spent seven seasons with Chivas and has also has played with both the US Under-20 and Under-23 national teams.
