i think dempsey will get it but i think marshall deserves it i have the nominees split in to two groups the ones i think should be nominated: clint dempsey josh gros chad marshall jeff parke and the others who might be on the short list: freddy adu ryan cochrane troy perkins chris wingert
I am surprised it has taken this long for Ryan Cochrane's name to come up. He has been solid in the back after the first few weeks of the season. He may not win the award but would certainly have gotten more notice had the team had better results early on. Defenders rarely win this award but if there were a Defensive ROTY he would have to be in the running.
Dempsey had he not lost some games with the injury. Probably Chad Marshall. Good defender, not playing like a rookie.
I'd agree with Cochrane, as sort of a stealth candidate. Doesn't seem to have made much noise (even as among defenders), but San Jose performs much better when he's in the game than any of their other players. (Could just be coincidence, but something tells me he's at least partly responsible for that.)
Although I don't normally agree with what Eric Wynalda says, he's hit the nail on the head with this one... Finally someone said it and it was Wynalda. As talented as Dempsey is, he can NOT be voted ROTY when his team's doing so poorly. Much of the reason why Ralph got it last year was because he was a big factor in Chicago's dominance over the east last year. If you want to talk about rookies being big factors on their teams, look no further than Marshall and Parke. These guys are the real thing- I don't think I've seen this much talent and consistency at center back since Bocanegra.
I don't see what ROTY has to do with a team's record. MVP sure. Never heard this in other sports about record (and with parity the records aren't too different). Dempsey is "flashier" and if he keeps up his play now back is my pick as likely to win.
One thing we've been discussing on the Galaxy boards, does Marcello Saragosa count as a rookie? If so he's got to be near the top of the list.
No Saragosa played for Sao Paulo in Brazil before going to the Galaxy, and I agree he would be a ROTY candidate if he was a rokkie, but he's already played professionelly for a couple seasons. In any award in MLS they always break it down to 3 candidates. Last year they were Damani Ralph, Pat Noonan, and Ricardo Clark. This year (so far) my 3 candidates would be Chad Marshall, Clint Dempsey, and Jeff Parke in that order. I pick Chad Marshall, because he has helped anchor arguably the league's best defense, I also think he's having a better season than Frankie Hejduk, who was an all-star, and I think Chad Marshall should've been an all-star instead of him. Before Dempsey got injured I would've given it to him, but he's missed some games and hasn't played as good since he's returned, while Marshall has only gotten better. I don't think it should be Parke, because the MetroStars' defense isn't that good, plus I don't want to give him any bias, just because he was the last pick in the draft.