I would be very happy with Alecko Eskandarian, Wake Forest midfielder Brian Carroll, North Carolina defender David Stokes and Ricardo Clark.
why is Eskandarian a project-40 if he signed a 5-year pro contract? Surely he didn't sign for 5 years at the $24k rate (or whatever the amount is these days).
He's P-40 because he left school early to sign with MLS. More than likely he will only be P-40 for 1 year. He's cap exempt for 2003, but his $50k or so will count against the full cap in 2004 and he will be a full roster player. Also announced was that Tino has officially graduated P-40.
I say we go after this Gaven character. DC United has had the youngest players in the league for while now (Convey, Quaranta, Mapp). If we can't keep the tradition of winning alive, perhaps we can keep the tradition of having the youngsters...
What do the additional 2 developmental slots, taking the rosters to 18 senior and 6 developmental, mean for us?
The addition of 2 additional "developmental" slots is perfect timing for United this year. Last year, if we'd had those slots, we'd have filled them with players like Dennis Ludwig. Guys on developmental contracts who provided practice bodies and energy. But with all the high draft picks AND plenty of P-40s, we could have a potential 6 P-40 players on the roster if I read this correctly (in the past it was only 4 and there were never enough to draft 4 unless they were last round Micah Cooks/Sergio Salas types).
Ever notice that the winning tradition ended when the youngster tradition started? I like Gaven too but I'll bet he's gone if we don't take him at #5.
Let's agree that this is an excellent draft, tons of talent, makes last year's draft look like pauper city. But I think people are over-estimating how quickly all the P-40's will go. Even if people take ONLY P-40's in the first round (and that won't happen), they will still last into the second round. And some teams will have to draft for NEED, not BAA or most potential. B/c they'll be capped out, and a college senior makes less than someone at MLS minimum. So there will be some seniors (ie: not P-40) who go in the first round. If we don't trade our picks (and b/c of the big salaries I think we're going to be taking on rather than discount players like Dante Washington or Peter Vagenas), I think that unless some great deals present themselves, we're likely to keep our picks (maybe a swap deal where someone covets a player this year and we trade them #11 for their first round pick in 2004--delayed gratification!).
Be careful what you wish for. But Gaven is a good prospect. He can become a good central midfielder in the Maisoneuve mold. But, he isn't ready physically as he's far too skinny to hold up against the bangings he'd receive. He's actually even skinnier than Kyle Martino, which is really saying something. Skip, I could see him slipping to us in the second round because he's likely not to have an impact for 2 years or so. Mapp and Santino were different, because they already had the solid frame to withstand the physical nature of MLS, so they were more desired draft choices. Looking at our team 2+ years down the road, it's very conceivable that we lose at least one midfielder to Europe, so Hudson will definitely take a young midfielder with at least one of our top 4 picks. -Tron
Yeah, that's a good arguement, Tron. He isn't ready for the bigs yet so anyone picking him early are saying that they don't have any real immediate needs and I can't see anyone being that foolhardy. But with all our picks we can afford to take him in the second round and not expect much from him for a couple of years.
There is no reason to draft both Carroll and Clark.. They are both defensive midfielders with Clark bieng rated well above Carroll.. Eskandarian is definitely our #1 pick.. Probables from here on out - #5 - Clark (if available, which he probably won't be) #5 - Ricky Lewis - left back and a damn good one and would make a salaried player (McKinley or Namoff) expendable #5 - David Stokes - Eddie Pope light.. Speed, size and decent skill for a central defender #11 - Logan Pause - got rave reviews from the U-23 coaches during recent trip to Portugal.. Played every game at defensive midfielder.. Took quantum leap past Brian Carroll... #11 - Memo Gonzalez - won't be here (LA will draft him) but take him if he's there.. Put up Landon like numbers with the U-17 team.. #14 - Jason Thompson - good size and speed.. Could be a sleeper at #14 As for the increase in roster exempt players to 6, that is a great move by MLS.. United right now does not have any P-40 or roster exempt players on the roster. It's entirely conceivable that we will indeed draft 4 of those 12 players on that list.. As JoeW stated above, other teams have immediate draft needs that they will not put a 16 year old player on the field right away for.. A few college seniors will be drafted (Warren from Clemson and Levesque from Stanford)..
