Avoiding the Drop

On November 25^th MLS held its expansion draft to provide Philadelphia Union with a nucleus of players. Expansion drafts are tricky- every player selected is a player that, for one reason or another, somebody else doesn’t want. Piotr Nowak and his staff now have to take these players and hope to add a “designated player” who will have an instant impact, sign some free agents from MLS and beyond, and maybe, if they are lucky, find a hidden gem in the two open tryouts which they are in the midst of holding.

Let’s take a look at the players Philadelphia chose and hazard a guess or two at why they chose those players. After that, we’ll take a look at some of the prominent players that were not chosen and why that was. Finally, a brief look at what we can surmise from these picks/non-picks about what Piotr Nowak is trying to build for 2010 as well as the draft’s wider implications. First, though, a look at the draft rules:

Draft Rules:

-The expansion team can only select ten players.

-Only one player may be selected from each team.

-Teams are allowed to protect 11 players on their 28-man rosters.

-Generation Adidas players are automatically protected.

-Teams with 4 or more international players must protect 3 of them. If a team has 3 or fewer international players it must protect 2 of them.

-Any developmental players selected must be moved up to the senior roster for the 2010 season.

Given those restrictions, here’s what Philadelphia did:

Current Philadelphia Union Roster

Jordan Harvey (D), Colorado Rapids: A curious pick at best. Harvey has four years of MLS experience, but has done little to distinguish himself during those years.

Andrew Jacobson (M), D.C. United: Jacobson looks like a player worth taking a chance on. Although his MLS experience is minimal, he did spend a season in the reserve team of Ligue 1‘s Lorient and has had tryouts/trained with a few other European clubs. Jacobson is young, has good size for a midfielder, and it will be interesting to see how he develops.

Brad Knighton (GK), New England Revolution: Given the goalkeepers available in the draft, I think this was a good pick. Knighton is still young and, based on the times I saw him with the Revolution, what he needs to do to improve is to play more- and he should get that chance with Philadelphia.

Sebastien Le Toux (F), Seattle Sounders: I like this pick a lot. Le Toux was a standout player during his time with the Sounders in their USL incarnation and he always looked dangerous while on the field for Seattle in their debut season in MLS.

Stefani Miglioranzi (M), Los Angeles Galaxy: While I understand this pick, I would have gone for the younger, scrappier, and more defensively oriented Ned Grabavoy (see below). Miglioranzi is a skilled playmaker, but he’s not going to be dishing the ball to Donovan and Beckham in Philadelphia and that may limit his effectiveness.

Alejandro Moreno (F), Columbus Crew: Moreno is a proven goal scorer despite spending most of his career on teams where he was not the “first option.” My only question is, how will Piotr Nowak feel about a player who dives- all-of-the-time. Seriously, as you read this he has just dropped to his living room floor after brushing his shin against the coffee table.

David Myrie (D), Chicago Fire: This is safe pick- but a good one. Myrie has already played in Spain and his native Costa Rica and is on track to be full “Tico” in the near future- he’s only 21. He also has good size for a defender and comes from a footballing family- his brother, Roy, is a full Costa Rican international who plays in Belgium’s Jupiler League.

Shea Salinas (M), San Jose Earthquakes: This is a solid pick. Salinas is only 23, already has two seasons of MLS experience, and he has a good college pedigree- he played at Furman, which also produced Ricardo Clark and one Clinton Drew Dempsey.

Chris Seitz (GK), Real Salt Lake: Sietz is another big, young goalkeeper with a strong collegiate background- he won the NCAA championship while at Maryland- who can battle with Brad Knighton for the top keeper spot.

Shavar Thomas (D), Chivas USA: Thomas will likely be counted on to anchor Philadelphia’s back line. He played under Ray Reid at UConn, played over 150 MLS matches, and is a seasoned Jamaican international. A good pick.

Nick Zimmerman (M), New York Red Bulls: Zimmerman is a young, talented (if in experienced) player who, if nothing else, will revel in the fact that he is no longer a New York Red Bull- that can only be good for his attitude and performance.

Selected Unprotected and Undrafted Players

Cuauhtémoc Blanco (M/F), Chicago Fire: Too expensive, a prima donna, and his MLS future is too uncertain.

Ante Razov (F), Chivas USA: He’s a proven goal scorer, but he’s 35 and expensive- not a good combination in MLS.

Pat Noonan, (F), Colorado Rapids: Noonan left the Revolution to play in Norway at the end of the 2008 season and since then he’s played in 44 matches (Aalesund, Columbus, and Colorado) and scored three times. He had 42 goals in 136 appearances for the Revolution and 12 USMNT caps as well. Something happened to Pat Noonan’s career, and I’d love to know what it was.

Frankie Hejduk (D/M), Columbus Crew: Too old and too expensive is my guess, but I’d sure like to have him on any team I was starting.

