All White Kit has a very comprehensive list of players who might have declared for the draft: http://www.allwhitekit.com/?p=11103#more-11103
Regardless, if I were in her shoes, I would jump at an all-expenses paid trip to Oz, even if I weren't getting paid. It's not like she had anything else to do and really had nothing to lose
If I were king, this would be the draft order: 1 Washington - allocated mostly role players/Harris will miss part of season 2 Sky Blue - Not bad in back but really need attack help 3 Chicago - Solid defense if Lepeilbet is ok/need offense 4 WNY - questions in back/player short 5 Seattle - Not a bad allocation but with really miss Rapinoe 6 KC - Good defense but need help in attack 7 Boston - Got a lot of really good piece/nice local base of former players to call on 8 Portland - Got half the dynamic duo and the queen of Canada/need role players
Not that I'm turning down the first spot in the draft, but from the long-term perspective I think we got the best defender and the best goalkeeper in the allocation. I'm a little concerned about Ashlyn's availability, but other than that I'm pretty happy.
darft order 1. Chicago Red Stars 2. Washington Spirit 3. FC Kansas City 4. Sky Blue FC (New York/New Jersey) 5. Boston Breakers 6. Western New York Flash 7. Seattle Reign FC 8. Portland Thorns FC
Should be noted it is not a snake format as was previously announced. Chicago will start each round and Portland will have the last pick. Also, the draft will consist of four rounds with each team receiving three minutes to make a selection in the first two rounds, and five minutes in the final two rounds.
According to USSF: The draft order was determined with assistance from a panel of experts and agreed upon by all eight clubs. The panel ranked the strength of each club based on their allocated players, and conducted a weighted draw. I'm still surprised they aren't using the snake method for the follow-on rounds. A little randomness does a body good.
maybe the experts were blind I think they did the right thing. Snake format assumes equal allocation which we didnt have. With the snake format Portland picking at 8&9 would have been in great shape considering how the draft levels out after the first few picks.
It sounds like "weighted draw" could mean something along the lines of the NBA draft lottery where you have more balls in the soup meaning greater odds for the weaker teams.
My only argument would be that keeping the same pattern puts more weight on the allocation as the predictor of performance. It's 7 (albeit important players) out of 20 or so. Mixing it up wouldn't be bad, though I'm sure this will be relatively meaningless anyway.
Except for the Flash, I think it's a fair ordering. I wonder if they have something else in mind with regard to compensating them.
Why? They have a player who will be the all time scoring leader in the history of International football before the year is out, and a player who won the WWC for the USA with her clutch scores. How much more help do you think they need?
Remember they didn't just sit down, rank the teams, and determine the draft order that way. It was a weighted draw. They still had a drawing it's just those teams deemed weaker had a greater chance of being pulled from the pot.
More importantly... the $$$. They will have to pay for another player out of their cap (or at least their own pockets if they get cap relief). That's why I say give them the money as long as they have at least one USWNT eligible player who can be considered the 24th.