I think there is an extremely good chance that Ricardo Clark will drop to #5. Here's why: 1. DC--Alecko Eskandarian. 2. SoS: they might take Clark. Frankly though, I think they'll grab one of the tall young attackers (b/c their frontline--Moreno and Mathis--ain't much in the air) or an outside defender who has a chance to play right now. Remember, they're now cap challenged. And if they don't deal Richie Williams, I don't see them taking Clark. 3. Chicago: they own Armas and Marsch. They've got other players who are serviceable at D-mid. They have too many needs. 4. Dallas: Deering and Stone are on the roster. They are looking at this Irish U-21 D-mid. No way they choose Clark. If Clark goes, it would be #2 to SoS. Otherwise, he drops to #5 (if Hudson and Kasper want him--and given the youth on the frontline, I think they'd go for Clark). With one big caveat--no deals. Chicago could deal their #3 pick to try and get two or three high picks (to get cap exempt or cheap players). We could get an irresistable offer for one of our picks. If SoS is looking for a cheap veteran, they might deal their pick (to someone like Columbus, trying to clear modest cap room). But barring any of those possibilities, I think Clark either goes #2 or drops to #5.
Sounds ok, I guess. I'm not sold on the Metros not taking Clark, however. I think DC gets its pick of Esky or Clark, but not both. Mathis is pretty good in the air. His ability there is just overshadowed by his ability with his feet. He set up of Wolff vs. Costa Rica in KC for our 1-0 win. He set up Donovan vs. Poland with a head flick, IIRC. He has scored a quite a few MLS goals with his head, too! Chicago's forwards were notoriously weak on headers. Bradley tended to bring defenders up for corners. Remember, the Metros now have Balboa and Pope.They're covered there! Also, your arugements about the Metros cap situation would apply if they actually went out a signed one of the target forwards like Noonan or Levensque, because they would count against the cap, while Clark, a P-40, wouldn't.
Let me be a little more precise. 1. SoS just traded for Richie Williams. He's not much but he beats out a rookie. I don't question the technical ability of Moreno or Mathis. But neither is a target forward. Someone like Nate Jaqua--fast, tall, can sky--that adds a major resource to that frontline that you can put in at the tail end of games if you're trailing and the other team is putting 11 men behind the ball. As for the cap and the SoS, you miss my point. I'm not arguing that they can't afford to add players. I'm arguing that they probably need to count on a rookie to start (b/c of their cap situation). They have a lot of spots to fill and not much cap money. So they need another Brad Davis--a rookie who will come in and start. I think as good as Clark is, he doesn't start ahead of Williams at the begining of the season. AND SoS have a decent youngster at D-mid anyway. I think they'd look at someone who can provide help right away, not start the season on the bench and possiblely be a reserve all year. 2. Right now, the Chicago forwards are Faria and Razov. Neither may be McBride but that team needs more of a withdrawn forward than a target. But regardless of what we think of their forwards, are we agreed that with Armas and marsch, they're not looking for a D-mid, especially when they need starters or a great 12th man?
Chicago is taking Mike Magee at #3. From my understanding, the only reason he signed with MLS was to play in Chicago. Didn't he have offers from Ajax?
JoeW, thanks for responding. You raise some excellent points. I guess I just think New York has so many holes to fill they just take the best player available: Esky or Clark. Or maybe Stokes. I agree that they could use a target forward. But this is not a good year for target forwards. Noonan and co. don't do that much for me. If Nate Jacqua signs in the next couple days, then all bets are off. They do have a decent young d-mid in Jeff Moore. They've got a very old one in Balboa, too. DC has a sort of the same situation with McKinley, Namoff and Chino. My point there is that no one really knows how Bradley feels about Jeff Moore at d-mid, or any of the his talent up there in Jersey. Who knows how the Metros are going to line up? (other than at forward!) He could very well feel about Jeff Moore the way Hudson did about Namoff or Lisi. As for some of you DC fans looking to pick up Ricky Lewis and Thompson: When Dallas doesn't have any needs and there is no single obvious best player left, the Burn like to pick Texans. You guys might have to hustle to get those 2. DC has a history of good drafting (not so much under Hudson, though). But so do Mike Jeffries and Bob Bradley. I just don't see them letting DC walk out of there with BOTH the best players in the draft. But, it's fun to disagree.
Whoops, didn't see this. I just included the Chicago reference as a possible predictor of how Bradley thinks regarding target players. That is, he seems perfectly ready, willing, and able to play without them. I have no idea what Chicago is going to do at #3. That seems kinda of high for a 17 year old. But maybe Mike Magee is THAT good.