Jeff Rueter examines the history of the Houston Dynamo Designated Players in his ongoing series.

As promised, welcome back to the usual installments of the Designated Report. Formed as the relocated first incarnation of the San Jose Earthquakes, the Dynamo were, well, an absolutely dynamo for their first seven years, winning two MLS Cups and finishing as runnersp another two years. The hallmarks of these successes were veteran savvy (with guys like Brad Davis and Brian Ching leading that cause) as well as smart players who bought into Coach Dominic Kinnear’s system and took their chances well. Needless to say, the Designated Player was a luxury for a system like this. With on-field results like those, it’s safe to assume they used the DP rule to their advantage… right?

All transfer sum numbers from Transfermarkt.
All salaries thanks to MLS Players Union surveys.
An asterisk (*) indicates a player who signed their DP deal mid-tenure with club.

Previous installments:

Introduction to Series and Updating Chart of Profiled Clubs
DC United: C
FC Dallas: C+
Columbus Crew: B
Sporting KC: B-
New York Red Bulls: B-
San Jose Earthquakes: C
New England Revolution: C+
Los Angeles Galaxy: B+
Chicago Fire: C-
Colorado Rapids: B-
Real Salt Lake: B
Chivas USA: B-

Houston Dynamo (founded 2006)

FAVORITE FRUITLESS RUMOR: Koke, April 2011

Luis Angel Landin (2009-2010)

Age When Signed: 24
Average Base Salary per Season: $120,000
Goals+Assists per 90: 0.565

Pre-DP:
The Mexican striker signed with Pachuca at 19, making his debut that year and easing into regular minutes. He found the back of the net 20 times in his first three years, eventually being sold to Morelia. He scored 7 goals in two years but wasn’t in favor from there, being sent on loan to Cruz Azul for the spring in 2009.

DP Year: 
That summer, Landin was sent on another loan, this time for eighteen months to Houston Dynamo as he became the franchise’s first Designated Player. At the time, the club was near the top of the MLS combined table and looked to be on their way back to competing for an MLS Cup trophy. Instead, they hit a summer/fall swoon, going 2-3-4 (nine points) over their first nine matches with Landin in tow. Individually, he scored one goal in 2009 and one more in 2010, though he added three assists in his second year. He failed to mesh with the club’s gameplan and the Dynamo cut his loan short after just under twelve months.

Post-DP:
After five more loans in four years (seriously, this guy couldn’t stick anywhere), Morelia let Landin go in 2015, where he played one season with Zacatepec in the Mexican second division. He signed with Costa Rica’s Municipal in 2016, scoring a goal in his debut.

Grade: D-
When a player comes into a side that’s at the top of the table, it’s less about having them save your season and more a case of wanting them to improve on an already impressive side. Landin didn’t do that, taking minutes from guys like Dominic Oduro and Brian Ching and failing to make up for their absences.

Óscar Boniek García (2012-2014)

Age When Signed: 27
Average Base Salary per Season: $160,000
Goals+Assists per 90: 0.351

Pre-DP:
The Honduran winger made his debut with domestic side Olimpia at age 19, bouncing between that side and Marathón. He went on a two-week trial at Paris Saint Germain before returning to Olimpia in 2007, finally earning regular playing time. He played 115 matches over the span of five seasons with the club, scoring 14 goals and becoming a mainstay on the Honduran National Team. A 2009 transfer to Wigan Athletic (then in the Premier League) fell through, keeping him at bay even longer.

DP Years:
After two missed attempts to play in a bigger league, García finally got his wish in June 2012, signing with Houston to become their second DP (and first on a full contract). It didn’t take long for him to make an impact. Scoring after just a few matches and earning the team’s MVP honor in 2012, he helped lead them into the playoffs in the stretch run before surprisingly making a run to the MLS Cup final, losing to Los Angeles. He continued earning starting minutes in 2013 and 2014 before being a called up to the 2014 World Cup, where he played in all three of Los Catrachos‘ group stage matches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-rOH7ikAvA

Post-DP:
At the end of 2014, the Dynamo bought down his contract with allocation money, opening up a DP slot. While García has started fewer matches for Houston over the past two years, he’s proven to be a consistent source of dangerous crosses, tallying 5 assists each in 2015 and 2016 thus far. He’s also still featuring for the Honduran National Team, scoring a goal in a March WC Qualifier against El Salvador.

Grade: B-
His production may not have matched the ideal for a winger in this league, but García was the catalyst for a run to the Cup final in 2012 and has been a consistent player ever since. He may not be the sexiest signing, but it’s tough to argue with reliability on the wings.

Alexander López (2013-2014)

Age When Signed: 21
Average Base Salary per Season: $213,000
Goals+Assists per 90: 0.269

Pre-DP:
A Honduran #10, Lopez trained with Olimpia’s youth side from the age of 7, making his senior debut at 18. Over three seasons, López made 51 senior appearances, scoring 23 goals from an attacking mid position but showing a propensity to drift in and out of games. He also earned 8 call-ups to the Honduran National Team, being looked upon as a potential cornerstone for the nation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJv7LVidMds

DP Years:
Having been linked to clubs like Wigan Athletic and Rosenborg, López instead signed with Houston in August 2013. López was given the number 10 shirt, indicating the faith of an organization bestowed upon a promising player. 2013 wasn’t his best year by any measure, as he made just two appearances and added one assist as the Dynamo made a march to the Eastern Conference finals despite his lack of contribution. With a full offseason in Houston, López still failed to crack the starting XI due to his suspect defense. He didn’t make an appearance for Houston until early May — with the season already nine weeks old — and only started once amid ten appearances, failing to contribute to the box score in any match.

