http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20040626&content_id=6556&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp Donovan? Unless he puts in 40 goals this season he's got to be towards the bottom of my list. He's going to leave. He won't be around long enough to score 90 goals. I see Razov scoring close to 100 in his career, but other than him it's really hard to make a decent prediction as to who has a shot. I think both Twellman and Ruiz will stick around longer than Donovan, perhaps for their careers, so they are decent picks. Mike Magee could be a carrer MLSer, and if he is, he'll knock in over 10 goals in a season 10 times.
Yes, but will he go? I don't think he's got the same sort of chance that Donovan has to catch on with a big name team. Will Ruiz play for a crap team and ride out a couple seasons looking for a bigger deal, or would he stay in MLS? That's why it's nearly impossible to predict something about this. You pretty much need to pick someone out who will be a career MLS player, with decent production throughout. That or tear up the league for a couple years and leave. I think the second is unlikely, and that's why Magee is a pick of mine.
Another hard-to-predict factor is longevity. Preki has 77 career goals, even though he was nearly 33 by the time MLS began. By that age, a lot of forwards are retired.
This column reminds me that ever since the league redseigned to the website, one can't find all time stats, like who are the career goal-scoring leaders. I'm sure it's an MLS plot...