Ok, so this was a little shocking. Apparently I know a little bit about this league, or I got entirely lucky. In my last post, I gave a list of players that I would be interested if I was Montreal: Victor Estupian, Sanna Nyassi, Josh Gardner, Maykel Gallindo, Paolo Cardozo, Ryan Guy, John Rooney, Collen Warner (RSL), Ellis McLoughlin, Servando Carrasco, Soony Saad, Jev Brovsky. It wasn't the list that I thought they would select, but one that I would offer up assuming I was the GM (which would be really damn cool even if it was for Montreal). Then today, about 15 minutes before the Expansion Draft, I submitted a list to SoundersFC.com in hopes of winning some sort of Samsung smart phone thingy. For that list, I tried to think more about who they might take and came up with the following names: Blair Gaven, Sanna Nyassi, Paolo Cardoza, Mike Fucito, Seth Sinovic, Ned Grabavoy, John Thorrington, Jev Brovsky, Chris Seitz, Darrius Barnes. The only one I really spent a lot of time thinking about was Zarek Valentin of Chivas USA. I remember Ives saying that something could be up (ie - Chivas could have had a handshake deal with Montreal) because leaving Valentin unprotected was a crazy thought. I went with that logic and didn't put him down. I also decided that Montreal wouldn't select Brian Ching. For those who didn't know, Ching said he would retire rather than play in Montreal. While it would be a smart business move to select Ching and hold Houston hostage, I just didn't think they would do it. Finally, I went with Ned Grabavoy from RSL as it seemed like a he would be a player Jesse Marsch would love.
In the end, the following ten players were picked: Brian Ching, Zarek Valentin, Justin Mapp, Bobby Burling, Jeb Brovsky, Collen Warner, Josh Gardner, Sanna Nyassi, James Riley, Seth Sinovic. Combining my two lists, I got a total of 5 players right! I don't want to brag, but that is pretty amazing. I wish I had followed through with Warner and Gardner and I wish I had had the foresight to put Ching and Valentin down. If so, I might be sitting here next week with a shiny new phone!
Anyways, moving past how great I am, let's talk about how the Sounders were effected. It turns out that we just didn't lose Riley, but we then sent Tyson Wahl to the Impact for some allocation money. So that means in less than 5 minutes we lost 1.5 starters in our defense, leaving Leo Gonzalez and Zach Scott as our starting fullbacks if the season were to start today. It also means that we saved $150k plus whatever the allocation amount will turn out to be. I have to think that Seattle has a replacement for Riley already in place (as a certain friend of mine tells me all the time, it is super easy to find a serviceable RB). In my mind, there is no way they even make him available if they didn't have a plan. I know some people will debate me on who is more valuable to the team - Riley or Evans/Friberg, but in terms of depth, it is Riley. Simply put: there is no one on the team that can replace Riley at the current time. I know he is thought to be an ironman, but really it is out of necessity. Yes, he is in great physical shape and recovers well after games, but it's not like they had another viable option to put back there. As for Wahl, I think he will be missed, which is an amazing statement considering where he was a mere year ago. At that time, the thought of Wahl on the field was a nightmare, but he ended up being a very capable starter for us (apparently, he was a center defender his whole life and needed some time not only to adjust mentally to playing on the left but needed to change his body as well). His defense wasn't the best, but I really loved his crosses. That will be missed. Now it looks like Leo will be the full-time starter which is fine given who is currently in line to start at RB, but not ideal.
I have to wonder though if we got outsmarted on this one. Seconds after he was picked, we learned that Riley actually won't be going to Montreal but was instead traded to chivas USA for Gerson Mayen and Ryan Braun. I assume that if Montreal was able to pull off this trade that we could have done so too. Braun was on the hook for $87 in 2011 while Riley was on the hook for $97 which means it wouldn't have been a financial hit to the Sounders (of course it might be that Chivas was only willing to do a 2 for 1 trade to drop some salary). If Chivas was simply were down on Braun, then why the hell didn't we pull the trigger? Honestly, I would love to have Braun. Again, I have to assume that Seattle has something in place for RB, but what if they don't? What if they protected Fucito, Friberg and Evans because they assumed Montreal was more interested in attackers? What if they agreed to the Wahl deal before knowing Riley was on his way out? I doubt it's the case, but if so, then wow...
I am willing to hold back judgement on how much this will hurt until March when we take the field. However, if The Gymnast is starting at RB on opening night, then I will be the first to say that we officially got caught with our pants down.
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Oh, and in response to Montreal picking Brian Ching, ultimately I think it was a smart move. Here's the thing- I think Ching totally effed this situation up by saying he would retire if picked. I honestly doubt Montreal picks him because of his salary ($400+k) and age (33) if he hadn't said a word about wanting to remain in Houston. In doing so, he totally gave Montreal some leverage. They now had a large bargaining chip in that Ching would have to call his own bluff and retire if he didn't want to play for them. At 33 years old though, you can't imagine he was ready to retire. Montreal is assuming this and is now putting the pressure on Houston to do something about it. They either need to trade something to Montreal to reacquire him or they will risk alienating Ching by not doing so. I'm sure Houston would love Ching to come back, but they will need to be smart with what they do. Yes, having him in the line-up is a good thing for the organization both on and off the field, but they can't risk their future by paying more for him than he is worth. There is going to be some price that will be too high - if Montreal asks for that then they will need to let him retire in Montreal. It's that simple. And yeah, its a dick move by Montreal to possibly force a wedge inbetween the player and the team he has been with for nearly a decade, but at the end of the day, it's smart business. They acted in a time of strength - a very smart move for a team that will find themselves on the other end for the rest of the season.
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