I guess the next step in the process towards the new is season is the MLS draft. This year due to our poor performance ended up with the 1st overall pick and due to trade with Timbers ended up with the 3rd overall pick. Most (like my-self) believe one of these picks will be dealt away. Some of the mock drafts have the likes of defender Andrew Farrell and Walker Zimmerman, mid-fielder Mikey Lopez or Dillon Powers or forwards J.J Johnson or DeShore Brown Here is ives mock draft http://www.soccerbyives.net/2012/12/sbi-2013-mls-mock-draft-version-1-0.html Top drawer soccer mock http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/2013-mls-superdraft-mock-draft-v-20_aid28251
There's a good reason to keep both picks. They can get good GA talent that doesn't cost them any budget space. This team needs an injection of talent and this is a good chance this year to get it.
It sucks that GA class will get a lot smaller. Also, Eriq Zavaleta missing from the big board kinda sucks since he is probably the best player in this year's NCAA soccer tournament and he should fit TFC very well.
if Zavaleta comes out hes an Andrew Wenger clone, he will be your first pick. After the college season he had, he would be very wise to do that. Cant do much more to improve your stock than a national championship. The only thing to be concerned about i think is him trying overseas. If Zavaleta stays or goes overseas, i could conceivably see you guys double dipping at central defense with Farrell and Zimmermann even in spite of having O'Dea, Califf, and now Boss. Califf is on his last legs and Boss is extremely raw and doesnt have the best track record. For you guys fixing the defense should hold absolute first priority, and the best way to do that is take at least one defender off the board, possibly two.
be that as it may, if that was my team with that defensive record, i would want at least one more body in at central defense.
I'd also like to have another depth player in defence. Either a CB or a LB which can move Emory back to his preferred CB position.
well Eriq Zavaleta just signed thats great news for you guys, another Andrew Wenger type who will likely be the best prospect in the draft, so you got the luxury of grabbing him then probably either Farrell or Zimmermann
As it stands I'd take Zavaleta at #1 and Zimmerman at #3, but there's a good chance we'll use the first pick as trade bait. One thing to keep in mind though is that Payne doesn't seem too keen on GA players, which most of the top prospects are: http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2013/01/superdraft-decisions-loom
I wasn't aware of his thoughts on GA players, but if that's true, I'm liking Payne even more. This means he's looking to draft a player that would be on the team for at least three years, rather than someone who is a cap benefit for 1-2 years. This is a huge change from any of the past GMs we've had - how many players on the team do we have that have been with the team that long? Frei? Morgan?
I wonder what MLS club needs a CB out there, and what will they trade for a young starter? Columbus? Revs? Whitecaps? On the other hand, you would think Nelsen would want a new CB to train, if Henry and Agbossoumonde aren't good enough.
Finally someone who has some sense and can see past the shortsightedness of GA deals. There are many cases of GA players who turn out to be no better than the average squad player, but who think they're still worth that 100k+ that they were getting.
Interesting news from Diez and translated here. What they're saying is, TFC is trying nominate Alex Lopez for the league's draft eligible list, which would allow us to grab his MLS rights without making a discovery claim. The strategy likely won't work because he's already been capped internationally but it's worth a shot.
I don't fully understand all the intricacies of MLS, but I'm really confused here. How is it better to sign this guy using a first round pick than it is to use a discovery claim?
well considering that each team gets six discovery claims per season, they had better have six freaking prime players lined up to make it worth burning a draft pick on a seventh. Even then, I`m not convinced we couldn`t trade something less valuable than a first round pick for one of another team`s discovery claims
I saw that video on the mls site and I kinda have a feeling now that were gonna take farrell and move him into the defensive mid slot, and take over for frings since he stated in a recent interview that he probably only has one year left him. Other then that I have no clue what there gonna do with that 3rd pick... trade it or maybe pick up Bekker?
Yes but he did start out as a d-mid and move into CB. So its theoretically possible for him to switch back and be really, really good at it. Frings needs a replacement.
plus his athleticism, adding marking and tackling ability would at least make him a good anchor man ahead of O'Dea and Califf...if they needed to sub out frings to maintain his freshness. I guess thats assuming we get away from that flatline 4-4-2. That's the only reason why I could see them holding the first pick. Plus it looks like he can string some passes based on what I've seen on the combine highlights... Hard to make that statement though after a few combine videos tho haha
Chivas just announced they'll take Alvarez with the second pick. Would be hilarious if we trolled them a-la-Brian-Ching-in-Montreal-last-year (take this post with a large grain of salt)
Then I think they'd take Mikey Lopez, and we'd be stuck with a player that we never wanted... (Sorry, I'm out of salt)
http://www.soccerbyives.net/2013/01...ing-trades-are-set-to-shake-up-mls-draft.html at first glimpse... sorta sounds like Toronto is simple trading there #1 spot for the 5th overall pick and 100k allocation... but the way I see it Toronto only really needs (if any) to draft one more defender and 2 of the top 3 are defenders. Its pretty smart thinking because if Toronto were planning on going for bekker in the draft, they won't look foolish drafting him at #3 and just made 100k in doing so. Plus It seems Colorado wants Zimmerman bad, so in the end we would still up with Farrell which is a solid pick anywhere in the back or anchor position.
If this is true, I have some questions. Zimmerman, based on what I've heard, sounds like he has an incredibly high ceiling and the way he's talked about I feel like he could blossom into the next Omar Gonzalez. Ive never seen him play, so this is just my gut speaking really, but based on what I've heard he sounds like a real talent. Farrell, meanwhile apparently struggled defensively at the combine and his ceiling isn't as high... Also, Bekker is a good player for sure, but picking him at #5 seems like a bit of a reach. Also Vancouver only drops down one spot in the first round order, while getting an extra second-round pick as well. On the plus side, we're getting allocation, we're less likely to pick players who play at a position we're already loaded in, and Farrell is trade-able. So I dunno, we'll just have to wait and see
Tfc works a deal with NER. We now have 3rd and 4th plus allocation: http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2013/01/toronto-trades-top-pick-allocation