Brian Straus (@BrianStraus) 10/21/11 4:02 PM MLS "Super"Draft has been cut from three rounds to two, and will take place Jan. 12 in KC. A 4-round supplemental draft scheduled for Jan 17. Major League Soccer (@MLS) 10/21/11 4:09 PM 2012 SuperDraft news: the next #MLS draft will consist of 2 rounds with the 1st being broadcast live on ESPN2 beginning at 12:00 noon ET.
Only 2 rounds because of the impact of the homegrown player. FC Dallas only had one draft pick make their team last year because of their homegrown talent. The Revs should set up some academies in unclaimed areas of the country.
The supplemental draft has an extra round this coming year so the total number of draft rounds remains the same.
I suspect having three rounds with every teams management sitting for 4 to 5 hours was felt to be too much. Besides, with the current number of teams the meat of the draft class has been fairly well picked over by the end of the second round so doing a third round with everyone in the same room to facilitate trades et al is of little value.. Glad to see they have kept the same number of rounds overall. I know some here don't think much of the draft as an onramp to building MLS rosters but no matter what, for me it's always been the highlight of the hot stove season
? There is no decline in the draft. There is the same number of rounds next year as there was this year (just rearranged) and actually more rounds than was in 2009 and 2010. With the expanded rosters the draft also expanded with the reintroduction of the supplemental draft.
I am not totally sure but we are speculating it has something to do with the CBA. It appears that the CBA has a different set of rules in terms of contract length for players drafted in the SuperDraft vs players drafted in the Supplemental draft. Note this is still speculation since MLS has not clarified why they rearranged the rounds.
This makes sense to me. The majority of 3rd rounders don't make it, so a shorter contract length would be appropriate if draftees from the superdraft are required to have multi year deals.
For those that think the draft is going to disappear in the next few years should not hold their breath. There is every indication the draft will continue to evolve. Joao Plata type players are the future of draft. While we all believe that home grown players will eventually grow and supplant most of the college talent but MLS is already on record saying that the league is going to increase the signings of young international players and add them to the draft.