Austin FC sporting director explains acquisition, release of Emiliano Rigoni

Austin FC midfielder Emiliano Rigoni, front left, and San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Jackson Yueill (14) compete for control of the ball during the first half of an MLS soccer match in Austin, Texas, Saturday, April 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric gay)

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Austin FC sporting director Rodolfo Borrell explained Thursday why he decided to waive designated player Emiliano Rigoni and bought out his multi-million dollar contract, and basically, the decision was simple.

Oregano was not performing at the level Borrell expects a Major League Soccer designated player to be.

“That’s the end of it,” Borrell said. “He’s a great guy. There is nothing personal against him. He never missed training and did his best, but some things happen in life. We didn’t think he was performing at the level we needed him to. He was a good teammate, no problem.”

Borrell said he was aware of the reason in Rigon’s contract that it would automatically renew for 2025 if he made at least 12 appearances in the 2024 season. While it doesn’t make sense to him why a certain player would have that kind of clause in his contract, that is beside the point. His point was that the decision was strictly business and had to happen before he took the field again for Austin.

At the end of the 2023 season, Borrell said he began making calls to potentially move Rigon. He wouldn’t say where or which teams were involved, but Borrell presented Rigon’s agent with “two extremely good solutions” and he was shocked when the agent said no to them.

“We did everything from our end, and for whatever reason, it wasn’t accepted,” Borrell said. “That’s fine, no problem… and he stays with the club, and then the moment comes when he has this clause and we had to get rid of the player. It wasn’t like we didn’t know. We knew this before the end of last season. I found two good solutions, financially, team-wise, everything.”

Oregano was guaranteed more than $2 million by Austin FC this year. He was on a one-year contract with two-year options, but with that clause in his contract, the next time he pitched for the Verde and Black, the team would have to honor another year. Given Rigon’s lack of production on the field, scoring just once this season in more than 700 minutes this season, the only decision Borrell had was to release Rigon.

A certain MLS player tag comes with high expectations. Each team gets a maximum of three on their roster and their salaries are allowed to exceed the $683,750 salary cap. That’s why Austin FC captain Sebastian Driussi can make more than $6 million and Alex Ring makes more than $1.6 million. With big contracts, big performances should theoretically follow. They never did for Oregano. He scored five goals with six assists in 2023, but Austin FC failed to make the playoffs.

Through the MLS waiver protocol, Rigoni was made available to all other teams. If another team wanted him, they would pick up the remainder of his contract and he would move to that team. No one picked him up, which led to Borrell buying out his contract. Borrell said he offered to tell Rigoni about the plan himself, but Rigoni’s agent insisted on telling him. Borrell said Rigoni was “upset” when he “became aware of the situation”.

When a team releases a player in this nature, they should do a medical to make sure teams aren’t just waiting on injured players because they are injured. When he tried to arrange the medical exam, Rigoni initially didn’t want to talk to any of Austin FC’s operations staff, Borrell said. Oregano eventually appeared and the final process began.

“From the beginning, we wanted to avoid any misunderstandings,” Borrell said. “We wanted to go head-to-head and show him the situation, step-by-step, and give him all the options.”

The move gives Borrell more flexibility when the summer transfer window opens in July to look for another potential designated player, but he won’t force anything if he isn’t there. He said he will take his time and find the right player for Austin FC. He will not panic, as he said.

“At the end of the day, these types of decisions are bigger because the risk is higher and the impact is more financially and on the field,” he said.

Austin will take on San Jose at 9:30pm on Saturday at Paypal Park in San Jose.