Good afternoon folks. I’m coming to you from the Baltimore Convention Center.

The ESPN live chat I was supposed to do was scrapped due to technical difficulties. I will now do a running commentary during the draft and will answer some questions. Just post the question in the comments section and I’ll answer some of them. Keep them short and I’ll see what I can do.

Let’s get started:

4:30pm- The Galaxy grabs goalkeeper Matt Allen at No. 34.

4:29pm- The Galaxy took Julian Valentin at No. 29 while Ryan Miller went No. 30 to Toronto.

4:28pm- The Red Bulls selected defender Luke Sassano at No. 32

4:06pm. Toronto selects Wake Forest goalkeeper Brian Edwards at No. 28.

4:05pm. I spoke too soon. Toronto has traded to acquire the No. 28 pick.

4:04pm- Okay folks. I’m going to take a break from the commentary to write some stories. I’ll check in now and then so feel free to come back and to comment on the subsequent picks.

4pm- The Galaxy is up and the best players available are goalkeeper Brian Edwards, midfielder Stephen King and forwards Xavier Balc and Yannick Reyering.

3:59pm- To catch you up on some picks I missed, Andrew Jacobson went No. 24 to DC United and Jon Leather went to Kansas City at No. 25.

3:58pm- New England selects Joe Germanese at No. 27.

3:55pm- The Chicago Fire selects Peter Lowry at No. 26

That is a great value pick for the Fire, which is having a dream draft, as much as you can have one here.

3:45pm- Kansas City just took defender Yomby William at No. 23.

3:45pm- The Crew takes Ricardo Pierre-Louis No. 22

3:39pm- Also look for Ricardo Pierre-Louis to go here.

3:38pm- FC Dallas has traded the No. 22 pick to the Columbus Crew. Could this be Xavier Balc?

3:36pm- MetroStars and Red Bulls legend Mark Lisi is in the house.

3:34pm- Los Angeles select forward Ely Allen at No. 21

3:33pm- Top midfielders left include: Peter Lowry, Stephen King, Andrew Jacobson and Joe Germanese.

3:32pm- Top Forwards left include: Xavier Balc, Ricardo Pierre-Louis and Yannick Reyering.

3:31pm- Columbus takes George Josten No. 20.

3:26pm– Top players still available include: Peter Lowry, George Josten, Jon Leathers, Stephen King, Brian Edwards, Andrew Jacobson.

3:25pm- A few picks for you:

Real Salt Lake takes Alex Nimo No. 17

New England takes Mike Videira No. 18

FC Dallas takes Eric Avila No. 19

3:24pm- Sorry folks, had to go interview Eric Brunner, a player the Red Bulls were hoping to draft. I wouldn’t go as far as to say he can start, but he provides some sorely-needed depth.

3:12pm- The Red Bulls wanted a left-footed central defender and have one in Brunner, who can also play left back.

3:11pm- The Red Bulls select Eric Brunner at No. 16.

3:11pm- The Red Bulls may go with Eric Brunner here.

3:10pm- The second rounds begins with San Jose taking Shea Salinas No. 15

3:01pm- Real Salt Lake selects defender David Horst No. 14

2:59pm- Valentino is a big defender and Generation adidas, which should help the Revs offset the cost of picking up Chris Albright.

2:57pm- New England selects Rob Valentino with the No. 13 pick.

2:56pm- The Fire buys some insurance in case Matt Pickens leaves for Norwich City. That is assuming Cervi signs with the league.

2:53pm- The Chicago Fire select Dominic Cervi No. 12.

2:53pm- Espinoza is a nice young player but I feel like he’s at least a year away from having an impact. We will see.

2:52pm- You can expect Chicago to take goalkeeper Dominic Cervi next.

2:51pm- Kansas City selects Ohio State midfieler Roger Espinoza No. 11

2:48pm- Mo Johnston just landed two of the three best defenders in this draft. Think about this back four: Todd Dunivant, Julius James, Pat Phelan and Marvell Wynne. That right there is pretty good.

2:46pm- Toronto selects Pat Phelan No. 10

2:45pm- Andy Iro has told the media that he intends on playing in Columbus. What a surprise, he doesn’t have the European options we thought he had. That’s a big score for Columbus and I wonder what that means for a player like Danny O’Rourke.

2:44pm- James WILL start for Toronto FC. You can book that one. He’s MLS-ready and Toronto neds him.

2:43pm- Toronto FC takes Julius James No. 9. Mo Johnston is leading a charmed life.

2:42pm– Lambo is a stud prospect but FC Dallas already has Ray Burse and Dario Sala, pretty surprising pick if you ask me. Might we see a trade?

2:39pm- FC Dallas takes Josh Lambo No. 8. WOW

2:35pm- FC Dallas is loving life right now. Julius James is available and must be the pick. If he isn’t I would be pretty shocked.

2:34pm- Great pick for the Fire. Who would have tought that Nyarko would be at No. 7 today? WOW.

2:33pm- Chicago takes Patrick Nyarko No. 7

2:32pm- The Tony Beltran and Ciaran O’Brien picks are the shockers so far.

2:30pm- Columbus selects Andy Iro No. 6.

2:24pm- A pretty shaky pick in my mind. I wasn’t impressed with O’Brien at all at the Combine. I’m shocked the Rapids didn’t take Nyarko or Avila. O’Brien is also a defensive midfielder. Does this mean Mastroeni is on his way out?

2:23pm- The Rapids select Ciaran O’Brien No. 5.

2:22pm- Rapids should take either Nyarko or Avila.

2:20pm- The LA Galaxy has traded Chris Albright to New England for allocation money. We saw that one coming. Great move for the Galaxy, shedding major salary, getting allocation money and adding the best right back in the draft.

2:19pm- LA taking a right back tells me they have dealt either Chris Albright or Chris Klein to New England.

2:18pm- The Galaxy select Sean Franklin No. 4

2:16pm- The Galaxy has made a trade with New England, sending a player to the Revs. No word yet on the player.

2:15pm- Los Angeles is on the clock and has some good choices. Julius James, Eric Avila, Patrick Nyarko. The Galaxy need to save some money so Avila may get the nod.

I’m also hearing that UCSB defender Andy Iro’s stock is dropping fast as teams are being scared away by his interest in Europe.

2:13pm- Real Salt Lake selects Tony Beltran No. 3

2:10pm- And just like that, the two best young talents in the draft go one and two. Now Real Salt Lake is up. Don’t be surprised to see this pick traded.

2:08pm- FC Dallas takes Brek Shea No 2.

2:07pm- KC makes a very good pick for a number of reasons. In a league where good left-sided players are scarce, KC just added the only good one in the draft.

FC Dallas should take Patrick Nyarko here.

2:06pm- The Wizards select Chance Myers with the first pick (as first reported on SBI).

2pm- We’re still waiting for the draft to begin. KC is on the clock.

1:58pm- We’re about to begin and I haven’t heard any new developments on the trade front.

1:54pm- Red Bulls fans are dominating the fan section at the draft. They just shouted down some Toronto FC fans. I’m still waiting to see of the handful of Chicago Fire fans go after Juan Osorio when the Red Bulls pick.

1:38pm– As reported just a few minutes ago, sources are telling me that Chance Myers is going to be the first pick. Kansas City was toying with the idea of trading the pick, and still might deal Myers, but the UCLA left back is one of the most coveted players in the draft.

Sources are also telling me that Tony Beltran has moved up pretty high on some team’s list.

Patrick Nyarko could wind up sliding past the No. 2 pick, and if he does, don’t be surprised if the Columbus Crew trades up to grab him at No. 3.