Galaxy trade defender A.J. DeLaGarza

The Los Angeles Galaxy continue to undergo massive changes this offseason, as the team dealt away veteran defender A.J. DeLaGarza to the Houston Dynamo in exchange for Targeted and General Allocation Money. The Galaxy will receive $125,000 in General Allocation Money and $50,000 in Targeted Allocation Money from the trade.

Presumably that financial assistance will help the Galaxy's brass retool the team's gutted roster.

“This decision was extremely difficult to make,” said Galaxy General Manager Peter Vagenas. “A.J. is a champion and will always mean so much to this club, this city and our fans. We thank him for his many contributions to the Galaxy and know he will forever be a part of our family. With that said, we feel that this will give us flexibility to strengthen our roster going forward with the use of additional allocation money.”

DeLaGarza was drafted by the Galaxy in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft and has been with the club for eight seasons, making 204 appearances and 196 starts in MLS Regular Season matches, and 16 appearances and 13 starts in the MLS Cup Playoffs. He will join the Dynamo as a three-time MLS Cup winner as a member of the Galaxy (2011, 2012, 2014).

The defender is one of just five players to make over 200 appearances for the Galaxy, alongside Cobi Jones, Landon Donovan, Kevin Hartman, and Mauricio Cienfuegos.

In other Galaxy news . . .

Galaxy sign Galaxy II playerArellano

The LA Galaxy have signed 18-year-old LA Galaxy II defender Hugo Arellano as a Homegrown Player, the club announced. Arellano, a product of the LA Galaxy Academy, made eight appearances for Los Dos in 2016 after signing his first professional contract with the club on July 18, 2016.

“Hugo is a young, talented defender who we have seen develop as a member of our Academy and LA Galaxy II,” said LA Galaxy Head Coach Curt Onalfo. “In addition to his time with Los Dos, he is highly regarded at the youth international level and we look forward to seeing him continue to grow both on and off the field as a member of the Galaxy.”

Outside of his time with LA Galaxy II, Arellano has extensive international experience, representing the U.S. at different levels of the youth system since 2012. In 2015, Arellano captained the U.S. U-17 Youth National Team in the 2015 U-17 FIFA World Cup. In 2016, he was named to the U.S.’s U-20 roster for the 2016 U-20 Men’s NTC Invitational at StubHub Center. Prior to his time as a professional, Arellano featured for the LA Galaxy Academy U-18’s.

Arellano, from Norwalk, California, becomes the sixth LA Galaxy Homegrown Player on the LA Galaxy, joining Gyasi Zardes, Jose Villarreal, Raul Mendiola, Bradford Jamieson IV and Jack McBean. The Galaxy currently have 14 total Academy products across LA Galaxy (MLS) and LA Galaxy II (USL).

Galaxy announce 2017 schedule

The LA Galaxy announced their 2017 MLS Regular Season schedule. The Galaxy will kick off the 2017 MLS season on Saturday, March 4, at StubHub Center when they host FC Dallas.

Of the Galaxy’s 34 MLS Regular Season games, 16 will be broadcast live to a national audience. ESPN will air six games, FS1 will air five games, Univision will air three games and UniMás and FOX will air one game each, with seven of those 16 matches taking place at StubHub Center. The 2017 season is the third of Major League Soccer’s eight-year television and media rights partnerships with ESPN, FOX Sports and Univision networks.

The first California Clasico – the team’s annual match with rivals San Jose Earthquakes – will take place on Saturday, May 27 at Avaya Stadium (7 p.m. PT, Univision). LA will then travel to Stanford Stadium for the second California Clasico of the season on Saturday, July 1 (7 p.m. PT, Univision). In their final contest of 2017, LA will host San Jose at StubHub Center on Sunday, Aug. 27 (4 p.m. PT, FS1).

The club’s annual Fourth of July game will feature a contest against Real Salt Lake at StubHub Center, marking the 22nd consecutive season that the Galaxy will host a game on Independence Day, the longest such stretch in American professional sports.

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services