Luciano Emilio (F), D.C. United: He’s a proven goalscorer in MLS- 41 in 83 appearances- but his price is probably to high and Philadelphia may like to make a splash with their own “designated player,” not somebody else’s.

Josh Wicks (GK), D.C. United: Wick’s is young, talented…and may have ruined his career because he can’t control his temper. D.C. didn’t want him enough to protect him, and it appears that Philadelphia didn’t think his talent was worth the baggage he would bring to the team.

Dave van den Bergh (D/M/F), F.C. Dallas: This is one that I think Philadelphia missed. He’s a bit old (33), and probably makes a decent salary, but he can play anywhere on the pitch, has good size, and a knack for scoring important goals, and would provide some leadership for a young team.

Wade Barrett (D), Houston Dynamo: Barrett may be on the downside of his career and lack size for a defender, but he was good enough to captain both of the Dynamo’s championship sides. Seems to me, if it worked financially, he’d be a no-brainer who could bring some stability on and off the pitch.

Ricardo Clark (M), Houston Dynamo: Clark won’t be in MLS next year and Philadelphia- and everyone else- knows that.

Pat Onstad (GK), Houston Dynamo: Nobody wants a 41 year old keeper, right? Wrong. My guess is that Philadelphia know he’s still good enough to be a starter (anyone who saw him play this year can see that he’s still one of the top five keepers in MLS) and didn’t want to overpay for a player who might be gone two years later.

Adam Cristman (F), Kansas City Wizards: I’m surprised that the Wizards left him unprotected and that Philadelphia didn’t draft him. His strike rate might seem “okay” (10 in 46 while with New England), but having seen him play I can tell you that few of those 46 appearances were for the full 90 minutes. If you do the math (divide his total minutes by 90), he’s a 10-12 goal scorer over the course of a season.

Alecko Eskandarian (F), Los Angeles Galaxy: Nobody wants to hear it, but Eskandarian is a “never was.” He scored 20 times in 81 matches for a very good D.C. United side, but since then has played for four MLS clubs and scored 10 times in 44 matches. He’s a sub at best, and you don’t waste draft picks on subs.

Jovan Kirovski (F), Los Angeles Galaxy: Kirovski is an expensive “forward” who has produced 26 goals 6 MLS seasons- he didn’t have a chance of being drafted. And he shouldn’t have had one.

Eddie Lewis (M/F), Los Angeles Galaxy: Still a good player, but too old and too expensive.

Jay Heaps (D), New England Revolution: As good as Heaps has been for the Revolution, he’s probably not the player you want to build your defense around. He likes to get forward, take chances, etc., and he needs to be part of a solid back line to do that- not to be it’s anchor.

Ned Grabavoy (M), Real Salt Lake: This is another one that would have been a no-brainer for me if I were Piotr Nowak. He’s small, not overly-skilled, but he’s not afraid to make a tackle, will run all day, and is still only 26. Real Salt Lake should consider themselves lucky to have kept him.

Clint Mathis (M/F), Real Salt Lake: Clint Mathis- who I kind of like- on a team coached by Piotr Nowak would have been entertaining, but a mistake, a BIG mistake.

Bobby Convey (M), San Jose Earthquakes: Do you realize that only nine months ago Convey was still at Reading? Being drafted by Philadelphia might have been just what he needed to get his career back on track, but I can understand Philadelphia not wanting to take the chance.

So, what, if anything, can we learn about Nowak’s intentions and the direction of the team? I think the one thing I can see from even just these ten players is that there is going to be a lot of competition for spots in the starting eleven- especially in the middle of the field and in the goal. It also looks as though, with the possible exception of Miglioranzi and Moreno, Nowak has chose players with something to prove- be it that they have more than just “potential” or that their previous teams just never gave them a chance to shine. It will be a lot easier to judge the direction of the squad once Philadelphia has filled out the rest of the roster.

Beyond Philadelphia there are a few things we can learn from the 2009 Expansion Draft. First, that the powers-that-be at Chivas USA are determined to “clean house.” Preki is gone (to Toronto) and the club left more players unprotected than almost any other team, including such mainstays as Ante Razov, Jim Curtin, Sasha Victorine, Jesse Marsch, and Eduardo Lillingston. Some these players- maybe even many of them- will be back on the team in 2010, but by not protecting them management has sent a very strong message- making the playoffs is not enough.

Finally, and much like the NFL and other leagues with salary caps, it is clear that in MLS, playing ability often has nothing to do with whether or not a club chooses to hold on to a player/protect the player from the expansion draft. Whether it be through the expansion draft or trades between teams, if a player is too expensive the move is not going to happen, no matter how beneficial it might be to the teams involved or the league as a whole. This was a sound approach in the earlier years of MLS, but it might be time for the league to loosen the purse strings just a little to see what effect it has on the quality of the leauge.

Everyone ready for the league’s 15^th season to kick-off?!