I can't believe Garcia's been in the league for 8 years! With Goodson's departure, the Quakes had to make a move for a second central defender. Is Garcia worth a #1 pick? I'm not sure. If nothing else, he'll be an upgrade over anybody we could have drafted for the next season or two. Kind of a bummer on the cap front, as Garcia made twice as much as Goodson last year ($136k v. $53k), but I don't think the Quakes are spending like Lalas this season. Garcia strikes me as one of those guys who is just this side of the annoyance level of Franchino, Ruiz, etc. Hopefully I'll change my tune after watching him more often
Exactly! I could see something like Garcia and another decent player or two alright players but holy crap, what the hell? Whatever, Garcia is fine. I look forward to seeing him.
I like it. He's worth more to us than Nyarko would be. Three years from now, different story, but for a young expansion team Garcia is much better. I think he'll compliment Cochrane well.
I got a kick out of this post in reply to the K.C. article: "Soccer is for people who fake injuries and enjoy capri sun's and orange slices."
I'm not sure I would've traded the 1st pick, but I trust Yallop & Doyle see great value in Garcia. After all, their teams have had to go up against Garcia many times, so they should be pretty familiar with him.
I think Garcia will do well alongside Cochrane. He's a tough gritty defender, and has been paired up alongside Conrad in one of the better (not the best) defenses in the league. The upside is he plays tough, plays through injuries, and rarely misses a match. He's a good vet with good experience in this league. However, I still feel we gave up a massive bargaining chip that we could have used for more. Then again, I have no idea what is going on behind the scenes, so perhaps nobody was willing to give up anything for the #1 pick, and this is the best we could do. I think it would have been fair to maybe pick up Gacia and Sealy for the #1 pick.
With Ruiz's return to LA, this trade should be good for you. For years Garcia has been Ruiz's kryptonite (see Arena calling Garcia into camp for a qualifier against Guatemala specifically to mark Ruiz, but not using Nick due to Ruiz getting suspended the game before).
I would have been happy with Garcia and KC's 2nd round pick as well....Oh well, in Yallop/Doyle we trust.
I wish it was Conrad, that's for sure. But I can see John and Frank wanting a guy like this who's not going to be missing games for US camps. Garcia is a lot of things I like, and some things I don't. He's no diamond in the rough - like a Mullan or a Dayak, just a very solid, smart, 2nd tier player. Can we boo Garcia when he dives? For some reason it seems less likely now that we'd go for Mastroeni. Too bad. And I'll never get over it if the #1 pick ends up being a Maurice Edu.
Agree with your take on the #1 pick, but KC gave up 45 goals in 2006 and 2007- 10th in the league in 2006, and 9th in 2007.
Yeah, Conrad would have been awesome. KC posters apparently heard rumors about a #1 pick trade for a "veteran KC defender" and they worried that it might be Conrad. This is a safe, kinda conservative move. FWIW Garcia apparently has a reputation among KC fans as a good guy and a strong competitor.
I think that is not a trade I'd make. However last Time Yallop rebuilt our team, I felt he gave away far to much to get Agoos. Time proved his leadership at the back was worth it. KC has had a good defense, I don't know if Garcia is the organizer or not. Time will tell. I would like to get a little more for him, but as far as a pick up, he isn't bad. We also don't have access to what players the quakes are looking at to provide attacking options. In MLS I would certainly lean towards a strong veteran domestic defense, and go elsewhere to find the couple key attacking players. Drafting an attacker that works out has a MLS rarity.
Those kinds of statistics are hard to lay at the feet of any single player. I would be quick to point out that Jimmy Conrad was in the same mix at KC and if we had picked up Conrad, I doubt many would be posting that statistic.
I fear no fish. Kryptonite is everywhere. You can get 5 Kryptonuggets and a small soda for 99 cents at Kryptoburger. The ubiquity of Kryptonite has been a big pain in the ass for Supes.
You're right, I wouldn't post this stat if we picked up Conrad. Conrad played well at the National Team level and missed half of 2006 and part of 2007 due to the World Cup/injuries. This mitigaties his responsibility for what I thought was a below-average defense.
I have to say I'm surprised and disappointed. Is Garcia that much better than Ruiz, who was acquired for a 2nd rounder and allocation money? We could have done better than this. Given that our offense and midfield is so weak, I am hoping that we can move up from #15 to grab someone who can potentially put the ball in the net.
I had to look this up and refresh my memory, but damn: we gave up two first-round picks and Conteh for a 32-year old Agoos. To be fair, Agoos was up there with Eddie Pope as the best US defender at that time.
P.S. Now we don't have a Big Tall Header Guy. I'm worried that Yallop will reserve places for two of them up front.
I think I read somewhere where the Quakes traded Conrad to KC for a 2nd round draft pick. Is that true? And if so, who was that pick? (This could be painful.)