Real Salt Lake trades Corey Baird to LAFC

Real Salt Lake announced this morning that 24-year-old attacker Corey Baird has been traded to LAFC in exchange for $500,000 of GAM which will be doled out over the next two years. RSL also acquires an international roster slot in the deal, plus “future considerations” — though it’s unclear what that might entail.

“Corey has been an exceptional player for us over the last three years. He has contributed massively to our success on the field and in the organization. As a product of our robust Academy and development system, we are really proud of what he’s become,” said RSL GM Eliot Fall in a Real Salt Lake press release. “We weren’t looking to move him, but LAFC was extremely interested in acquiring him and were willing to make an offer that we felt as a club will provide us opportunities for the next players as well as strengthening our position to build our roster for 2021 and beyond.”

$500k is no small sum for the 2018 MLS Rookie of the Year winner. He played three full seasons with Real Salt Lake, scoring eight goals in his rookie season. He leaves RSL with 15 goals and 13 assists overall in 83 games played over the last three seasons.

He’s been used in several positions across the attack over his three-year tenure in Salt Lake, being utilized on both wings as well as a central striker. Of his 83 appearances since 2018, 61 of them saw him in the starting lineup as he became somewhat of a staple in the lineup for both Mike Petke and Freddy Juarez.