The big question for tomorrow's expansion draft is who gets picked and who gets pulled back after a pick. My guess is, from the point of view of Chivas and Fake SL, the three most desirable DC United players are: EZ, Perkins, and Q2. Who gets picked first? When that one is picked, who gets pulled back? Of the 3, I'd rather part with Q2 than with either EZ or Troy. So, if either EZ or Troy is picked, I'd pull-back the other one. If Q2 is picked first, it's a tougher choice, but I think I'd pull back Troy. EZ is older. He scared the hell out of me back there at times. Troy has shown he can play in this league, and as great as he was at the end of the season, Nick still has his bad moments. Anything in the air is scary with him in goal. Thoughts?
With 12 keepers on the list, including Countess, Ring, Garlick, Walker, etc., I don't know if Perkins will go at all. If Ezra isn't picked first from us, that's who I'd pull back. I know we anticipate replacing Nelsen with an excellent acquisition, but until that happens, and maybe even after it does, I'd like to have all of Petke/Ezra/Prideaux/Namoff on the roster.
And given that Countess played for Ellinger on the U-17s, I would think Countess would be a good guess as the keeper to go.
That was my initial thinking, but someone, can't remember who, convinced me on another thread yesterday that I had it wrong. Countess, apparently, is making fairly good money, so unless he's a starter, he'd be an expensive back-up. Troy, at the minimum salary, would have the least impact on the salary cap, and he has shown he can play. Still, I hope you're right.
The salary is the wild card in the GK sweepstakes. Perkins and Ring both got tons of experience this year and are inexpensive, so I would think they would be highly sought after. Granted, drafting Tony Meola will bring a lot of name recognition to season-ticket buyers but I think the teams will but a lot of thought into getting the most quality for the least amount of money when it comes to a GK.
Meola is supposedly going back to Metro. I bet Chivas takes Quintanilla in the 2nd round, and that's all you lose. They'll arbitrarily protect Hendrickson.
Via trade after the expansion draft? ...by the way, this would be a great way to combine two of our biggest targets for vitriol.
I might just put Nelsen on the protected list in order to secure the allocation that would justifiably be due. If we are in the midst of a disinformation campaign (doubt it) I think you protect the talent, Quintanilla or Thiago. I think EZ has a guaranteed contract for 2005 (or at least a promised amount -- and DC keeps its promises, right Ivan?) so he is going to play someplace. Whether Perkins is protected really depends on how Simpson views his talent. So there are arguments for a lot of iterations. GM's order for recall: Quintanilla Perkins Nelsen Martins Hendrikson I expect Quintanilla to be selected from DC first, which would mean Perkins would then be protected. Since EZ has been cut from MLS once, I think the second pick from DC would be the target forward, Martins. I really don't have much confidence in my projection. But that won't stop me from pontificating! GM
But if RSL gets Mathis, that is better name recognition. Besides, KC has an old Italian presence. Meola in Salt Lake City? Think Steve Martin in "My Blue Heaven".
I like Prideaux, but I think he should be exposed tomorrow. He's not as good as his press clippings. Besides, he now has two championships on his resume (KC in '00 and us on Sunday) so what has he got to play for?
Cletus in Salt Lake? That's one way to get the beer gut off of him. I agree with GM's pullback list. Q2 is really the only player that I see moving during this draft (now that Prideaux is protected). Perkins should be pulled back at this point. I can also see the team losing Lawson and/or Ara. But I don't know how much those organizations know about the seldom used guys.
Losing Ezra doesn't bother me as much as losing Perkins. We know what he can do if Rimando loses form or gets injured. With Ezra...we have a solid enough backline right now and if we pick up Alex Yi (as was rumored during the summer) and use an allocation for a central defender, our defense could be better than it was this season.
http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20041118&content_id=19398&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp The link to MLSnet's mock draft. They have us losing Q2, Martins, and Tim Lawson. We pull back Perkins and Ara. Not sure if I see any but the first going down.
A good point. Except.... 1. Countess is supposed to make over $100k. Ellinger may still take him and say he'll compete for the starting job. 2. Out of all the bargain keepers (ie: guys making MLS minimum or close to it) like Popik, Conway, Wells and maybe Vallow, the choice would be between Vallow (who's older but has more experience) vs. Perkins who's cheaper and younger. I don't think Meola will be chosen. I think Ring and Walker will. Than people will draft for backups. I think the top 2 choices would be: Vallow and Perkins.
Grill, just what have you been putting in that cigar you're constantly smoking? Do the words "Tony Sanneh" ring any bells? We are NOT getting an allocation. Nelsen is gone on a free, and that is that. We're not getting anything other than a "Gosh, that sucks" from headquarters. Just not going to happen. Let's at least try to keep this discussion centered on reality, eh?
Assuming Q2 is the first DC player to go, a factor in whether to protect another player (EZ, Martins) instead of Perkins is whether other keepers have been picked at that point. Both teams will need a starter, and neither is likely to pick Troy as a starter -- not with people like Walker and Brown and Garlick out there. I'd pick Rongen as more likely to select Troy than Ellinger because of Ellinger's Countess connection, and also because of the rumored arrival of Kasey Keller to Salt Lake during the January transfer window. If Rongen takes Walker as his starter, it then becomes a question of whether Rongen wants to use a pick for him or a field player. Keep in mind, there's a surplus of keepers out there -- Doug Warren is an MLS pool keeper, and who was that pool keeper we had last year? Both Rongen and Ellinger may decide to use only one of their picks for a keeper. If so, that would be Walker for Rongen and, possibly, Countess for Ellinger. In any event, if both of them are gone by the time Q2 is taken, it might be worth the gamble of not pulling Troy back.
Did Chicago get an allocation for Carlos Bocanegra? If they did, then we are deserving of one for Nellie.
I completely disagree. Q2 is third in depth at A-mid behind Gomez and Adu. He is slower and no bigger than either of them, so he is completely expendable. No one will pick Martins after 3 knee surgeries in the past year. Seriously, do you really expect Thiago ever to play in MLS after the horrible year he had last year? He's not young, will still have substantial rehab time ahead of him (remember Rimando) and he has no MLS track record. Of all of the DC unprotected players, I would expect EZ to go first because of his experience and versatility. Q2 would be next, but only for Chivas. The rest of DCU's unprotected will remain with the team.
I think Q2 goes first (amongst United players).....to Chivas, the team will then protect Perkins. As for the rest of the players, it's kind of a toss up. Maybe Ara or Lawson (I've still never seen this guy's face, even at the rally his face was obscured like the neighbor in Home Improvement) will get taken, they're fairly cheap. But out of those remaining players, the ones worth protecting are EZ and Martins.
Yes, so it may boil down to whether one of those teams decides to draft their backup keeper before Chivas USA drafts Quintanilla (and so, possibly before they even draft their starting keeper). I could see losing Quintanilla, one of Perkins/Hendrickson, then Lawson (cheap veteran player who's yet to have a chance in the league).