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Hartman, Wynne and Angel among players left in MLS Re-Entry Process

By IVES GALARCEP

FC Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, Colorado Rapids defender Marvell Wynne and Chivas USA forward Juan Pablo Angel were among the players left available for the 2012 MLS Re-Entry Draft.

Teams have until 5pm on Thursday to re-sign these players. The Stage One Draft for the players left in the Re-Entry process will take place on Friday. The Stage Two Draft will take place on December 14th.

Chicago left back Gonzalo Segares, San Jose centerback Ike Opara and Portland left back Rodney Wallace are three other players who were somewhat surprising inclusions in the re-entry process.

Clubs must exercise the option for, or extend a Bona Fide Offer to, all players selected in Stage 1.  Players that were out of contract may either accept or reject the Bona Fide Offer. Should a player reject the offer, the drafting club will hold the right of first refusal for that player in MLS. Players with option years left on their contract will automatically be added to the drafting club’s roster.

The first Re-Entry Draft is generally the quieter one, with teams reluctant to pick up players at the options they are available at, but once players pass through that phase, and then move onto the second re-entry draft, things get much more interesting and more players will be selected.

Here is the complete list of players left available for the MLS Re-Entry Process:

2012 MLS RE-ENTRY PROCESS LIST

CHICAGO FIRE

Jay Nolly, Gonzalo Segares, Corben Bone

CHIVAS USA

Juan Pablo Angel, Peter Vagenas, Danny Califf

COLUMBUS CREW

Chris Birchall, Will Hesmer, Julius James, Tony Tchani

COLORADO RAPIDS

Tyrone Marshall, Scott Palguta, Conor Casey, Hunter Freeman, Jamie Smith, Marvell Wynne, Ian Joyce, Joseph Nane, Tyson Wahl

D.C. UNITED

Michael Chabala, Maicon Dos Santos, Stephen King

FC DALLAS

Bruno Guarda, Kevin Hartman, Julian De Guzman, Scott Sealy

HOUSTON DYNAMO

Colin Clark

SPORTING KC

Olukorede Aiyegbusi, Luke Sassano

LA GALAXY

Chad Barrett, Andrew Boyens, Bryan Jordan, Kyle Nakazawa, Brian Perk

MONTREAL IMPACT

Justin Mapp, Josh Gardner, Shavar Thomas

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Tim Murray, Blair Gaven

NEW YORK RED BULLS

Bill Gaudette, Stephen Keel

PHILADELPHIA UNION

Chase Harrison

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Lovel Palmer, Steve Purdy, Rodney Wallace

REAL SALT LAKE

Paulo Jr., Kyle Reynish

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Andrew Weber, O’Brian White, Mike Seamon

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Tim Ward, Ramiro Corrales, Joseph Gjertsen, Ike Opara, Khari Stephenson

TORONTO FC

Eric Avila, Adrian Cann, Jeremy Hall, Ty Harden, Andrew Wiedeman

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

John Thorrington

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What do you think of this list? Who are you surprised to see on the list? Who do you hope your team picks up?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Beto is right. Hopefully some of the MLS goalkeepers can go oversees, so these guys don’t have to go to 2nd Division. But it’ll make 2nd Division better (and more tougher) if its the case.

    Now if we had goalies like Rene Huigita (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFxAwdP9CXM) and Oliver Khan people may fill the stands just for the goalies. You laugh, but they really can be draws if they are entertainment GKs.

    Reply
    • It’s hard enough to get our field players to keep the ball under pressure and not blast it 50 yards when they see an opposition player. Huigita was a beast though and had a couple goals too if I remember… We did have that Mexican keeper in the mid-90s who had quite a few antics and could play as a striker. Can’t remember his name now though..

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    • Haha was that the same guy who did the crazy scorpion kick save? What a nut, all i could think about watching him was how ibra would havegiven him the joe hart treatment.

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    • In Hartman’s case you’re talking a 38 y/o keeper who had a 1.4 GAA. Even if the US is good at producing keepers he is not representative of that anymore, he has deteriorated and is sub-par now. Perhaps second division ball or retirement is what his market will bear? He’s certainly not worth $180K.

      Now, Hesmer is a pretty good keeper, but for the Crew’s purposes, no games all year, $180K-ish, not a hard decision. Whether Gruenebaum suffices might be another question, but you can’t sit all year and make starter money. And FWIW, I’m not sure a MLS bench/ IR player is ideally set to show off the European alternative. He’s being crammed down for a salary move within MLS. Man City is not going to sign him as their second keeper, heck, he’d be lucky to get a contract in B.2 or Scandinavia or League Two with no games in 2012.

