Official 2009 Pre-Season Roster Thread Part 2:: Vide's Gone

I feel the same way. His decision to sign surprised me. I have to think he believes he can win the starting job this season.

With Crayton's injury and Platter (probably coming on board), it seems like there is an opening for Kocic. Let's hope he makes a fast adjustment to the professional game and gives us 3-4 good years...like that Perkins guy.

 

It looks like the draft might turn out to be an okay one for DC. How long has it been since we had a really good, productive draft?

 

And his signing, combined with the rumor (at this point) that Crayton's contract only goes thru the summer is making a pretty serious case that Crayton is on borrowed time. With Kocic filling the last international spot, I could see United letting that contract lapse just in time to be filled by another international field player who the team sees as a difference maker late in the season. I actually like this team, if only because it begins to head us in the right direction. We were becoming the Redskins.

 

The law of averages sez we were due. You'd probably have to go back to the dark days of the Rongen/Hudson era to find a really good draft for DC, although you could argue that 2003 (Eskandarian, Brian Carroll) and 2004 (Freddy Adu, Josh Gros) weren't so bad.

I try to take the draft for what it is: just a way two fill out the depth of your roster. If you draft well, that's quality depth.

 

Update from Craig Stouffer on Domenic Mediate:

POSTED Mar 4, 2009
cstouffer@dcexaminer.com: "You've got to be right. Kasper tells me that Dom is still very much in the picture..."

 

We're all assuming Dom's in competition with the third 'keeper spot. I know no one wants to think about this, but there's always the possibility that Bennie decide he can't go...

 

Good point, although in a Q&A with Goff last week he said:

 

I suppose we'll find out how well Benny's ankle(s) are going to hold up in a few weeks...

BTW, did anyone read the Interview with Ben Olsen's Ankles on MLS Rumors Rumors? It's from a couple months ago but really funny.

 

Also amusing is that this story referenced this post from MLSRumors² as a source for it's salary cap post. Hee hee.

 

This truly bends the needle on the ol' IronyMeter.

 

Milos only wants to play for DC....

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljKnzB-xexk"]YouTube - Big Man - American Airlines Commercial - Long Version[/ame]

 

Given that Mediate is the only field player who is unsigned per Behind the Badge (Wallace is also missing an * but he is a Gen Adidas player so he is signed) in regard to the roster going to Charleston, you are right in terms of Mediate's presence at camp - it has to be Benny insurance whether if Olsen goes on IR or even retires. I do not see the goalie situation (i.e. if DCU and Minnesota can not agree on a transfer fee for Platter) impacting Mediate's situation as Thorpe probably sticks at that point.

http://www.behindthebadge.com/

The team's 26-man traveling roster looks like this:

Goalkeepers (4): Louis Crayton*, Nic Platter, James Thorpe, Milos Kocic
Defenders (9): Ryan Miller*, Marc Burch*, Dejan Jakovic*, Domenic Mediate, Anthony Peters*, Greg Janicki*, Devon McTavish*, Rodney Wallace, Bryan Namoff*
Midfielders (7): Fred*, Andrew Jacobson*, Christian Gomez*, Ben Olsen*, Clyde Simms*, Brandon Barklage*, Santino Quaranta*
Forwards (6): Ange N'Silu*, Luciano Emilio*, Chris Pontius*, Boyzzz Khumalo*, Francis Doe*, Jaime Moreno*
(* = under contract)

 

Unless they decide to go with two + pool given the shorter roster size and lack of developmental league play; Payne said recently that carrying only two was still a possibility.

 

that thing is hilarious...

BOA: Man, the whole DC scene has been all downhill since Velocity Girl broke up...and then Q and Not U. Damn, man. At least Chuck Brown is still going strong.

MLS Rumors²: So you like some go-go?

BOA: Oh yeah. True story: this one time, I was out on the town with Jaime Moreno's trick back and Josh Gros's eggshell skull...we wound up at some random club somewhere in PG around 2 AM, just groovin' to the Junkyard Band...you haven't lived until you've heard Gros's skull singin' "Sardines," or seen Jaime's back doing the Hee-Haw.

MLS Rumors²: That's wild, man.

BOA: Oh yeah. That was a crazy night. Gros's skull is a madman!

 

There is another roster possibility for Mediate even if DCU elects to go with 3 goalies and Olsen does not have to retire. With the new smaller roster rules, MLS did bring back a short-term injured reserve list for teams (as opposed the IR in recent seasons in which a player was out for the season once he was placed on it). Assuming a team has cap space (which DCU would have to sign a low $ contract for someone like Mediate), a replacement player can be signed and the injured player can go on this new IR and miss a minimum of 6 games (not the season). If Olsen is not 100% to start the season, I can see Mediate making the roster after DCU puts Olsen on this short-term IR. When Olsen is ready to play, another player would go on the list (perhaps Mediate would suddenly develop a recurrence of concussion-like symptoms if there was no other injured player on the roster) - it essentially gives teams an extra roster spot with which to use which is why Mediate is probably still in camp without having a contract or seemingly a senior roster spot.