Post-DP:
López lost his DP rank in 2015. While he saw much more of the field under new Coach Owen Coyle, he didn’t score any goals and had just three assists in 947 minutes. Let go after the season, López latched on with Olimpia once again, scoring two goals in the remaining 17 matches of the season.

Grade: F
Purely for his time as a DP, there isn’t a silver lining to be found with López. Only making two starts and adding one assist is abysmal and he played the equivalent of three-and-a-quarter matches over two seasons. His defense kept him from contributing in Dominic Kinnear’s system and the bidding war the Dynamo must have gone through to get him set them up for a let down.

DaMarcus Beasley (2014-Current)

Age When Signed: 32
Average Base Salary per Season: $750,000
Goals+Assists per 90: 0.059

Pre-DP:
Beasley is one of the most accomplished United States male footballers of all-time, being the only player to feature in four World Cups. Beasley broke through with the Chicago Fire before signing with Dutch club PSV Eindhoven in 2004, making 56 appearances over three seasons and having a half-season loan to Manchester City along the way. Beasley also became the first U.S. player to play in the semifinals at the UEFA Champions League, as PSV lost to Milan on away goals. He then spent three years with Rangers in Scotland, one year with Hannover 96 in Germany, and three years with Mexican side Puebla. He was called into action as a left-back for the USMNT’s 2014 World Cup run, helping them get out of the Group of Death as he learned a new position on the fly.

DP Years: 
Fresh off of the World Cup with his stock back on the rise as he moved to a scarce position, Beasley signed with Houston as a DP. He made 10 appearances over the fall of 2014, with his new position keeping him further back on the pitch and out of the attack. He’s started all 55 matches since his signing, scoring twice and adding an assist while providing solid defense out wide.

Grade: D+
This one hurts.

Let me come clean here: Peak Run-DMB was one of my favorite players. Watching Beasley running up and down the wing, seemingly tirelessly and faster than any of his peers, was an absolute joy. However, $750,000 is very steep for a player past his prime when he’s still learning a new position. Beasley was able to prolong his career by a year or two by moving further back on the pitch, but his contributions to a floundering Dynamo side haven’t lived up to his contract.

Erick ‘Cubo’ Torres (2015-Current)

Age When Signed: 22
Average Base Salary per Season: $462,500
Goals+Assists per 90: 0.271

Pre-DP:
Torres began his youth career with Chivas Guadalajara at the age of eight, eventually making his senior debut at 17 after serving as the U-17 side’s captain. In his first full Clausura season in 2011, Torres (nicknamed “El Cubo” for the size of his head) finished with six goals in 19 matches, second-best on the team. However, minutes were sparse for the young Torres and with ownership looking to add a greater Mexican presence to the USA chapter, he was sent on loan in July 2013. He scored seven goals and added one assist in 15 matches. In 2014, Cubo kept on scoring, becoming the MLS all-time Mexican-born scoring leader in July with 17 goals. Most notably, Torres scored in six consecutive matches during June and July, tying the club record for goals scored in a year on July 20 with his 14th, ultimately earning him an All-Star appearance. He made his senior Mexican National Team debut in 2014, scoring his first goal in a friendly against Panama in October.

DP Years: 
MLS wasted no time in picking up the purchase option on Cubo, with Houston winning his rights in the allocation order. Torres’s new contract gave him three times as much money as his Chivas stint, raising expectations for one of the highest-profile young players in the league. However, Torres failed to mesh with Coyle, with accusations of sexual assault during his loan stint with Chivas between MLS sides also keeping him from the training ground. On the field, Torres has yet to score a goal for Houston, adding two assists across 20 matches and six starts. He’s been the subject of a flurry of trade and transfer rumors, with many figuring he needs to leave the Dynamo in order to find his groove again.

Grade: F
In the time between the Chivas post and this one, Will Parchman at Top Drawer Soccer put a piece out talking about the tragic marriage between Torres and Houston. His goal-scoring ability from Chivas has been completely sapped, and his infectious personality from previous years is also gone. There’s plenty of time for Cubo to turn it around, but it’s been an absolute disaster in Houston.

Houston Dynamo Recap:

Average Signing Age: 25.2
Average Base Salary: $341,100
Average Grade: D

Today’s article is sponsored by the letter D: Dynamo, Disaster, Dismal.

There’s a direct correlation between when the Dynamo’s reign of supremacy ended and when the rest of the league became wiser with their DP usage. Aside from a few years of García, Houston has been abysmal with their usage of the slots, between young players who haven’t delivered and a veteran who’s over the hill and overpaid. There’s plenty of time to turn this around, and all it takes is one success story to right the ship, but the Dynamo have been far and away the worst team at using the rule so far in this series.

Next week: Toronto FC