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    • uDaMan thank you for sharing the video and information about this player! What class, what a player, loved it. I wish we had keepers like this to make games more interesting. Imagine any team with a keeper who was a free kick speacialist and/or PK taker, now that would be awesome.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=epC6_v5jDAs&NR=1

      You can see he truly loved the game and pored his heart and soul into every game. I would love it he were the goal keeper coach for my NY Red Bulls! =)

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  2. Too bad for hartman and hessmer. Both outstanding keepers; just too many quality keepers in MLS. Maybe montreal or toronto just not that many teams in need of keepers

    Reply
    • Toronto has absolutely no need for another keeper.
      We have Frei coming back and still have Kocic.

      Freddy Hall is also (unfortunately) still on the roster, and we have Q. Roberts coming up from the academy eventually as well.

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  3. For the Galaxy, kind of surprised to see Bryan Jordan and Brian Perk listed. I don’t know their salaries, but I assume that Jordan’s is one of the lowest on the team and therefore dropping him would be of little benefit. Jordan is hardly a superstar, but has consistently filled in at multiple positions and done his job. Under a salary cap systems I would think players like this are vital.

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    • Making room for Kennedy or Gato. Saunders should be the backup.

      Jordan is expendable with the emergence of Tommy Meyer. DLG is a superior backup at Right Back and can also play the middle.

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    • This is a means of giving teams effective rights of first refusal over salary casualties. I see it as like Homegrowns and certain other concepts (perhaps including the draft, if looked at in a certain way) where the asset-holding team has superior rights.

      Whether it should be that way is another question. What I’d say is a draft is justifiable on parity grounds and is held in every other major US sport. I don’t think we would tolerate the “Big 4” type of league that absolute free agency creates in England. But does that mean that you should retain rights over veteran players who are option/cap casualties for whom you don’t want to pay the current rate? Less defensible. [However, conversely, as far as I am concerned, with the mediocre effectiveness and resources of MLS academies and reserve squads, I don’t think Homegrowns are really defensible either. Those players should be in the draft.]

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      • A big 4 type league wouldn’t happen in the US. There aren’t enough great US players who stay home (there aren’t enough in general either) and there are caps on international slots.

        please tell me how no salary cap = big 4

      • Easy. Because each team with large resources could buy at least 8 foreign “high Caliber players”. Also, MLS lets teams trade International slots….. So would a smaller team be willing to sell one for some cash? Probably. IF you gave and LA the chance to buy 5-9 high caliber players, they would do it in a heart beat.

  4. A lot of this has to do with the salary cap more than the quality of the player. Players reaching a certain point in their contract must receive a certain salary, clubs waive them or subject them to a process so that they can renegotiate a contract.

    There is a tremendous downward pressure in this league towards veterans salaries. There are too few options even if you are a good player. You have the College draft, coupled with signing from Latin and Central America, coupled with a total team salary cap. It is hard to keep the players you want and almost impossible to keep peripheral players.

    IT sucks but it seems the US will always have a workforce that has to put up with cheaper (sometimes even better) foreign imports,

    Reply
    • The number one thing the MLS needs to do to improve is to raise the salary cap significantly. Let’s hope with new TV deals and stadiums they can afford to do that soon.

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      • Okay, here are two arguments:

        – Control of costs: Let’s be honest, MLS is not a cash cow and does not make as much money on tv rights as other American leagues. Many teams are running on a deficit. A salary cap keeps teams from outspending their resources and prevents an arms race in talent and spending. There are ample examples of the negative effects of a lack of cost control, see, e.g. the NASL, Rangers, Portsmouth, numerous Spanish clubs.

        – Parity: Because we are an American sports league we have playoffs and not promotion or relegation. Parity keeps things exciting and interesting, and allows fans of weaker teams to at least dream of the playoffs. Parity can pay off, just look at the NFL, where every team is valued in the hundreds of millions and it became America’s favorite sports league.

      • “A salary cap . . . . prevents an arms race in talent and spending.” I would argue that an arms race in talent is a good thing and that you need to spend to get better. If the salary cap suppresses the talent level in the league, it hampers the expansion of the fan base and bigger TV revenues. Unlike the NFL, which has no competitors, MLS has to compete with dozens of soccer leagues around the world for the fans, talent and TV money. If the height of MLS’s ambition is to put out an average to mediocre product in front of 20K fans or so, their concept is fine. I don’t think that there’s true financial parity between a small market team like Columbus and a club like LA Galaxy that could pay millions to Beckham, Keane and Donovan without breaking the salary cap rules. In Europe, a small team from a third division, like Swansea, can earn a promotion to the top flight division while a team from the top division that overspends and makes dumb decisions can be relegated. By the way, despite the lack of salary cap, Swansea is currently higher in the table than Liverpool and Arsenal, which have much bigger budgets and revenue streams. So a small market team does not need to have a salary cap to be successful.

