If it looked like Yallop might do that, then I'd agree. It doesn't appear that Frank brings back "former draft picks". 2 years is not much time to hold "rights". I have a question. Why didn't SJ just trade the cap relief for the rights to Shaun Tsakiris? The Revs cut him, he's a local boy to the SJ area and has been practicing on and off with the Quakes. It makes more sense to add "local" players to your roster and develop them yourselves then to count on the A-League to do it for you.......
First of all, it we cut Tsakiris, I doubt if we still hold his rights. Second of all, why would you want him and then complain about getting a draft pick that's probably higher than where Shaun was drafted? Lastly, in regards to your previous post, I doubt if our acquisition of Winston Griffiths would mean that Yallop would be worried about us as a playoff opponent. If you're Yallop, who would you want to play in the postseason? I'd go with the team that's let in the most goals in the league.
Good players have been found after the 2nd round, it's just that there are long odds against it. I think the main thing is teams, and GMs, around sports leagues build different relationships with each other. They're competitors on one level (winning the cup), allies on others (revenue sharing, prosperity of the league as a whole, support for US soccer, "rising tide raises all boats", common rivals - "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", etc.). This type of deal builds a positive and mutually beneficial relationship between teams. Why not do a favor for another team if it doesn't seriously impact you? Somewhere down the line they can repay it in kind. The Red Sox and Yankees "virtually" never deal with each other, but the Sox and Expos have done many deals, and in yesterday's deal for Cliff Floyd, the Expos are accused of favoring the Sox and blocking the Yankees. In a strict sense, the Sox and Expos are still vying to win the World Series, but in a more practical sense, they are in a good position to help each other. (Same with Yankees and Blue Jays, and they're even in the same division)!
I believe if an MLS team wants Tsakiris, they would have to acquire his rights from NE. Since he was drafted in 2001, then perhaps he would be a free agent in 03? NE holds them for 2 years, right? As for why Shaun, a fifth round pick? Well, he grew up here, has family, friends and knows how expensive the area is. In other words, he'd be willing to stay and pay his dues. He's the perfect candidate for a "developmental slot" (if he qualifies). He's also been practicing with the team, so they know his level of play. If we draft someone in 3rd,4th round from God knows where, we have little idea if he is MLS material. Tsakiris played on the U-20 National team. He has the skills to play in MLS. He was hurt in NE, that's why he didn't impress enough to make the team. Plus the fact that you drafted so many "All-Stars", there just wasn't enough room. In regards to "helping the Revs" make the playoffs. Why? Are you saying that Yallop hopes NE makes it and plays us? We get very little out of this deal, IMO. I guess the reason they didn't name which round would be because it will depend on how much NE improve. If they make the playoffs, the choice will be a higher pick. Won't matter if we cut them anyway. Turn this on it's head. If the Revs had the salary and SJ wanted to add a player to make itself stronger, do you think NE would do that? Would it have made sense to make SJ even stronger then it already is? All for a pick that the Revs would probably cut anyway?
Except that the Revs went out and signed Tsakiris to a contract this winter, and cut him in the spring. I know FC liked Shaun a lot, but he didn't think with the small roster sizes that he could afford to use a spot on someone he THOUGHT could play in MLS, but wasn't really sure about. If the Revs' roster was set, and they didn't want to make any player moves, and they still had leftover cap space, I'd hope they would use that extra cap space to get something. By the way, one of the moves the Revs made with the cap space they picked up from the Quakes was sign -- you guessed it -- a fourth round draft pick.
Insert your own punchline. Quite a few players from this year and last spring to mind. I thought Leonard was a developmental signing. If so, his salary doesn't count towards the cap. On a bigger note, are the signings official? We've heard of 3 recently (Kante, Leonard, Griffiths). Are they all definitely locked up? Is Leonard definitely developmental? Do we have to cut anybody to accomplish these signings, or did we actually get some kind of injury-related roster relief?
Our 22 man Roster is now full with Kante and Griffith being added to the Regular Roster to replace Semedo (waived) and Serna (season ending injury) and Leonard is our fourth Developmental Roster player joining Asad, Downing and TF3.
Does cutting him change his "rights" status? I was under the assumtion that if a player was drafted and signed with the league, that team held his "rights" for two years. Are you saying that all preseason cuts basically give up the rights to those players? That the team only holds his rights if he doesn't sign? The reason I ask is this, if NE held Shaun's rights, and then traded them to SJ, the Quakes could sign him to a developmental contract without having to use a "discovery" pick, right? That seems much better then gambling on a 4th or 5th round pick (if it's even that high).