Portland Timbers sign Jonathan Rodriguez as Designated Player
After months of speculation, the DP forward chase is finally over
The Portland Timbers announced today the signing of Jonathan Rodriguez, who is also known by his nickname “Cabecita”. Rodriguez, an Uruguayan international who has 31 appearances, three goals, and four assists for his country, signed as a Designated Player through 2026 with a club option for 2027. While no official numbers were released, reports suggested that the transfer fee the Timbers paid was around $4.3 million.
“We are delighted to announce the signing of Jonathan Rodríguez, and we are pleased to welcome him and his family to the Rose City. Adding an established, high-level attacking player to our group was vital in our ambitions to strengthen our position and aim to contend once again,” said Timbers General Manager Ned Grabavoy in the club’s press release.
According to sources, Rodriguez will become the highest paid player in club history.
Rodriguez, 30, is signed to primarily play center striker, but he has shown the versatility in the past to play in multiple roles along the front line. The right-footed goal scorer can play on either wing, and also act as a second striker in a partnership along the front line.
That versatility will be helpful for a Timbers team that is still figuring out its best personnel and formation on the field, and will help ensure that the rest of Portland’s dangerous attackers fit in with the new signing on the pitch.
“Jonathan’s accomplishments as a player speak for themselves – he will provide us a constant attacking threat and has consistently scored goals throughout his career,” Grabavoy said. “We are eager to integrate him into the team, and we believe he can make an immediate impact.”
Rodriguez was most recently of Club America in Liga MX, where he scored 21 goals and seven assists across 65 appearances in all competitions over two years. He previously had stints at Liga MX sides Santos Laguna and Cruz Azul, the latter of which was his most prolific goal-scoring season, where he banged in 44 goals in 96 appearances across three seasons.
No stranger to winning silverware, Rodriguez was part of teams that won the Liga MX Clausura twice (once with Cruz Azul, once with Santos Laguna), the Liga MX Apetura once with Club America, and was also part of the Cruz Azul side that won the Supercopa MX and inaugural Leagues Cup (which was a very different looking competition back in 2019).
“We’ve been looking for a player with the right profile, personality, and character to fit within our team. Jonathan is a winner that has great experience playing at the highest level and we believe he will come in and give the club a massive lift. I’m excited to welcome him to the team and get to work,” said Timbers Head Coach Phil Neville of the new signing.
Rodriguez will enter into a Timbers team that is enjoying a surprisingly strong start to the season, but is still badly in need of a primary goal threat. Felipe Mora, presumed starting striker in the winter, has just recently returned to training after suffering a foot injury. And while winger Dairon Asprilla has put in respectable shifts at the center forward spot as a stop-gap measure he hasn’t been providing the level of production needed to keep the Timbers consistently afloat.
All of that was on display last weekend, when the Timbers produced numerous quality chances to score in Houston but failed to apply the final finishing touch to put them away, which dooming them to their first loss of the season by a 1-0 margin.
Head coach Phil Neville will be hoping that the introduction of “Cabecita” is the answer to help his team get back on track, and continue their early season success. Rodriguez’s first chance to make his debut in green & gold, pending his physical receipt of his ITC and P-1 visa, may be this Saturday, when the Timbers face the Philadelphia Union at Providence Park at 7:30 p.m. PT.
You can read the club’s full press release on the Rodriguez signing here.
I’ll be attending the presser tomorrow for STF. Will provide key takeaways from it.
Thank goodness, and we should have a much improved striker group soon. Cabecita-Mora is going to be significantly better than Asprilla-Fogaca. And the benefit of moving Asprilla back to wing is also going to help quite a lot. Its a cascade of effects that are improvements.