Why are the Houston Dynamo trading Brooklyn Raines?
(image via Aldo Canale)
According to MLS insider Tom Bogert, the Houston Dynamo are finalizing a trade to send midfielder Brooklyn Raines to the New England Revolution. It will be a cash trade, according to Bogert, with the Dynamo receiving $1.6 million up front and $400K in add-ons.
The initial response from Dynamo fans is obviously, “why?” (But with a little more colorful language.) Raines was a key piece in the Dynamo midfield and is still very young. So why are they moving him now? Let’s try and answer that big question with a few questions.
Why are the Dynamo trading another starting midfielder after the midfield was gutted last offseason?
Raines made 22 appearances in league play for Houston in 2025. He was given the tall task of replacing Hector Herrera in the midfield. That was always going to be a near-impossible ask, especially of a 20 year old, but Brooklyn played well this season and gained even more attention with his performance at the U20 World Cup. Losing a starting midfielder is not ideal but if we look deeper into Raines’ stats, we get a picture with some more focus.
Raines is a very good, young player. There is no doubting that. We all saw it last season. But, he doesn’t really do anything particularly well. He completes almost all his passes, ala someone he admires in Darlington Nagbe, but he doesn’t take a lot of passes and the ones he completes aren’t breaking lines or creating chances most of the time. He’s a good “glue guy” in the midfield, keeping the team shape and possession, but that kind of player can be replaced much easier than other roles.
How does this help the Dynamo short-term?
If reports out of South America are to be believed, the Dynamo are closing in on the signing of Argentine midfielder Agustin Bouzat. The 31 year old is the captain of his club, Velez Sarsfield, and is widely regarded by their fanbase as a leader and very good player. If we look at his numbers, they back up that claim.
Bouzat is a much more complete midfielder than Raines. His pass completion percentage is nowehere near as good as Brooklyn’s but he is very good at creating with passes and off the dribble. So, short-term if the Dynamo are swapping Raines for Bouzat it makes this team better.
Ok, sure, but how does this help the Dynamo long-term?
It doesn’t.
At least looking at it presently, it doesn’t. But Raines was always going to go to Europe, sooner or later, especially after his good showings at the World Cup. Raines was not going to be a piece the Dynamo were going to build around. The way this could help the Dynamo is if they invest that $2 million from the trade of Raines back into the team. Fans are skeptical about this happening but if Bouzat and another rumored signing in Guilherme are costing the Dynamo about $4 million, the sale of Raines eats half of that.
Wait, you said 2 million dollars?
That is the number that Bogert has reported that Houston is getting back from New England. According to transfermarkt, Raines is valued at about $700K US Dollars. If the Dynamo are getting $2 million for him, that’s more than double what he is “worth”. Raines is also out of contract at the end of 2026. He likely was not going to re-sign with the Dynamo with Europe beckoning. This is probably a sign of new Revolution head coach Marko Mitrovic really wanting Raines. He coached him with the U20s where he had a lot of success. But if a team is offering $2 million dollars, you just have to take that.
Why didn’t they just sell him to Europe then?
When we last interviewed Raines during the season he spoke about his desire to play in Europe. That is definitely in the cards for him in the near future. So, why didn’t the Dynamo send him to Europe instead of within MLS? While there is some prestige that comes from selling a player to a European club, the fact of the matter is the Dynamo probably got nowhere near the offer from anyone that they got from New England. From Raines’ perspective it gives him another half season, or full season, to play under a coach he has had success with and continue to improve his stock before he goes overseas.
So, the Dynamo are just a selling club now, aren’t they?
They may be, and that’s not a bad thing. There are clubs around the world, like Ajax in the Netherlands, that have been a very succesful club while their priority is developing and moving on players. Right here in Major League Soccer, we’ve seen it with the Philadelphia Union. They continue to develop players and sell them and are still a very good team, they won the Supporters’ Shield in 2025. Part of the Dynamo’s whole restructuring of their Academy system was to get to a point where they could develop players at a youth level, move them to the first team, and then eventually, hopefully sell them to a club in Europe. We’re starting to see those wheels in motion with more Homegrown signings. There were two announced today with goalkeeper Logan Erb and defender Reese Miller returning to the Dynamo after playing in college. Raines is hopefully the first in a long-line of players the Dynamo can develop into million-dollar plus sells.
Why should we trust that this is best for the club and not just the ownership group cashing in for more bottom line?
Look, I’m not saying you should. There seems to be a lot of angst on social media of people thinking that this ownership group just wants to make money or isn’t ambitious enough to put a winning product on the field. While I disagree with that sentiment personally, I can see why people have it. Fans care about winning and trophies. In the end that is how a club is truly measured. The Dynamo are coming off their first “down-year” in 3 seasons and they will need to respond. Trading Raines is a big risk to take. If we’re still having these same conversations in a year from now, or two years from now, there will probably be new leadership and another fresh reset. But for now, trading a player for more than double his market value while bringing in what looks to be a better player as a replacement, seems like a good move. Let’s see how it all plays out.
