JoGo makes $450K (and made twice that in Switzerland). Unless you think there are players out there that can play at the JoGo level for a lot less money, $450K times 3 is a lot to spend on one position.
Some general comments on recent posts: Delighted that Herivaux doesn't need protecting - the last slot will be a tough decision. I think the Revs will protect Tierney - unless his salary is high enough to scare teams away, he's almost certain to be selected (or if Cropper isn't the preordained sacrificial lamb). For all our complaints, the guy is a MLS starter at left back. I'd hate to lose Femi. He seems to be progressing and Agudello isn't exactly an iron man. @Jon Martin, I'm scared to death of losing Goncalves and counting on Burns to find two replacements. Even money we'll start Woodberry and Barnes there next March. <- (that's my "seizure" emoji.) I'm interested to see if there is a market for Bunbury. Will Donnie Smith pull his Lazarus act yet again in 2017?
At the current level he is playing at there are several DB's in the league that are less money and could play equally well if not better. the first 5 were MLS all-stars and the rest are just guys off the top of my head that are solid starters in the league. #95 ACOSTA, Kellyn FC Dallas - 240k #15 D BIRNBAUM, Steve D.C. United- 116k #12 D ROSENBERRY, Keegan* Philadelphia Union- 63k #3 D VINCENT, Brandon Chicago Fire - 91k #4 D WASTON, Kendall Vancouver Whitecaps - 318k Perrinele NYRB - 140k Steres LA - 65k Opara KC - 131k Iraola NYCFC - 200k Marshall - sea - 318k Hedges dal - 152k Lloyd dal - 200k Goodson SJ - 352k Beitashour Tor - 244k Moor Tor - 250k Harvey Van - 165k Olave - RSL - 215k parkhurst CLB - 300k
I would be happy with one new competent MLS starter-level CB for next year. Pair him with JoGo and move Farrell right where he is better anyway. Tierney is still a decent quality LB and should be protected. If we lost him, where would that leave us? You trust Burns to find an equal level LB and a CB in the same transfer window? That said, he'll be a year older and slower, so will he finally hit the wall in 2017 and become no longer useful? We need to groom his replacement, even if it means drafting a LB and letting him gradually win the position over the course of the season. Someone posted this earlier in another thread, but the real problem is that the Revs don't build over the long-term. It's all reactionary. Resources being what they are, you can't always bring in 4 new starters, but you can bring in, say, 2, and have plans for the following transfer window for the 3rd. And if you still need that 4th guy (or maybe another priority), you deal with that the next transfer window. There is no evidence that the Revs think this way. "But what makes you think you know this?," a random KAD may ask. Show me an example where they have a plan more complex than that of the South Park Underwear Gnomes and then we'll talk.
Well, they send young, up-and-coming players to Rochester to groom them for the fut... Oh, nevermind....
That's big, IMO (Daigo). Internationals have to be protected and he's someone I wouldn't want to use a protected spot on - I don't see anyone taking him (and I wouldn't mind much if they did). They will definitely protect Tierney (and they should). I agree about Femi - he would be an attractive target (a la Patrick Mullins) - young and cheap, good energy, not that skilled, but with a nose for the goal action.
24 Under 24, 2016 Edition MLSsoccer.com September 20, 2016 #17 - Juan Agudelo #11 - Diego Fagundez Top 10 not revealed yet
Totally agree with your first statement. The big issue I see is that they seem to have almost zero interest in player development (outside of the academy, anyway). Spots 25-28 are ideal for Harivaux's or Samba's or 2005 Jeff Lawrentowicz's who you are hoping to turn into 2006 Ginger Bonito's.
Were the NERevs actually able to execute a program that resulted in consistent/constant upgrade at the top of the roster, or no lower than the top third of roster- that would go a long way to shutting down many aspects of the debate here about a right-sized roster. Any energy expended by NERevs mgmt personnel focused on filling roster spots with players whose capabilities place them at the end of the roster - well, that is simply energy wasted, akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
I don't remember exactly when (Portland/Vancouver/Montreal drafts IIRC?), but there was a requirement that Internationals be protected in one of the recent expansion drafts. I think that was behind the move of trading our "big summer signing," Mr. $339,000 Geoffrey Castillon to Colorado for peanuts so we could protect another player we thought was more valuable.
