No surprise: the big announcement for Friday announced by the Rapids is to confirm it has acquired Christian Gomez from D.C. United in a trade.

What is a surprise is that no players will be given up by Colorado in the deal, according to a source. Colorado, said the source, did give up a draft pick and since D.C. had requested Colorado's first pick in next year's SuperDraft it's reasonable to assume that was part of the deal, but that's not the entire deal. Allocation money, perhaps? Details to follow, perhaps on Friday.

Gomez signed a two-year contract that will pay him the maximum salary - supposedly set at $335,000 for the 2008 season - and a bit more thanks to allocation money. He will not be a Designated Player; D.C. had no intention of honoring his request to be paid D.P. money, electing instead to invest those funds in Marcelo Gallardo.

Rapids head coach Fernando Clavijo has tried at least twice to secure a Designated Player. He offered Mexican striker Jared Borgetti about $1.3 million last year, but Borgetti got a better offer from Cruz Azul and took it. This winter he also tried futilely to lure Uruguayan striker Sebastian Abreu, who instead signed with River Plate in Argentina.

Gomez leaves D.C. having scored 39 goals and collected 29 assists in 97 games for D.C., which he joined late in the 2004 season and helped to win the MLS Cup with four regular-season goals and another one in the playoffs.

Gomez, 33, finished second on the team in scoring last year with 10 goals and nine assists. He was the MLS MVP in 2006.

D.C.'s successful re-signing of Jaime Moreno at a lower salary and the offseason acquisitions of Gallardo and three other South Americans, however, left Gomez out in the cold.

Your thoughts on the Gomez deal? Was D.C. mistaken to choose Gallardo over Gomez? Can Gomez contribute to the Rapids? Post your comments on the public MLS Confidential blog below.