Waibel confirms Pedro Báez move to Salt Lake Tribune

Shortly after reports emerged from Paraguay that Real Salt Lake was bringing in Paraguayan striker Pedro Báez on loan from Cerro Porteño with an option to buy, RSL general manager Craig Waibel confirmed the move to the Salt Lake Tribune.

In an interview with the Tribune’s RSL beat reporter, Chris Kamrani, Waibel described the attributes Báez brought to the team.

"We know he's good on the ball," Waibel explained. "He's not the fastest player. He's not going to blow you away with pace like Olmes. Purposely, we didn't really look for that characteristic because we have Olmes. We wanted someone that can come into a game, hold the ball, keep possession, draw some fouls, score from movement off the ball and draw some free kicks in dangerous areas. This kid also has the ability to finish. Hopefully he hits the net once or twice for us."

— Salt Lake Tribune: RSL finalizes loan deal for young Paraguayan striker Pedro Báez

The article also confirms that Báez has yet to receive his P-1 visa, and that he will join the club pending his receipt of that.

This leaves Real Salt Lake’s striker depth as slightly less thin, with three starters and three available backups.

Starters: Joao Plata, Yura Movsisyan, Burrito Martinez

Depth: Jordan Allen, Olmes Garcia, Pedro Báez

Emery Welshman is unavailable, likely for the remainder of the season after a hip surgery (although notably, he had yet to appear for the club in an MLS match). Devon Sandoval has been sent on loan to Rayo OKC.

This also likely ends the experimentation with Olmes Garcia as a center forward backing up Yura Movsisyan, which did not last long after the departure of Sandoval.