There is a similar type of injured reserve in the NBA, IIRC, in which players routinely have "pulled hamstrings" or some other bogus injury which is used to justify putting them on IR for a shorter period. MLS teams do not have the luxury with this IR put it does give them flexibility for players out over 1 month to not have to keep them on the roster as long as a cheap replacement can be squeezed under the cap. I would imagine that both Olsen and Mediate (assuming that he makes the team) may spend some time on IR this year.

http://web.mlsnet.com/about/league.jsp?section=regulations&content=overview
(K) SHORT-TERM INJURY REPLACEMENTS
A team with a player who has a short-term injury can replace that player on its roster, while remaining responsible for the full amount of the injured player's salary. A player can be placed on the short-term injured reserve list once another player has been signed as a replacement (provided the team has budget space). Note that the injured player will have to sit out a minimum of six MLS League matches before he can rejoin the team's roster. International player limits still apply at the time a short-term replacement is made (with the player being replaced not counting against those limits).

 

Thanks, Z-Man! This "IR" rule is perfect for our Ben Olsen situation, but it is written in a way that makes it difficult to "game," in that the player going on IR has to miss a lot of matches (MINIMUM of six) before he can be brought back to the playing roster. Your average knocks and tweaks shouldn't qualify, because most players are fit to return after a match or two. Putting this player on IR really means management has lost confidence in you and is willing to see you sit for six, even if you are ready to go after only two. At that point, you might as well release him.

 

You are right in terms of not being able to stash a player on IR with a stubbed toe for a game or two but DCU's season last year had a number of players who were out for long periods of time (just not the entire season) to the point where there probably was not a time when there was not at least one IR candidate (Olsen, Mediate, J. Carroll, Peralta, Gallardo).

 

So does this mean Osman is still un-signed by any MLS team? - Don't we still have an International Slot left un-used? - How about signing Osman as a real Plan A for Central Defense?

Our center backline is taller and more athletic and younger, but still pretty raw in real experience - Currently (NOTE THE OPERATIVE WORD CURRENTLY), Jakovic has had only a few real games in Europe and not YEARS of international experience, Janicki's really just a really good USL defender, and both Burch and McTavish are converted midfielders trying their best at central defense - And anyone else we might pencil in at central defense is behind these guys

Given that we're nearly at our roster limit and have actually signed all of the above, do we have the room to shuffle any of these around? - Well, Burch and/or McTavish could do well on the Wings, so I think this is doable

Or is it best to wait through the Spring to see just how much Olsen and Mediate can be meaningful contributors? - Right now they are both huge question marks, and even Ben admits he will be at much less than 2 years ago - I don't think we can afford to carry any player who is so injured we don't think he can play effectively for 60-70 minutes week in and week out - Maybe by June, we'll know more about our needs in Central Defense and about Olsen and Mediate

 

I hadn't known about this short-term IR -- thanks for posting about it! Gaming it this way is clever, but I wonder if MLS would get cranky about our doing it (despite the fact that it's done in other leagues).

 

Makes me wonder even if KP/TS are aware of it... (hey, just sayin'... )

 

I think it is a pretty good rule, especially with the smaller rosters. As I said in an earlier post, gaming the system isn't without cost, as the player put on IR must miss a minimum of six games. ZMan pointed out that last season we had several players who were so badly injured that they were out that long and more, so if that situation obtains again the rule is helpful. Truly gaming the system means cynically rotating players in and out of IR, whether injured or not, just to strengthen the team at any given moment. (example: you decide to play a 3-5-2, so to increase your stock of midfielders a defender is suddenly "injured" and placed on IR in favor of an extra midfielder). But the beauty of the rule is that, in this example, the defender must stay on IR for at least six matches, so it's not an easy tactical decision for the manager.

Ben Olsen was brought up as an example where the rule could benefit the team if he just isn't able to go 100% at the beginning of the season,then he could go to IR for six or more matches in favor of Mediate. I can see the logic of this, but not for Benny. IMO if Olsen isn't up to the task early on I think, reluctantly, that he should be dropped from the roster entirely. OK, being that it's Benny, give him the six weeks minimum rest, and then give him a go at the field. If it still isn't working, I think we have to drop him from the roster and go on from there.

 

fyp

 

That hasn't been the case for some time. In the NBA these days (and since '05-'06), you get 15 roster spots and you make 12 players active for each game. You don't have to have a fake injury -- if everyone's healthy, you just name three healthy players "inactive" for each game and play with whichever 12 you want. If you've got injuries, naturally these will be the "inactive" players.

http://www.detnews.com/2005/pistons/0510/10/D04-342700.htm