Do you thinki the Revs will be interested in taking anyone in either the supplemental or weighted special draft? Obviously a lot will depend who's available and when we get to pick. The weighted draft is a crapshoot. ~At the moment we have two open roster slots and one SI slot. ~If we were to sign Buhlman, a SI I suspect we would cut Griffith who is an SI . ~We are also looking to sign an AMF who most likely would be a SI All this says that we would have one senior roster slot open for the draft.
Bergin says the coaches have the players list of the supplemental draft, so it'll be intresting who the revs pick.
The supplemental draft is only for players who are currently under contract to MLS but have no teams. Ian Joy should be in there. Johnny Walker will not be. McKinley Tennyson will not be. I believe any player who has been renounced (ie: contract not extended--like Zarco Rodriguez or John Harkes) would not be. Connelly printed a partial list--guys like the backup keeper for Canada (who is with Rochester). I suspect that most teams will pass--unless they are looking to fill a very specific role. The rumor is that the Quakes (who traded with DCU to get the top pick in this draft) will chose Brian Ching (late of Seattle Sounders) who is in their camp now. There will be a weighted lottery for Digiamarino who I believe is with NE in Brazil now (and was with Dallas and DCU earlier and is apparently coveted by the SoS as well. Heck, every team in MLS probably finds him attractive b/c he's young, fast, veteran, cheap, left-sided, and American). There should also be a waiver draft at some point for all the guys who've been cut loose.
I would be surprised if the Revs pick anyone in the Supp Draft. Jonny Walker is done with MLS for now--not offered enough money, and looking toward Europe and Mexico. The Quacks clearly will use their pick, since they traded for it. They also may sign Pat Onstad (the Canadian GK) outright, since Walker has left. Wonder what will happen to Matt Jordan? There's a good keeper needing a home.
Matt Jordan is supposedly going to Colorado--Dallas and Vapids are having talks now. Problems for SJ though. Yallop played with Onstad, said he wants him, but Onstad is under contract for 1 more year with Rochester and their GM has just filed tampering charges against MLS/SJ claiming they can't sign Onstad (even though he's signed an MLS contract and must do so in order to be in the Supplemental draft.) It looks like Yallop may have given away a cap exempt player to get to crack in the supplemental draft for a player he may not be able to choose.
Is there anyone we want in the supplemental draft? If so, how about Matt Reis for the first pick in the supplemental draft (and, of course, their first rounder next year...)? We'd need to have a steady backup in our sights, but it's something to think about...
Tim, why would we want to trade Reis, since we would immediately be in need of a decent backup keeper which Reis is? There may be a useful player or two in this draft, and if we happen to wind up with one, fine, but no biggie if we don't. As for Onstad, if he is under contract with Rochester, wouldn't MLS need to pay a transfer fee or somehow buy him out of his deal with Rochester for him to sign with the League? You can't just sign a player because you feel like it... Tom
Rochester's position is that MLS has tampered by signing Onstad and does need to pay a transfer fee. That would have to come from the club. Oh, and I don't know if Onstad has a green card (he's Canadian) so it might expend an SI spot. Besides, if he's available, SJ will likely take him.
If SJ is out of luck with Walker and Onstad, and Nicol thought he could sign a reasonable backup from the A-league or somewhere, then SJ might be willing to overpay for Reis (probably the best backup in the league).
It's awfully chancy, though. Not to mention that Yallop's going to be real gunshy about any more trades after the problems with Onstead. Best to wait until Brown's shown he can hold up a whole year in net before selling off Reis.
1. SJ still has cap issues (that's what happens when cheap young americans like Mulrooney and Lagos and Robinson and Russell get better and get pay raises--they aren't so cheap anymore). They can't afford Reis. They are likely going to add one more significant player. Thus, anyone else they add will be bargain basement--MLS minimum salary. That's not Reis. 2. Adin Brown, every year he's been in the league has (a) demonstrated some brilliant goal keeping at times and (b) hasn't lasted a season. Acquiring Reis was extremely smart for NE but at this point, the only team with a GK who has a weaker track record at showing he can last a season is Countess in Dallas. Maybe Adin Brown will stay healthy and be dominant this season. But if he isn't healthy, you want a serious backup. Which gets us to 3. Sign a backup from the A-league? Big problems there. There is no USL agreement between MLS and the A-league. The really good teams (Rochester and Charleston and others) are now demanding transfer fees. The best possible scenario that may come available is perhaps, only perhaps, NE can establish a relationship with a team that will deal with them individually. As it is, NONE of the A-league players were eligible for the Superdraft this year (as opposed to previous years) b/c of the lack of an agreement. In fact, MLS told teams (and this was repeated by DCU's TD Kasper) that they should plan on drafting extra keepers and carrying 3 on the total roster (regular and developmental) b/c they would be unable to callup players from the A-league if someone had national team callups or injuries. Thus, the NE trade for Kreis followed by the draft of whats-his-name (sorry, can't remember) doesn't seem so silly now.
Extra "K"! Kyle Singer is the 3rd string, developmental keeper. I guess SJ does have serious cap issues, but I think it's a REALLY sad day when every MLS team takes a pass on a guy with the pedigree of Jonny Walker for want of $100K. This guy's been standing on his head against top South American competition in the Copas Libertadores and he wants to be here. If he had a marketable name, like Heyduk, Moore or Stewart teams probably would've been fighting over him. It's possible that he could make more of an impact on W/L than any of the "returnees" at a fraction of their salary.
Thanks for the info. For some reason, I ignored that thread in the mls board. I really doubt we'd try and trade Reis, but the more I hear the more I think that SJ might pay through the nose for a decent goalie.
ACtually, I think the lesson from Walker being turned down by SJ is that they will NOT pay for a decent (let alone very good) GK. Yallop is looking for a bargain--someone at MLS minimum or just above. If they aren't, he isn't apparently interested.