Comparing Facundo Torres to Other Big MLS Signings

Brian Rodriguez

2019 Stats

20 Games

2 Goals

9 Assists

Rossi isn’t the only Peñarol starlet to find a home in Los Angeles. LAFC paid almost $12 million to bring in Rodriguez in the summer of 2019, and in hindsight it was a questionable decision. Few players I’ve seen pass the eye test as well as Rodriguez, but even in his last season at Peñarol, his stats were only decent. His assist numbers were strong, with one every other game, but two goals in 20 appearances isn’t awe inspiring. He was also still a teenager when he moved, so LAFC clearly expected serious development.

So far, that hasn’t really happened in the Black and Gold. Rodriguez has five goals and seven assists in his MLS career in under 40 career appearances, far from the return you’d expect from an uber-talented Uruguayan international. He’s shown flashes of brilliance, but he’s never fit the squad around him or consistently produced. A failed loan stint in Spain has hurt any chance of a big European transfer, and a return to South America could be coming this year.