Here's an uneducated guess Chicago (Nairn/M/PSU) - either Mewis or Nairn Washington (C. Miller,F,UV) - gets a local girl either way. If Nairn is gone the likely go with Caroline Miller. Local ties seem important and they got three middies in allocation. KC (Mewis,M,BC) - Would love to take Franch but dont need two starting GK. If WNY had a third allocated player I could see them swapping Barnhart for an allocated player in a need position but alas. Guess they take who ever is left between Nairn, Mewis and Miller. Sky Blue (Tymak/M/Flor) - With the first three gone Cutshall is prolly best player but either McCarty or Tymak possible and more of a need. Boston (Cutshall/D/BYU) - First chance for Franch but more likely they wont want two young goalies. Cutshall is a perfect fit if she is still there. Maybe Tymak WNY - (Franch,GK,Okl St) Franch if she is on the board assuming they havent agreed on a GK from the free agent pool. If not maybe Inez Juarena as defender is a need. Seattle - (Jaurena/D/FSU) Tymak or Bywaters. McCarty if they look up front. Jaurena if the look to defense. Portland - (Bywaters/M-F/UCLA) A mid like Bywaters or Tymak woud help them. So would a defender like Ally Miller, Noguiera or Quon Chicago - (McCarty/F/FSU) Ally Miller or Quon who is locale. McCarty if she's still on the board. Washington - (Ally Miller/D/Marq) Holly King maybe or someone left from above like Quon or Miller KC - C Williams/F-M/Dayton) Colleen Williams or Tiffany Cameron to help with attack Sky Blue - (Quon,D/Stan) If Quon is still there her upside is hard to pass up. Williams or Cameron also help Boston - (Cameron/F/OSU) Attacker or defender WNY - (Williamson/D/Flor) Help on back line. Seattle - (M. Noguiera/M/Stan) Help in Midfield Noguiera or King Portland - (King/M/Flor) help in midfield or back line.
Can't they just use any compensation money on a free agent not subject to the cap? They shouldn't be forced to fund an extra player themselves and I doubt they will.
I thought giving them an additional International slot would be fair and someone else suggested that the money shouldnt count against the cap.
I still dont think Seattle and WNY got enough consideration from the draft panel. Seattle is without their best player for over half the season and WNY is a USWNT player short. I wonder if they both were weighted lower and were just unlucky on the draw.
Looking at the two they got, they were both on the top tier on the three tiered uswnt salary schedule. What's left is a 30K slot. Not that big a deal.
My predictions for the first round. 1. Kristen Mewis MF - Chicago Red Stars The Red Stars need offense and they will receive some with Mewis. She isn’t the out and out striker they so desperately need, but look for them to have confidence they will sign Masar to help fill that void. 2. Caroline Miller F - Washington Spirit This is going to be a really difficult decision for the Spirit. Do they go with the second best player in the draft with Nairn, or do they go with a striker they so desperately need? I believe they’ll go for Miller. They have playmakers already in Lindsey and Matheson and I can see them signing players like Allie Long to fill out the midfield. But they need somebody to put the ball in the back of the net. Desperately. Miller will (hopefully) fill that void for them. 3. Christine Nairn M - FC Kansas City FC Kansas City will be jumping for joy if Nairn isn’t taken before them and they will jump at her immediately. They need a playmaker because I can see them putting Cheney up front. 4. Erika Tymrak M - Sky Blue FC SBFC desperately needs offense and Tymrak will supply it. She will help them both offensively in the goals department, and in the playmaking department. Sky Blue FC could also possibly shoot for Tiffany McCarthy but I think they have too many holes in the center of the field to pass up Tymrak. 5. Lindsi Cutshall D - Boston Breakers Boston needs defenders in the center of their D and they will get one in Cutshall. Boston got some offense in the allocation process in Leroux and O’Reilly but the need to shore up that defense so look for them to grab Cutshall. 6. Adrianna Franch GK - Western New York Flash The Flash will be jumping for joy if Franch falls this low. I can see teams like Boston, or even Kansas City, grabbing Franch but I think they will outweigh their immediate needs first. I also expect Boston to sign a veteran keeper (Val Henderson?) so I expect Franch to fall right to WNY where they will gladly take her. The Flash need a starting keeper that can make an immediate difference in the league and Franch will be exactly who they are looking for. 7. Rachel Quon D - Seattle Reign Seattle needs defenders and in a draft weak in that department, they will jump at Quon. She is versatile and can play on either the right or the left and I would love to see her and Rapinoe play together. 8. Mariah Nogueira M - Portland Thorns Portland was blessed with a balanced allocation, but they probably need the most help with a CDM. Nogueira gives them that option perfectly and gives them a big scoring threat on set pieces. However, I can also see them looking to go with Bywaters or even McCarthy because of the possibility of needing goals when the internationals go away.