Use Some Protection

While most of the MLS spotlight will be shining on the Home Depot Center over the weekend, in Seattle, the attention is clearly focused on next Wednesday's Expansion, or the day I affectionately call "The Day the Sounders lose some depth so some crap Expansion Team can begin to fill out there crap roster." Ok, maybe that is a bit arrogant considering that the Sounders are only 3 years removed from picking in the Expansion Draft themselves, but seriously, Montreal is not going to be interested in players from NE or SJ or Chivas. No, they will certainly taking someone from our very deep roster, just like Philly, Portland and Vancouver did in the past.

Before I get into who the team should protect this coming Monday, a few comments about Expansion Drafts in general. Those who participate in them have taken one of two approaches. Either they scoured the lists of available players looking for players who they though could start for their team, or they selected players who could either provide some depth or who could be flipped to another team for an asset. The first approach seems like a good idea, but here's the rub: players that are left available are either not one of the best 11 players on the team, they are coming off a big injury, they are said to be on their way to Europe or their salary is undesirable. Normally, teams that go this route might be competitive in year 1, but in the long run will never be able to break through their ceiling (see: San Jose). Teams that go the other route and use the draft to take chances on younger players and flip players desirable to other teams will normally suffer a few years before seeing their true potential realized (see: Vancouver).

When the Sounders entered in 2009, they were in a pretty enviable position as they already had Seb LeToux, Kasey Keller and several USL guys on the roster. They also had Freddie Ljungberg on the way, so their foundation was already being built. When they selected players from the available pool, they were choosing those that could step in and start, but not be required to be the best players on the field. In the end, 8 of the 10 selections played for the Sounders, of which 5 are still on the roster (take a shot at their names - answer at the bottom). They went with a mix of veterans and rookies and I think this is a route that will be followed by Montreal. The Impact have already inked a DP from Colombia, Nelson Rivas, who last was seen playing for Inter Milan - and should be active in signing high priced talent. I expect them not to just go young, but to get players who fit their vision of the team. Now I won't profess to knowing what that vision is, but I do know which 11 players I would protect if I was Adrian, Sigi or Chris Henderson.

To make sure I am not crazy though, I decided to ask some of my fellow Sounders' supporters for their thoughts. The normal crew participated - JWill, Irish Mike and The Cich. This time around though, I got my cousin Anthony, my boy Lucas (a member of the ECS), and a relative who is involved with the team at some level. Those who know me probably know who this guy is, but to keep him anonymous (even though he swears he has no inside info on this) to others, I will call him Pete.

Here is how the voting went down separated by how happy Montreal would be to see them on the available list:

Level 1 - Holy Crap! He is Available? Quick - Get the Commissioner on the phone. I don't care that the draft is 2 days away!
Fredy Montero (7 votes)

Ozzie Alonso (7)

Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (7)

Steve Zakuani (7)

There would not be an ounce of hesitation to pick any of these four players. Monteral would gladly eat Montero's DP salary and would gladly take the chance that Zakuani won't return to full strength. These are four of the best players in the league.


Level 2 - Oh Wow. He is an amazing player and we will gladly take him, but...
Alvaro Fernandez (7)

I only put him down here because he does command DP money, he is an international player and because he is still adjusting to MLS. I think Montreal would still gladly select him, but I think there would be more hesitation than those above/

Mauro Rosales (7)

It is almost crazy to suggest that Montreal would hesitate in selecting him, but let's not forget that he is 31 years old and in line for a huge raise. If you're part of their front office, you have to ask yourself if you could find someone cheaper and younger that could be around for several years.

Jeff Parke (6)

I personally think Parke should be in Level 1, but one of the voters did not have him in their list, so I bumped him down. I'm not sure what the hang-up would be though - his European window has already closed, he gets paid roughly $100k and he is steady as they come.


Level 3 - Nothing but smiles
Lamar Neagle (7)

Neagle really had a breakout season last year, but what makes him so attractive is his salary. Montreal would love to have a young player like this.

Sammy Ochoa (7)

Ochoa has a lot of potential. I don't think we know what he will become, but his ceiling is high. And I think his salary is low.


Level 4 - Ok, he's got some warts, but we can find a place for him in our squad
James Riley (5)

I think Riley can start for the majority of teams in the league (certainly for an expansion team). Overall, I think RB is a position that we can improve, but at the current time, Riley is important to keep simply because of who the other option is. I am going under the assumption that the team is not looking at signing a RB in the off-season, so to avoid having Zach Scott starting, we would need to protect him.

Mike Fucito (5)

Fucito is a fan favorite, but an honest assessment is that he has a limited ceiling, is 5'3" and is inconsistent. Last year, Sigi admitted to knowing that PTL was interested in him, so they protected him and ending up losing Sanna Nyassi instead. This year will be no different as we will lose another quality player because we protected him, but I think he is a must protect. To me, Fucito is super valuable because of his salary. In order to stay competitive in a league with a salary cap, teams must pay their stars and hope that they fill in the gaps with cheap talent. Some teams can rely on the draft to bring in these players, but with the second to last pick in the first round, we can't expect to find college players who at the current time are better players than Mike Fucito. Yes, the team got lucky with later draft picks (Neagle, Carrasco, Fucito), but we can't keep expecting to find players in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Fucito might not be the best player, but he is perfect for this team.

Eric Friberg (4)

Friberg is definitely the biggest omission to my Sounders protected list. He is a calming influence, is relatively cheap, fairly injury free and can go box to box. Oh, and he has soccer player hair. To me, the only other option besides keeping Fucito would be to protect Friberg and hope that Montreal is not into small strikers.

Brad Evans (1)

I like Evans, but he was dreadful in our most important games this year. I think he can still have a roll with this team, but considering his recent injury history and his salary cap, I wonder if Montreal would be interested. Add in that Montreal can only pick one of Evans or Friberg and I think the Sounders could easily leave him unprotected.

Servando Carrasco (0)

No votes for Servando because Seattle wouldn't be heartbroken over losing him. I could see Montreal wanting him.


Level 5 - Hmmm. We don't think he is any good, but we'll think about it
Pat Ianni
Tyson Wahl
Leo Gonzalez
O'Brian White
David Estrada
Amadou Sanyang
Miguel Montano

Montano definitely is the wild card here. The Sounders loaned Montano to Montreal so that he could get some game action under his belt. Montreal is familiar with him and might actually be interested in signing him. If they are really enamored with him, then we might have some sort of handshake deal where they select another player and we trade Montano and an allocation to Montreal to get him back. Ya never know.


Level 6 - Yuck. We'll Pass
Nate Jaqua
Pat Noonan
Zach Scott
Roger Levesque
Terry Boss


So there ya go. Consensus among 9 picks. Split votes on Fucito, Friberg and Riley. It will be interesting to see what the Sounders actually do. For your reading pleasure, here are some other attempts at predicting the list.

SB Nation
Sounder at Heart readers
Prost Amerika
WVHooligan
Seattle Times


[UPDATE - JWill alerted me to the fact that I forgot the answer that I promised. From the 2009 Expansion Draft, the players still with the Sounders are: Brad Evans, Nate Jaqua, Jeff Parke, James Riley and Tyson Wahl. Other players to have suited up for the club were Stephen King, Nathan Sturgis and Pete Vagenas. Khano Smith and Jarrod Smith were the two players never to suite up for the Rave Green]