LA Galaxy head coach Sigi Schmid | USA Today Sports

The Offseason So Far: They got a starting 'keeper, a center back who can also play left back, and a right back who can also play center back. And none of them were/are over 30! It really does feel like the dawn of a new era.

More than who's arrived thus far, it's really about who's departed. Sigi Schmid appears to be trying to hit the "undo" button on a lot of what happened last year, but there are just so many guys on this roster with long-term, big-money contracts that it looks pretty hard to do much beyond add non-glamor pieces and hope that the Dos Santos brothers play up to their talent. Neither came anywhere close to that last year.

So just sit tight and expect more defenders, another goalkeeper, and another defensive midfielder. Servando Carrasco, who has history with Schmid, was a good snag in the Re-Entry Draft and will happily do the dirty work as a back-up No. 6 behind LA's glut of No. 8s. But it's Perry Kitchen, who has had a Very Bad Time™ in Europe, that's reportedly the top target for the spot.

Kitchen would be a nice fit, but there are a couple of complications:

He's still under contract with Randers, which might mean a fee (that could push his acquisition toward DP-level) D.C. still control Kitchen's MLS rights, and they will gouge LA for every possible cent of GAM/TAM in order to trade said rights, which is exactly what they should do (remember how much GAM/TAM LA got from D.C. for the rights to Paul Arriola? Yeah)

The elephant in the room is, of course, Zardes. Schmid straight-up said the team was missing a center forward last year, which doesn't bode well for the Galaxy Homegrown's long-term prospects at that spot. And given the glut of talent on the wings ...

Pieces are going to have to move for the Galaxy in the coming months. Have to.

JAN. 2 UPDATE: They brought back Ashley Cole and Baggio Husidic, which they probably needed to do even if Cole's return uncomfortably squishes their available international slots – especially since it seems like Hungarian international center back Adam Lang will be joining from Ligue 1's Dijon. That would be good work from the Galaxy who, first and foremost, needed to solidify their central defense and goalkeeping situations this offseason. If this team achieves actual stability at the back then their cadre of talented midfielders should have a better platform to launch attacks from (in theory, anyway). The Zardes issue still looms and my guess is it will continue to do so. I just can't imagine him having any trade value at this point.