      • Your logic is flawed.

        At its current level of prestige (low), the only cities in the US that draw interest from big names are New York and LA (despite the fact that many other MLS hubs are great places to live).

        Without a salary cap, NY and LA would stockpile all the stars, 18 other teams would be left in the dust, and the league would fold when nobody cared about their noncompetitive local team anymore.

        Contrast that with the EPL, where high quality players will sign with a Sunderland, West Brom or QPR because they are, 1) playing in one of the best leagues in the world, and 2) can get noticed by bigger clubs if they impress.

        That will not happen in MLS now, though I’m not saying it won’t in the future.

        The salary cap is a necessary evil at this point. It’s not even up for debate.

      • So you think that if some of MLS teams will be more successful than others in bringing big name players it would drive away fans and kill the league? You don’t need to look at EPL as a model of a successful league without a salary cap. Just look across the border to Mexico where there is no salary cap, whose teams consistently beat MLS teams in regional champions league, and whose latest champion has three US players (two of which have been capped by the USMNT).

      • it absolutely is up for debate. Please tell me what stars NY and LA would stockpile that they don’t now? LA has Beckham, Donovan, Keane. NY has Henry, Marquez, Cahill.

        The salary cap doesn’t do what your saying it does. So, if there was no salary cap who else would LA get that they don’t have now? There simply aren’t enough great players available to MLS to do what you think would happen if there wasn’t a salary cap.

        i’ve yet to hear a good argument for a salary cap in MLS or any soccer league. Soccer is a global game. It’s not the NFL.

      • except the salary cap doesn’t control costs or create parity. Last year Red Bull spent $15 mil on wages. LA Galaxy spent $12 mil. They could do this through the DP rule. They spend 300% more than the rest of the league.

        Meanwhile RSL spent right around the salary cap $3 mil. Lets face it, you’re never going to get star DP to go live in Salt Lake City. RSL would have been able to field a much better teams if there was no salary cap. They could field a balanced club with pretty good players at each position rather than going the DP route where you pair a great player with a bunch of poor players.

        Also, their just aren’t enough high priced American players where clubs will bid each other up and overspend. A players wages are already set by the international market. Portsmouth and Rangers are horrible comparisons. They overspend to try to get the money that comes from qualifying for Europe. MLS doesn’t have economic competitors in CONCACAF. Without the salary cap MLS clubs would field better more balanced teams that would win the CCL. And i doubt their wage bills would be much higher. They still have to stay within their own budget.

        As far as your NFL comparison. The NFL is not soccer. Soccer is the global game. The NFL does not have any competition. Thus, it makes sense for them to spread talent around the league. They are the only league on the planet for players to go.

      • I think you’ve already been provided a sound counter-argument, you’re just not willing to admit you are incorrect.

        “RSL would have been able to field a much better teams if there was no salary cap.”

        how so? The league HAS to keep costs down. The argument above (referring to how LA and NY would stockpile talent) is absolutely correct.
        “Please tell me what stars NY and LA would stockpile that they don’t now?”
        Lampard. Drogba. Benayoun. David Bentley. Michael Ballack. All guys who have looked into coming to MLS but didn’t like either A) the fact that NY or LA couldn’t offer them a large salary due to the 3 dp limit or B) not wanting to play in another city in MLS.

      • AND I only just noticed this little gem “And i doubt their wage bills would be much higher. They still have to stay within their own budget”

        In what way would a lack of Salary cap not raise wages? You stated, by your own calculation, that NY and LA spent 15/12 million. IF you gave them the chance, they would spend themselves to domination because its in their best interests to dominate MLS. Then we become another Euro League (which you surprisingly used as a “successful” system) where top teams flourish, and bottom teams flounder.

      • Camjam,

        well there is a International player cap. It’s a very weak cap. It’s 8 slots and they are tradable. So technically a club could trade for a bunch of them. This is bad. But thats the way MLS wants it. So yeah, with that kind of system no salary cap could possibly create a La Liga situation.It would still be very very unlikely considering the best players would not be available to MLS.

        But whenever people say get rid of the salary cap we also say go back to an international cap of 5 players and make them non-tradable.

        But also..you have to consider that the type of star player that is coming to MLS is doing so at the end of their careers. There is not this huge trough of international talent available to MLS where if you removed the cap all these superstars would come to America.

