Just when you thought it might all go away, Stephen Goff reports Sunday good news and bad news: - The good news is that Joey Digiamarino is healthy and back from Germany! Nice to hear of him resurfacing. -The bad news- well maybe not so bad- well yeah it's bad- is that he plans to work out for several teams and then there will likely be a weighted lottery for him.
Weighted is a good term for it. Hmm, let's see, New York still is trophyless and has just stolen the best coach in MLS, LA is opening the new league centerpiece stadium and needs a strong start, and Kraft is cutting back his financial exposure in MLS ... well now, that does make for some lottery drama now doesn't it! DC United has the best "chance" in the lottery ... sure, I think they had something like 7 times the chance that New York had for DJ Countess too ... and we know how that lottery went. But then there was another lottery for Nelsen Akwari ... oh yeah, he also went to New York. Well, at least this time we have some drama. BTW, welcome back Digi, I hope I'm not premature, but regardless of where you end up, it's good to see you back in MLS. The league just keeps getting better every year. Let the talent influx continue. -Tron
They liked DJ so much, they traded him to Dallas for Winston Griffiths, who they later got rid of, and a first-round pick, which they traded to DC, obstensibly for Williams. My accounting of that trade is Petke for Moreno, Pope for the allocation and Williams for the pick. So DJ was worth as much to them as a 100K a year, 30-something defensive midfielder. And it took two trades to realize the payoff. Wow, what a fix. Akwari was worth Tim Regan. Wait, scratch that. Awkwari and a pick next year were worth Tim Regan. The team that wanted Kartes had to trade because they lost the lottery. Beckerman went to Miami when it was natural for him to go to DC. This could go on and on, but just because NY wins a weighted lottery doesn't mean it's fixed. Quite frankly, they have not benefitted one iota from either of the ones they have won. A deeper look into the facts goes a long way. And the weighted lottery system has pretty much stood up.
you make it sound like Joey Digiamarino is the next up and coming... I wouldn't want him after so many ankle injuries.
But Monster, just because Zambrano wasn't high on Countess doesn't mean that almost everybody else was. DC United tried to trade for him prior to selecting Rimando in the Allocation draft, and was offering a first round draft pick but Zambrano said now because he feared losing Howard. Akwari may not have been so highly rated, but there were a few clubs that wanted him anyway, and again, the "lottery" method be darned, he was given to New York. Unlike most I"m not as bitter about New York and LA getting so many breaks, because if we didn't have a salary-cap and draft and other parity-building mechanisms then they would get far more of the top prospects and we'd have the same thing as Major League Baseball, where the New York Yankees can afford a 140M payroll per year and their adversaries like the Oakland Athletics can only afford a 40M payroll a year. How do they expect any competition with those discrepancies? At least in MLS we have something resembling a roughly level playing field. But, I have no delusions of things being totally equal, or of these "weighted lotteries" being anything more than the league placing a heavy thumb on the scales of determination. -Tron
Couldn't you say the same thing about Ben Olsen? A healthy DiGi would make an excellent left back in this league IMHO.
Don't hurt your neck looking over your shoulder, then. Some things may be fishy, but I have no idea how the weighted lottery for players entering the league after the draft is. Winston Griffiths Gus Kartes Kyle Beckerman Hamisi Amani-Dove Mario Longo D.J. Countess Nelson Akwari If they are fixing these lottery drafts, they really suck at it. They've been as above board about this process as anything. And just because they don't broadcast the lottery, it's a conspiracy because the Metros get two guys they never even really used? I can't wait for the games to start so people can stop inventing reasons to complain.
Nah, if it weren't for that stuff, there wouldn't even be a team in New York. Their lease is awful, and the franchise is a black hole for money. If it weren't for the socialism, the Rhinos, Crew, Wizards, Revs, and Fusion would be fighting it out every year. Oh yeah, and now the Gals.
Yep. So I wonder how many teams is he gonna try out for? The more teams the longer before the lottery happens I'd guess.
Screw all the other stuff. I'm just happy to hear DiGi may be healthy again. Last I heard he'd "retired" and was coaching in the Bay Area.
Does anyone think NY/NJ knew about this when they traded Brad Davis? If it's a weighted lottery, and they knew they'd be weighted heavily, that could patch that particular hole while the new guys develop. Later, COZ
Joey DiGiamarino was a good technical player. There was one highlight play when he was with Colorado Rapids. About 30 yards from the opponent goal, he splitted two defenders by placing the ball about 8 yards from the defenders and ran to get the ball, leaving the two defenders behind. From that play, I realized that he was good technically and knew what to do with the ball. I must admit that I do not know the other aspects of his game.
