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SBI MLS Mock Draft (Version 5.0)

SteveZakuani (ZipsSportsPhotography) 

The MLS Draft is less than 24 hours away, meaning it is time to focus on the final MLS Mock Draft.

As you have figured out by now, none of the several trades expected to take place involving draft picks have been made official yet, or even consumated yet (save for the FC Dallas-New York deal involving the 11th and 13th), so we still don't know what the actual final draft order will look like.

No matter, we can still try and project how the first two rounds of the draft will go based on player values and the team needs of the clubs currently holding their draft places.

I will not be changing my Mock Draft from the mock draft I wrote for ESPN.com today, that will serve as the final SBI MLS Mock Draft. As promised, it will be a two-round mock.

Here is how I could see the first 30 picks of Thursday's 2009 MLS Draft shaking out:

2009 MLS Draft

Round 1

  • 1. Seattle- Steve Zakuani

  • 2. Toronto FC- Stefan Frei

  • 3. Los Angeles Galaxy- Sam Cronin

  • 4. Toronto FC- Omar Gonzalez

  • 5. FC Dallas- Kevin Alston

  • 6. D.C. United- Jeremy Hall

  • 7. D.C. United- Peri Marosevic

  • 8. Kansas City- Chris Pontius

  • 9. Chivas USA- Rodney Wallace

  • 10. New England- Michael Lahoud

  • 11. New York- Babajide Ogunbiyi

  • 12. Real Salt Lake- Kyle Patterson

  • 13. Toronto FC- O'Brien White

  • 14. FC Dallas- Brad Ring

  • 15. New England- Matt Besler

Round Two

  • 16. Seattle Sounders- Lyle Adams

  • 17. San Jose- George John

  • 18. New York- Evan Brown

  • 19. Chivas USA- Baggio Husidic

  • 20. Colorado- Daniel Cruz

  • 21. D.C. United- Darrius Barnes

  • 22. Kansas City- Josh Boateng

  • 23. Kansas City- Graham Zusi

  • 24. New England- Jordan Seabrook

  • 25. New England- Yohance Marshall

  • 26. D.C. United- Calum Angus

  • 27. FC Dallas- A.J. De La Garza

  • 28. Chicago- Quincy Amarikwa

  • 29. New York- David Hertel

  • 30. Columbus- Kwame Abdjeman-Pamboe

For more insight into the first-round picks, check out my ESPN.com story. Also, If you don't know who these players are, feel free to check out Buzz Carrick's player rankings on 3rd Degree. I will be doing player rankings later on tonight.

What do you think of the mock draft? What players would you like to see your team take? Which players do you see going much earlier than I project? Who do you see going much later?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. why are you wasting your time with jata and boateng. neither will get signed even if they are lucky enough to get drafed in the 4th round

    Reply
  2. @Stanley Villa

    Unfortunately Hank Paulson has done terrible, terrible damage to this country economically. The question of the soccer stadium is really just the last sprinkle on the cake.

    Reply
  3. Peretz48,

    It doesn’t work that way. No team is on the hook to automatically draft a GA player. Hell, there have been GA players that have lasted into the third round before.

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  4. Did you know Treasury secretary Henry Paulson’s son, Merritt, owns the Portland Timbers who are going through the usual MLS machinations to shakedown the taxpayers for $85 million in public money to renovate something called PGE Park into a soccer only facility (SSS)?

    “My own private bail-out

    After pushing for a $700bn bail-out for Wall Street, Henry Paulson wants Oregon residents to buy him a soccer stadium”.

    Frankly, I’m speechless at the arrogance of these people, to put it mildly. Great, great article that only the much maligned Jamie Trecker has ever written about on his blog.

    Ives, could you run a blog entry for this incredible article:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jan/14/henry-paulson-portland-sports

    Reply
  5. You haven’t placed Danny Cruz in the 1st two rounds. My understanding is that as a GA player he must be selected somewhere in the 1st two rounds. Granted, he didn’t show well, but the MLS club that recommended him for a GA slot may be stuck with him.

    Reply
  6. Jon,

    Boateng is a good player, but I don’t know if he can make it at the next level, especially as an outside mid. He has the tendency to stay forward and in the center of the field. He played left mid at the combine and he kept pushing forward and into the center of the field. he was practically playing as a drop striker. He left Maxwell wide open and it forced rodney wallace to guard him and the other teams’ strikers.

    I don’t think he has the size or defensive skills to play outside mid, but hopefully he’ll prove me wrong. I like him, just not before Jata because he would occupy an international spot on the roster and with the cuts made this year to the roster those spots are very valuable.

    Reply
  7. Aljarov-
    Mo may very well release or trade Edwards as Frei is highly rated by alot of coaches and thought to be better than Guzan (i think thats who ive read him compared to)…

    Reply
  8. Eric K-
    White hasnt signed with MLS yet and has said he wants to play for TFC. So it is possible he gets drafted by another team but doesnt sign with the MLS and tries his luck in Europe

    Duthie-
    White has landed status in Canada and therefore does not take up an international spot but counts as a Canadian.

    Reply
  9. I’m sure the coaches are taking everything into consideration. If you look at all of Jata’s awards and accomplishments from the previous years, you can tell that he’s a very good player with a lot of upside to him. His stats increased every year and he’s a Second Team All-American and First Team All-South. I project he’ll go in the 3 rd because of his combine showing, but he’s got the potential to be an impact player for any team at the next level.

