COMMERCE CITY — Rapids coach Pablo Mastroeni is not a very superstitious guy. But, when asked Tuesday about a center back the team is courting, he walked over to a wooden storage shed on the team’s training ground and knocked on it.
“I don’t even know if I should say this; where’s some wood at?” Mastroeni said before rapping his knuckles on the shed. “He’s been relatively injury-free throughout the course of his career.”
With the way the Rapids’ center backs have dropped to injuries in recent weeks, it’s hard to blame him.
Rapids vice president of soccer operations Paul Bravo said Tuesday he’s been working for about two weeks to bring in the experienced free agent — a European center back — and expects to have an answer within “the next day or so.” Bravo added that he’s been looking for a player to fill in, who also fits within the team’s 18-month plan.
“We could go out and find somebody who’s a stopgap,” Bravo said. “But that doesn’t fit our long-term vision.”
So, let the guessing game begin.
“I know that he’s experienced, and he’s been a fixture in every team he’s played,” Mastroeni said.
Bravo added: “(His) strengths are experience, leadership qualities, he’s going to be very good in the air, somebody who can command the whole group out on the field from that position. The experience is a big factor for us.”
The Rapids are starting to make plans to bring their mystery defender to Colorado to “finalize negotiations and get some medical information as well,” Bravo said. The Rapids have until Sept. 15 to add players before the MLS roster-freeze date.
On Saturday, it was another European defender who stepped in at center back. Austrian Thomas Piermayr helped calm a shaky back four that had allowed four goals in back-to-back games. In the end, it wasn’t enough as the Rapids fell 1-0 to the Supporter Shield-leading Sounders in Seattle — the Rapids’ sixth consecutive loss, tying a franchise record.
“We did well, it was one of the best teams in our conference,” Piermayr said. “I think we did well defensively, just conceded a goal from a set piece.”
Piermayr said he grew up playing center back, so the transition from fullback was not difficult.
“I think he performed well,” Mastroeni said of Piermayr. “I think defensively, we were as tight as we’ve been in a long time, ever since losing Shane (O’Neill), really. I think he did a good job of stepping up in that line and making it very difficult for two of the best forwards in the league.”
Meanwhile, O’Neill was out doing some light jogging off to the side at training on Tuesday — his 21st birthday — and Mastroeni said he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the center back’s progress. O’Neill has been out since July 12 with a strained MCL.
Captain Drew Moor remains out since tearing his ACL on Aug. 17, and Bravo said the timeline for him to return to 100 percent was about eight to nine months.
Rookie Jared Watts, a converted defensive midfielder who was the team’s cover at center back until injuring his hamstring on Aug. 20, is “probably a good month away” from being available, Mastroeni said.
Daniel Boniface: 303-954-1104, dboniface@denverpost.com or twitter.com/danielboniface