Brad Davis was traded because he's not defensive enough for an outside player on a Bob Bradley team, and because he had trade value that exceeded his value as a Metros player. Digi would be a good fit, and the Metros have a better chance than anyone in the league but DC (who have perhaps one chance in 55 more than the Metros). And keep in mind that the winner of this lottery falls out of the running for any lottery player the rest of the year (Adu?).
These aren't all weighted lotteries, are they? I thought that Kartes was going to be on one of two or three teams that put in diecoveries for him. Also, was Griffiths in a weighted lottery? I remember there was some funny rule based on whether teams had filed discoveries for him in the past, but I don't remember the details.
Yes they are. "Rapids win lottery and earn rights to Greek-American Kartes" http://www.coloradorapids.com/rapidsnews/2001/news_032601a.asp "BURN ACQUIRES JAMAICAN INTERNATIONAL WINSTON GRIFFITHS IN MLS LOTTERY" http://www.dallasburn.com/media/press/2002/0302/03040202.nclk By the way: two lottery wins for Dallas. Of course, people will continue to "remember" how the Metros always win all those lotteries.
Actually might Digi be in the supplemental draft coming up along with some other guys (like Salyer, Joy, etc)?
Along with some A-Leaguers. That would make the most sense, though I'm not sure if sense has anything to do with it.
The Metros have been screwed by the lottery as many times as they've won it. Winston Griffiths, a player of little account whom the Metros wanted to use a discovery pick on, ended up going to Dallas, in a thinly veiled and fairly obvious attempt to give Dallas something to trade for Countess, who Jeffries loved. The other one, which has not been mentioned yet, is the lottery San Jose won for Paul Grafer, once again, in a thinly veiled attempt to give them trade bait for a player they wanted: Ramiro Corrales.
At the moment there will be two different drafts. One draft will be the natural order for the 2003 Super-Draft. This will include "free agents" and occur at the end of the month. A second draft will be for those players sold by the league, but have returned looking for a job - Digiamarino. That will be a weighted draft. Of course, as with everything related to MLS, everything is subject to change.
Of course, Metro fans forget the immortal Mike Sorber, whom Chicago wanted as an insurance policy for Armas a few year ago. Once Chicago made it known that they had an interest in Sorber's rights, the league magically created a "weighted" lottery. (Which would guarantee that the metros would win based on their pathetic record the year prior.) Hence Chicago would have to trade a draft pick to the metros for a player that NY/NJ had NO interest in whatsoever. Not a huge matter, but the fact that MLS created a so called "weighted lottery" for a player that was already training with Chicago, was only interested in playing for Chicago, and that no other teams had any interest in him(including NY/NJ) is a little ridiculous. While I don't believe that the Metros have exclusively benefitted from the "weighted lotteries," they do seem to benefit more frequently than other clubs. Be it for the player in question (Akwari, Mathis, etc..) or to force another team to trade for that player (Countess, Sorber, etc...) the Metros do have the history of recieving more MLS-welfare than my favorite MLS club. In fact, I don't ever remember Chicago winning the magical "weighted lottery." Ever. I do, however, remember my favorite MLS club having to trade for players from these "weighted lotteries" that seem to be held behind closed doors, and out of view of the fans and the media. Of course, the "weighted lotteries" would prove more interesting if the damn league would do them publicly, perhaps as a part of draft weekend. Then the fans who bitch more virulently would be assuaged somewhat. And, (God Forbid!) maintain the same rules from year to year for the so-called "weighted lotteries," then the accusations of these things being fixed could be circumvented altogether. Cheers!
Blah blah blah. Dude: New England was the team with which Chicago had to trade to get Mike Sorber. Not the Metros. New England. And it wasn't a "weighted lottery," but a waiver draft, and New England, having had the worst record in the league at the time, got to choose first. Thank you for proving once again that the vast majority of "evidence" for league conspiracy to help the Metros is total bunk.
You know, no matter how often you tell the story, it never fails to make me laugh. The league rigging something for the Dallas Burn? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Considering the fact that the first time I suggested this would happen was more than a month before the transaction took place and WELL before Dallas was announced as an interested team (it was just listing a "mystery team" at the time) I don't see how it can be denied. It was obvious that Dallas wanted Countess. At the time, with Jordan's previous season being below average, Dallas looked like the place where Countess had the best chance at playing time. All of a sudden, Winston freaking Griffiths, a marginal discovery player at best, needs to go into one of these drafts, and SURPRISE! Dallas wins it. Not long after, the magical trade happens that puts Countess where the league and Dallas wanted him, in exchange for a mid-level midfielder. It was easily the most transparent rigging in the league's history.
I don't know who else but the Revs have never won one of these damn drafts even though up until this year they were always at the bottom of the pile. George