    I mean, he played with Cronin, Tracy, Arnoux, Salinas, Elisabetarson, Lahoud, and Ababio on the Carolina Dynamo the past two years and Jata was one of the best players on the team.

    Reply
  10. Jata is not “way” better than Boateng and to be honest the two are completely different players at completely different positions (at the next level that is, I realize that Boateng played quite a bit of attacking mid at Liberty). But I still give the edge to Boateng.

    I’ve seen and played against both and you’re definitely underestimating Boateng’s technical abilities and though small he can hold the ball up very well. Jata is a solid player as well and there isn’t much that seperates the two though.

    But in the end, Jata will be drafted as a

    central midfielder. Boateng will go as a left midfielder of which there are none of calibre outside if him and Hall. For that reason alone, Boateng will go higher.

    Reply
  11. I was at the combine too and Richard Jata really didn’t get the opportunity to showcase his skills. He made runs and called for the ball, but his teammates were not giving it to him. Plus he was in their with Revivo and Poole, who played horrible. Revivo had a very bad first touch and Poole was always looking backward instead of forward.

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  12. I’ve seen Jata play before and he’s way better than Boateng. Boateng is quick, but he’s a lot smaller than Jata and he doesn’t have the skill or touch that Jata has. Plus Jata has a much stronger shot as well.

    I’d be surprised if all of the international players get picked before him too, seeing as how each team can only hold 8 international players(except TFC-10). Plus some of the forwards listed in this draft are international players and there’s no way they can play forward at the next level.

    Reply
  13. Jata did well on the first day, but just wasn’t put with the right players on day 2 and day 3 to show what he has.

    I definitely see him being picked in the draft, but because most of the coaches have never seen him play except for the combine, they have to go off what they saw and what they hear from his coaches.

    Reply
  14. If TFC picks a keeper (and does anything other than immediately trade him) I will dispair. Did Mo miss that Sutton was the fans player of the year?

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  15. Ives, I think you’re onto something with DC taking Marosevic. I do find it intriguing that I’ve seen him compared to both Jaime Moreno and Alejandro Moreno (2 notably different players). If we keep 6 and 7, it’ll be 2 GA players no matter who’s available.

    Reply
  16. I don’t see DC taking a forward at the 7th pick. Marosevic would be behind Quaranta, Khumalo, Doe, and Martinez on the forward list, and I haven’t heard anything about him playing midfield. They would sooner take Ring, Pontius, or Besler, as all three fill needs. Besidesm DC’s problems were on defense, not offense, and every attacking option (plus a few extra) are returning. Defenders will be their main priority.

    Reply
  17. @Erik K

    I don’t think TFC would care if White was taken before it got to there pick. either way it wouldn’t make sense for an american team to pick White anyways he would just take up an international spot i beleive.

    Reply
  18. DC would be smart to grab Darrius Barnes in the second round like that. He could step in and help them in the back line almost right away. I would not be shocked if he ends up being one of the steals of the draft.

    Reply
  19. For NY, I think the players are right, but I’m not sure of the order. Based on Buzz’s reports, I think NY should lock down Dave Hertel or DeLaGarza first and then look to take the other (or Evan Brown) and Babajide Ogunbiyi. Ogunbiyi doesn’t appear as ready to go out of the box, although he has the tools, so I don’t know if he is really worth a 1st round pick.

    Especially if all these other guys are still on the board.

    Reply
  20. Danny Cruz will surprise in the next level. Not sure if it’ll be in his first year, but wouldn’t surprise me if he did.
    The kid doesn’t have the greatest ball skills but he just simply produces.
    In camps and practices for whichever team he is drafted by, he will force the coach to give him minutes.

    Reply
  21. You have to remember that a lot of players at the Combine will count as international players and thus will automatically take up a senior roster spot, even if they are GA. Their salaries won’t count against the cap, but their roster spot will.

    Therefore, it’s not unthinkable that a guy like Yohance Marshall falls deep into the second round, as could other sleeper players like Patterson, Seabrook, Angus and others who come with the intl’ tag.

    Now, if these players could come up with a green card, then that changes things.

    Reply
  22. Looks good for NY, although based on the combine reports I would prefer they take DeLaGarza at #18 instead of Evan Brown, if both are available. Still I would be happy to see them take Evan Brown as well.

    Reply
  23. My guess is this will look a lot different tomorrow due to (a) trades and (b) how differently teams think of some of these guys. Last year a lot of mock drafts had Xavier Balc in the first round. I think the Revs need a center back, a left wing or attacking center mid (depending on where Castro will play) and a target forward. A keeper for the future would be good too. Based on that, and what I’ve read about these players, I can see them looking at Zach Simmons, Pontius, Merosevic, Besler, or Zusi.

    After the whole Brian McBride thing, how funny would it be if some team took O’Brien White one spot ahead of TFC and held him for ransom in the same manner? Of course, White is really Jamaican.

    Reply
  24. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Sounders take the local kid George John instead of Lyle Adams. They need another center back, especially if they can’t sign Parke or acquire health insurance for Roy Miller’s pregnant girlfriend.

    Reply

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