        Removing the cap and putting the international slots at a static and lower # would do two things: More quality on the field (no more super stars paired with players that would be lucky enough to make a League 2 side). More Americans staying in MLS instead of joining one of the lesser European leagues.

  5. Bring free agency now, however I can’t wait for the headline Kaka signs with galaxy or kaka sign with red bull. Another headline I can’t wait for, rafael marquez is out and lampard in. What about, skc gets a jersey sponsor. This coming season is going to be a good one, from the timbers to dc. I wish Dc would give their fans a big dp.

    Reply
    • I agree Saunders was shaky, too much pressure maybe, idk?? Perk has looked good from time to time but I’m not sure hes ready to go prime time but I think Hartman wld be too much $$$ to add.

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    • Saunders was a stud before and was good enough to push Ricketts out.
      He’ll do better next year without whatever demons he had that held him out for a good chunk of this year.

      Reply
  6. Actually wouldn’t mind seeing DCU take a flier on either Rodney Wallace, Ike Opara, or both. RW was really good for DCU his rookie season, and it was sad when he went in the Expansion Draft. DCU is set for starting Center Backs with McDonald and Jakovic, and just cut lose Dudar, so there’s an opening there if Opara can stay healthy and start really developing again. If they can be had for a reasonable price, either or both of them would be nice pickups.

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    • I actually really liked Dudar and thought he was immense in the second game against Houston. It always takes awhile to settle so his exit is too soon.

      Benny is floating under the radar with his boom and bust signings. Luckily no one is watching..

      Reply
      • Over on Soccer Insider, Goff posted that DCU is trying to keep Dudar and Santos, but at lower salaries. I won’t be suprised if Dudar re-signs. If he does, with White and Shanosky (and Kitchen in a pinch), we are set on CB’s.

    • I have read some San Jose fans not too keen on Opara, but I thought Wallace has done very well and isn’t he starting still for his national team? This is one of about half a dozen moves I don’t understand from a playing standpoint. Some of this must be for salary cap reasons or some such.

      Reply
    • DCU should consider Segares, Wynne, and Paulo Jr.

      Segares was one of the best left backs in MLS before leaving to play in the Cyprus.
      He would be an upgrade over Woolard and provided much needed competition there.
      Wynne can play right back and in the middle, and he’s not exactly slow.

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    • I wouldn’t mind seeing Wallace back at DCU. If I recall correctly, he did well as a rookie for DCU, but was traded to Portland for Dax, who was traded to NYRB for DeRo.

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      • Oh, I certainly remember that. Not saying he never had the potential. Just remarking on how quickly a player can be forgotten.

      • He actually did have potential, and had some momentum going for himself. Unfortunately, lack of consistency caught up with him.

      • Wynne has 1 of the lacking components of the US backline – speed. With Chandler in the fold that is lessened tremendously and if Castillo pans out Wynne is superlative.
        I was one of those watching the Wynne really own the right side of the field at the Olympics and thinking…wow..man among boys. The move to CB intrigued me as well, I remember him making up for his and other mistakes all season. But, in the end, speed isn’t everything as we’ve seen and his skills are not as developed as others.

      • As a Rapids fan I can say I always felt pretty safe that we would never get beat on a breakaway because he would catch anyone from behind. dude is feakishly fast for a bigger body type.

      • Wynne is one of the least appreciated players in the USMNT pool (or these days, outside of the pool). After watching every centerback we have get burned over the top while playing Klinsy’s high line, I would have no trouble if Wynne were invited to the January Camp. He’s the only guy we’ve got who can get burned playing the high line and still recover 99% of the time. Play a different system and Wynne falls waaaaaay out of the pool, but if we stick to that, he should get a look. It’s not like the rest of the candidates have demonstrated the requisite discipline not to get burned a couple of times a game (by Carlos frickin Ruiz no less).

      • Good point. Rapids played a low defensive line all year and would give a goal per game on a careless cb mistake basically everytime.

    • Couple of comments on Wynne–he is one of the fastest soccer players in the world. I agree that his technique is lacking as he seems to rely too much on his speed. However, correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t he start almost all the games for the Rapids? And he’s not that old, so I don’t understand this unless it’s for salary reasons.

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      • I dont think either he or pareja believe that he is in the right spot. As many noted he is a bit of a unique player and does not fit in every Coach’s plans. Maybe a move to skc or houston would better his career

    • CB? Not really. RB, perhaps, but I think that was more “pool” than starter, based on potential. Kind of like Opara, an interesting athlete who just hasn’t blossomed into a technical soccer player fully competent at a position.

      Reply

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