Exclusive Ernie Stewart Interview

So Monday is the big day then.

 

But really, is it his choice?

If DC selects him, then he goes to DC. Course they may trade him if he says he doesn't want to be in DC.

 

Well he should have a choice when you think about. He wants to play in the MLS when he could have easly gone to another European club.

I never cared for the allications, but looking at it right now, it is pointless. If a player wants to play for a certian team, then the league should let them. MLS needs to get rid of the Allications all together.

 

So what if Earnie wants to play in Dallas but the Burn aren't eager to trade Vaca for an allocation?

Does MLS tell the teams that had worse records than the Burn to not pick Earnie even if they're interested in him? Or does MLS tell Dallas they must make a trade for an allocation even if they don't want to, since what Earnie wants, Earnie gets?

 

VW, I agree with what you say, but that is what is wrong and messed up with the allications. Stewart was a free agent when he came over.

It is like in Basketball and other sports. If the player is drafted, the team that draft him has the rights to him, but thats not the case with Stewart. He is avaible and the Burn want him, but due to the allications, any team with one can get him. That is almost like saying whoever gets the #1 pick in the draft gets whoever else they want because having the #1 pick in the draft isn't good enough for them.

Hopefully that makes some sense.

 

To me, what's a bit frustrating about the whole Stewart thing is how the allocation process can conflict with cases like this where the player has a major say-so in where he ends up.

As it stands right now, I think the Burn are about 8th in line to get Earnie.

First you have the 3 teams with allocations: DC, NY/NJ and Colorado. And should no team decide to use an allocation on Earnie, then teams get the chance to pick him based on the reverse order of their finish in 2002.

So that means that for Stewart to fall to Dallas without the Burn trading for an allocation, DC, NY/NJ, Colorado, Kansas City, Chicago, Columbus, and New England would all have to pass on Earnie.

My guess is that to save face and not piss off the teams ahead of Dallas in line that are interested in Stewart, MLS may pressure the Burn into trading, say Vaca to NY/NJ for an allocation, even if the Burn feel they'd like to obtain Stewart but not at that high a price.

 

Dallas will be forced to deal with DC, not the Metros in order to obtain the allocation for Stewart..

DC has the first two picks for allocations with the Metros being third.. United simply can not ignore the opportunity to either take Stewart straight away (despite Stewart's probable insistence to play in Dallas) or trade their allocation to Dallas for Stewart..

The Metros are no factor in this equation despite all the rumblings of "Vaca to the Metros for an allocation" talk....

 

While a lot of people would like to think it's that black and white with MLS, it's simply not the case.

 

While I can understand your frustration with the allocation process during this particular situation, keep in mind that the number of big players coming to the league screaming "I will only play for Dallas" is awfully small. Most players will only play for DC, LA, or the Metros. The allocation system is supposed to make those situations more equitable.

As for trading with DC or the Metro, I'm not sure that Hudson isn't planning on using both of his allocations on people other than Stewart. Also, the DC asking price, from what I've heard (Kreis, or Martinez, Rhine and a high pick) is a little steep.

 

Don't forget that there is more than just being the first in line to choose Earnie. A team must also have the cap room to be able to pay him. If every team had cap space they would all want him, but at a likely top salary he wouldn't fit anywhere but Dallas or DC according to the articles I've read. Maybe some other teams could dump some salaries but nowhere has that been mentioned.

 

My guess as to why Earnie says he can play in either DC or Dallas is that everything has already been agreed to by DC, Dallas and maybe the Metros. So, when he picks Dallas or DC the preset dominoes will fall and he'll get to play there. Dallas wouldn't be showing him around and laying out the red carpet for him otherwise. Nor would they be showing him around if they weren't willing to pay the price to get him.