ursula
15 Jan 2006, 01:06 PM
Our beloved team is at an interesting crossroads.
-On the one hand the team has a pretty good talent base in most areas. The main exceptions are 1) wingers, 2) possibly a striker, and 3) an outside back. To make a real run at the title this year we need better performance out of those three areas and that probably means moving new players in (and old players out). By new players I mean players who can make an immediate impact. No teenagers.
-On the other hand in a year to three years, we will probably see the last of some major players on the team. Moreno, Gomez, probably Adu, and maybe Quaranta. Notice that these are offensive players. It would make sense to be looking now at developing talent that could step in at some of those positions in a couple of years. That means teenagers or youngish draftees.
If both of these are true then the team should concentrate on the Ga players in the draft unless there's a real steal out there who could make an impact and go foreign for the impact players we need for now. To do that it would be good to acquire more of those partial allocations that are sitting out there to help our cap position.
Maybe that seems obvious but I think drafting a player like Van Sicklin goes against the strategy above. In fact I would look to trade the lower round picks for those partial allocations that are out there if the team doesn't see anyone who could either make an immediate impact or will develop into one in a year or two. The league is too physical and at such a higher level than college or youth ranks for most kids to handle. Taking a flyer on someone like Tim Merritt is a waste of time. Let another team take a flyer on him while we get something we can use.
Note that I realize that most lower round draft picks will be given developmental contracts. Because of that you might say why not take a flyer on several guys in the last couple of rounds? The answer to that is, briefly, Bobby Boswell. In other words there will be players undrafted who can match anything this draft has to offer and it would do well for the team to have a real clue on what they are acquiring before they do that acquiring.
Another way to look at the draft is that the players who get consideration there are not at all the sum of players coming from college. There are the Boswells out there who just don't get looked at closely enough. Thus the guys who are rated lower for the draft are just plain not good enough for MLS and they would probably be undrafted if the scouting in MLS were really good. The exceptions prove this and they come in two types. First the Josh Gros. We took a flyer on him and he proved a "steal". That in the history of the draft you can count on one hand the lower round picks who are successful proves that the lower round picks are much less than crap shoot: they are practically worthless. Unless a team identifies in advance a college player who for some reason no one else pays attention too, like Chris Rolfe. There are even fewer Rolfes lurking in the nether regions of the draft than Groses.
But enough teams think that they should draft as best they can in the lower rounds that our team can sell those picks for something useful.
I think back to that Hall of Fame game last year and the various players in a DCU shirt who plainly didn't belong. Having those guys playing and practicing all the time with truly worthy developmental projects slows down the development for the good guys. And there were a couple of guys, Stephen deRoux for instance (who was undrafted of course) who look promising with enough time. It's important that the team have as high a quality on it's reserve team so the players all get used to the high standard of MLS. (That the DCU reserves won their title last year to me shows how clueless MLS teams are in stocking their reserve teams.)
So I hope the team puts a fair amount of post-draft time into inviting undrafted players to camp (and through the summer) while also looking closely overseas for what we need now.
-On the one hand the team has a pretty good talent base in most areas. The main exceptions are 1) wingers, 2) possibly a striker, and 3) an outside back. To make a real run at the title this year we need better performance out of those three areas and that probably means moving new players in (and old players out). By new players I mean players who can make an immediate impact. No teenagers.
-On the other hand in a year to three years, we will probably see the last of some major players on the team. Moreno, Gomez, probably Adu, and maybe Quaranta. Notice that these are offensive players. It would make sense to be looking now at developing talent that could step in at some of those positions in a couple of years. That means teenagers or youngish draftees.
If both of these are true then the team should concentrate on the Ga players in the draft unless there's a real steal out there who could make an impact and go foreign for the impact players we need for now. To do that it would be good to acquire more of those partial allocations that are sitting out there to help our cap position.
Maybe that seems obvious but I think drafting a player like Van Sicklin goes against the strategy above. In fact I would look to trade the lower round picks for those partial allocations that are out there if the team doesn't see anyone who could either make an immediate impact or will develop into one in a year or two. The league is too physical and at such a higher level than college or youth ranks for most kids to handle. Taking a flyer on someone like Tim Merritt is a waste of time. Let another team take a flyer on him while we get something we can use.
Note that I realize that most lower round draft picks will be given developmental contracts. Because of that you might say why not take a flyer on several guys in the last couple of rounds? The answer to that is, briefly, Bobby Boswell. In other words there will be players undrafted who can match anything this draft has to offer and it would do well for the team to have a real clue on what they are acquiring before they do that acquiring.
Another way to look at the draft is that the players who get consideration there are not at all the sum of players coming from college. There are the Boswells out there who just don't get looked at closely enough. Thus the guys who are rated lower for the draft are just plain not good enough for MLS and they would probably be undrafted if the scouting in MLS were really good. The exceptions prove this and they come in two types. First the Josh Gros. We took a flyer on him and he proved a "steal". That in the history of the draft you can count on one hand the lower round picks who are successful proves that the lower round picks are much less than crap shoot: they are practically worthless. Unless a team identifies in advance a college player who for some reason no one else pays attention too, like Chris Rolfe. There are even fewer Rolfes lurking in the nether regions of the draft than Groses.
But enough teams think that they should draft as best they can in the lower rounds that our team can sell those picks for something useful.
I think back to that Hall of Fame game last year and the various players in a DCU shirt who plainly didn't belong. Having those guys playing and practicing all the time with truly worthy developmental projects slows down the development for the good guys. And there were a couple of guys, Stephen deRoux for instance (who was undrafted of course) who look promising with enough time. It's important that the team have as high a quality on it's reserve team so the players all get used to the high standard of MLS. (That the DCU reserves won their title last year to me shows how clueless MLS teams are in stocking their reserve teams.)
So I hope the team puts a fair amount of post-draft time into inviting undrafted players to camp (and through the summer) while also looking closely overseas for what we need now.