This. No question they protect both Tierney and Femi. I suspect their protection list will be Nguyen, Agudelo, Rowe, Fagundez, Femi, Kamara, Tierney, Goncalves, Farrell and Kouassi. They may leave Femi open and protect Caldwell though my gut says I see him moving on from the revs in the next year or two with Kouassi and Herivaux emerging as the dominant midfield duo by the end of 2017. Maybe Caldwell will be reunited with Caleb Porter in Portland, never know. I suspect they will leave Cropper, Shuttleworth and Knighton unprotected banking on Cropper getting selected. Sort of a calculated risk there. Guys like Watson, Daigo, Woodberry, Barnes, Neumann, Smith, McCrary , Bunbury may get selected but honestly that's ok because while someone like Watson is versatile, none of them are lock starters on a good team.
The end of this article from NE Soccer Today explains the rule in force at the time. Here are the details: " The deal benefits the Revolution by reducing the number of international players on their roster. By dealing Imbongo and Castillion, they were left with three international players. According to the MLS expansion draft rules, teams with four or more international players would have to protect three from the expansion draft. Teams with three international players, however, are only restricted to protecting two international players. "
While I do appreciate Tierney, he will be 31 when next season starts. After last season goal.com had him listed as the best left back in the league. He is good, but that seems hard to believe. This season, I wonder if he is in the top 10? Is he beginning a decline? Is it worth protecting Tierney in the hopes that you get two more starter quality seasons out of him? Will he be a starting left back at 33? When I look at an expansion team I wonder if they would want to use one of their five picks Tierney and shore up that left back position for year one or just do what they can at left back like most of the rest of the league? Additionally, I also appreciate Femi, but Femi is no Mullins. He could be one day, but he is a lot more replaceable and has done a lot less in his one year in the league than Mullins did. Exposing Mullins and his two Hermann trophies along with 4 MLS goals in 21 games over 1200 minutes was a mistake. Femi is no Mullins, at least not at this point. Speaking of minutes, Scott Caldwell plays a lot of them and that has value. Especially to an expansion team. He should be protected and locked in the weight room The expansion draft rules say that each expansion team gets to pick five players and that each existing team can lose only one player. Those constraints make draft selections a little more difficult than in the past when teams could select twice as many players. Maybe the strategy is to expose Cropper? Maybe that is why he was picked up? Maybe that deal has already been done? In the end, given our roster and the constraints of this expansion draft, it should be impossible for the Revs to mess it up and for their to be another case of "protector's remorse" like the one we continue to experience since the last expansion draft.
SamSam quoted the rules in an earlier post: From that link, the rule is: So, teams with 4 or more internationals must protect at least 3.
We haven't seen anything of Cropper to know how good he may be. I'm assuming that he's not significantly better than the other two, but that's just a guess. I say expose all 3 keepers, and if they take one, so be it, we're no worse off than we are now. Of course, that will probably mean the FO will think we are good to go with the lineup we have, and the only players we'll pick up are draft picks and waiver-wire rejects from other teams who might be able to fill a hole or provide depth. No game-changers or even slightly better than average MLS starters.
How can the Revs get him into the weight room with the Pats O-Line or D-Line? Likewise, how do Revs get him onto the high calorie, high-protein diet that linemen eat regularly ? He could surely benefit from a smaller dose of that.
Cody Cropper part of next wave of USMNT goalkeeper hopefuls You have to be an ESPN Insider to read the article, but here's a relevant quote about Cropper's future in New England:
I don't think those are new quotes, but the more time that goes by without him making an appearance for the Revs, the more likely I think it is that he was acquired so that the Revs wouldn't lose anyone else in the expansion draft.
Not sure signing an up and coming keeper to protect a journeyman keeper in Knighton or a so so mls keeper in Shuttleworth makes sense. Granted he is not only protecting keepers but other players as well. To me his up side is better than a 30 year old Tierney who we definitely saw a decline in this year or a kid like Femi. With Cropper you have a potential Sr national team keeper and a your future keeper for the next 5-10 years. Also signing this guy and getting nothing in return is not the Revs M.O. If anyone I bet they field offers from Atl and Minnesota and see what they can get whether is a draft pick or allocation money they will never use