A slow and steady fall to the bottom of the Major League Soccer standings has the Dynamo wishing for help.

With the opening of the MLS summer transfer window this week, they do not have to wish anymore.

They can go get it.

Dynamo president Chris Canetti last week said the club has been and will continue to be "incredibly proactive" in looking for all the ways it might be able to improve.

The MLS SuperDraft rarely yields players who immediately are ready to contribute to their new clubs. Making trades and signing free agents is the best way for MLS teams to improve.

There are two windows each year for teams to sign players from outside MLS. The secondary transfer window begins Monday and goes until Aug. 3. After that, teams cannot make moves with players outside the league until the offseason.

The Dynamo (4-8-5) do not want to wait that long. Even though they are in last place in the Western Conference, they are not giving up on their playoff hopes.

"There are lots of steps that need to take place in order for us to become the club we expect to be," Canetti said.

Interim coach Wade Barrett has mixed feelings about the upcoming opportunity. When Barrett took over for Owen Coyle in late May, he said he wanted to evaluate the players solely on their performances under him.

Six games - including only one loss - is not a big sample size for that, but winning is paramount. So if there is a way for the team to get better, it is important to bring in new players.

That doesn't mean Barrett is going to sign off on a move just to make one. He said it is necessary for new players to have the qualities he wants.

"I want to be careful about the kind of people we bring in, because they have to fit with the correct mentality and attitude," Barrett said. "If we can find that, a good player with exactly those things I am looking for, then we will look to do something."

Barrett and Canetti did not say which positions the team is targeting, but Canetti said at least one is a priority.

The most likely spot on top of the list is defense. The Dynamo struggled in that area under Coyle, and Barrett's priority when he took over was to make the team difficult to face.

Two weeks ago, the Dynamo invited Trinidad and Tobago national team defenders Weslie John and Tristan Hodge to train with their USL affiliate Rio Grande Valley FC.

Coach Wilmer Cabrera said John and Hodge performed well, so the Dynamo brought them to Houston to train on a trial basis with them last week.

That does not mean they are guaranteed to sign or even be offered contracts, but it does mean the Dynamo are interested in seeing them in person.

"The best way to say it is we're wide-open to making improvements across any piece of the team," Canetti said. "This is where we're at. When you're in the bottom of the table halfway through the season, you have to be pretty open-minded to a lot of different things. There are priorities that have been discussed. We'll keep that among ourselves."

Early last week, Barrett, Canetti and VP/GM Matt Jordan had a two-hour conference call with majority owner Gabriel Brener to discuss their ideas and what kind of money is available.

Canetti said Brener has been supportive of the work the front office and Barrett have done. If the opportunity arises, Canetti said he expects the Dynamo to seize it.

"We're trying to make the team better right now and leading into the next couple of years," Barrett said. "That is always the task in a window."

Corey Roepken is a freelance writer.