Q&A with Atlanta United’s Garth Lagerwey: What may happen in offseason

Editor’s note: This is the third in a five-part series of interviews with Atlanta United President Garth Lagerwey.

Atlanta United President Garth Lagerwey spent almost an hour talking exclusively to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last weekend before the team’s Decision Day match in Cincinnati.

As hotel staff scurried about preparing for a wedding in an adjacent room, Lagerwey, wearing shorts and an Atlanta United jacket, Lagerwey covered a range of topics, from the MLS rules changes, to if the team is considering starting a women’s franchise, to the futures of key members of the team.

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Questions and answers have been paraphrased for clarity and/or brevity.

Q: What is the probability that you’re going to exercise the loan option on Xande Silva and (JuanJo) Purata?

A: We have to look at the whole thing after the season because it depends how the team does, depends on that ultimate outcome. And then because it’s a salary cap, it’s a jigsaw puzzle. And if you look at one and this one goes, and this one stays, and you’re going to have a different decision on the other one, so I think those types of questions are simply impossible to answer at this stage.

Q: There were reports a few weeks ago that the team had gotten four inquiries about Caleb Wiley. Did the team get any legitimate offers this summer for any players?

A: I mean, look, that’s (technical director Carlos Bocanegra’s) department, right? See, I think it’s better to ask him. I’m not in the day-to-day talking to agents and stuff like that.

What I would say is we had conversations about Caleb, about Thiago (Almada), about about a lot of our players. My concern would be if those conversations weren’t happening.

I understand you’re asking, did we get this specific offer? My answer is I don’t know. It’s really challenging to comment on particular conversations with a particular club because you don’t want to poison the well from a future negotiation standpoint.

What I would say is we believe the market is telling us that we have talent on our team. And so those conversations will be ongoing. The difference between our league and ... the Braves and for the Falcons is (our) guys have to consent to the trades outside of the country, right? So, at the end of the day, it’s just a more collaborative process.

We’ve got to sit down after the season and we’ve got to talk to these guys and say, ‘All right, what’s the long term plan?’ And then you’ve got to line up contract structures and depth charts and all that stuff to match that.

Keep in mind, too, I haven’t had an offseason yet with this group, right? Because when I came in all those decisions were baked before I started, Nov. 28 was my first day in the office.

We’re still finishing up Year 1, and we’ll get aligned to those things. I’d say about a number of those conversations is I think you can go either way on it. It really does depend on what the player wants. If they say, ‘I got to do this thing right away.’ Then OK, we’ll make another set of decisions over here.

What I’ve tried to do above all else is to say, if you’re successful for us, and you want to stay – when we went out and signed a TAM-able DP, Saba (Lobjanidze), to show Thiago if you want to stay, we’d love to have you. Right? You don’t have to go. And that’s what I think, culturally, is the most important thing we can do. Then you have conversations with folks after the season, and we know how we’ve done, and you’re laying out to them a road map, “Hey, here’s where this thing’s going to go if it’s something you want to be part of.”

Q: You and Carlos have talked about the offer is still out for (Miles) Robinson and perhaps he comes back to the team if he doesn’t receive an offer that he likes from another team? Have you ever had any conversation with his agent or anyone representing him?

A: It’s been quiet for the last month or two, at least, to my knowledge. I would say that’s actually normal. Again, from outside I understand no progress is frustrating. It’s normal because every year what happens is everybody gets through the summer, takes a breath, checks in.

And you say all right, stretch run, how do we get everybody playing as well as they can? How do we get the team, set it up, to be successful in the playoffs? And then we got – it feels like it’s coming right away – but whenever this ends, whether that’s in November or December, the reality is you’ve got two months until you’re playing a game again, two or three months. And so you have plenty of time to figure that stuff out.

THE SERIES

The first part: Rules changes

The second part: Will club start a women’s team?

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Atlanta United’s 2023 MLS schedule

Feb. 25 Atlanta United 2, San Jose Earthquakes 1

March 4 Atlanta United 1, Toronto FC 1

March 11 Atlanta United 3, Charlotte FC 0

March 18 Atlanta United 5, Portland 1

March 25 Columbus 6, Atlanta United 1

April 1 Atlanta United 1, New York Red Bulls 0

April 8 Atlanta United 1, New York City FC 1

April 15 Atlanta United 2, Toronto FC 2

April 23 Atlanta United 2, Chicago 1

April 29 Nashville SC 3, Atlanta United 1

May 6 Inter Miami CF 2, Atlanta United 1