Rowe was selected third overall in 2012 out of UCLA. He appeared in 206 games for the Revolution, with 160 starts. Rowe, 27, scored 29 goals and added 40 assists.

The trade was completed Tuesday after Colorado re-signed Castillo, who started 28 matches for the Rapids in 2018 after an 11-year career in Mexico’s Liga MX. The Rapids then flipped Rowe and $300,000 in allocation money to Sporting Kansas City for Diego Rubio.

The New England Revolution traded away Kelyn Rowe — a mainstay on the field and in the community — getting left back Edgar Castillo in return from the Colorado Rapids.


“On behalf of the organization, I want to thank Kelyn for the past seven years he has spent representing the New England Revolution with professionalism on and off the field,” Revolution general manager Michael Burns said in a release. “Beyond his numerous contributions on the field, he will always be remembered by the club and the fans for his work in the community. We wish Kelyn all the best.”

Rowe was named the Revolution’s Humanitarian of the Year four years straight (2014-17).

Castillo, 32, had three goals with five assists in his one season in MLS.

. . .

The Revolution will make their first trip to Spain this winter as part of a preseason tune-up that will feature four friendly matches against top-flight European and Chinese clubs, team officials said.

From Jan. 25-Feb. 8, the Revolution will visit Marbella — a small city on the Mediterranean coast. They’ll play matches against Shanghai Shenhua F.C. (China), Östersunds FK (Sweden), FC Krasnodar (Russia), and FC Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine), teams that play in the top division of their respective countries’ soccer structure.

The team will then return home for a few days before the second leg of the trip — a series of training and matches at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. — from Feb. 12-24.


The MLS 2019 regular season is set to kick off on March 2.

“It’s an ideal setting, especially for the first part of preseason,” manager Brad Friedel said of Marbella. “We can just go there and solely concentrate on preseason.”

General manager Mike Burns said the Spain/Florida swing provides a nice change from the usual preseason trip to Arizona, which the Revolution had done for the past several years.

The Revolution had previously gone to Tuscon, Ariz., for preseason, competing in the Mobile Mini Sun Cup from 2012-2018.

Last season, the team trained at IMG Academy prior to reaching Tuscon.

Both Friedel and Burns said they prefer to get the most extensive travel done first, which is the case this year.

“We wanted to change it up a little bit,” Burns said. “With the weather we have in New England, we’re forced every year to have to take multiple preseason trips.”

For Friedel, the benefits of the trip are simple: great facilities, great weather, and great competition.

The Revolution will play their friendlies at Marbella Football Center. Marbella is roughly an hour from both Malaga and the Straight of Gibraltar. Because of its favorable weather and secluded location, Marbella is a hub for many teams looking to escape.

Temperatures should hover around the mid-50s to mid-60s for the first leg of trip, while Bradenton sees highs into the 70s in February.

Once in Florida, the evolution will train and scrimmage with teams from Major League Soccer, the United Soccer League, and some Scandanavian professional clubs, as well.


“We won’t have the snow we’d have in Boston,” Friedel said.

The Revolution finished the 2018 season with a 10-11-13 record — two places out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS).

The Revolution also will play a friendly against Chelsea FC of the English Premier League at Gillette Stadium in May. The match, dubbed “Game for Change” is part of the “Say No To Antisemitism” campaign, with all proceeds going toward projects promoting equality and tolerance.