The day is finally here.
After months of trying to figure out which players MLS teams might want to draft, and weeks of trying to figure out who the top prospects are, the day has arrived when we will find out which top college and youth national team players will be heading to which teams.
The Philadelphia Union will select first in today's 2010 MLS Draft (2pm, ESPN2), but with the Union already coming to terms with Oregon State striker Danny Mwanga, the suspense over the first pick has already been erased.
There were multiple trades made on Wednesday evening, though only one has actually been officially reported. D.C. United dealt the No. 7 overall pick, midfielder Fred and an allocation to the Philadelphia Union in exchange for the top spot in the MLS Allocation Order, which D.C. used to acquire goalkeeper Troy Perkins.
What other trades have gone down? The New York Red Bulls have packaged picks No. 31 and 48 (not 34) to the New England Revolution for a player to be named later (well, a player who will be named once he is notified of the trade). I'll let you know who the player is as soon as possible. Feel free to speculate.
I will discuss other trade talk in the pre-draft commentary, along with thoughts on the DC-Philly trade, and various other tidbits. I will be writing the live commentary on the draft for ESPN.com so you can feel free to follow my take on the draft there. If you are an SBI die-hard who plans to spend your draft day here, Travis Clark will be providing live draft commentary from Philadelphia as well.
Let's get started:
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1:30pm– Okay folks, I am about to sign off and move to the ESPN.com coverage. Travis Clark will be providing live commentary on today's draft so stay tuned. Thanks for following along with all of our MLS Draft coverage.
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1:15pm– About that Colorado trade talk. The word I'm getting is that the Rapids and New England Revolution are discussing a deal involving Cory Gibbs and the rights to Jeff Larentowicz along with either a pick or allocation money. Haven't gotten it confirmed, but that's the word I'm getting.
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12:07pm– The player is Chris Albright and from what I'm hearing it is a low risk, high reward deal for Albright. He won't be on a big salary number and the Red Bulls will be able to part ways if he's just not the same player anymore.
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11:58am– Still no word on who the Red Bulls got from New England. Chris Albright was a player I identified as being on the trade block so he's a leading candidate.
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11:42am– For those asking about how Philly has allocation money, expansion teams are given a pile of allocation money in year one to help build their team. Throw in the fact Philly also got allocation money in the DC trade and Peter Nowak has plenty of allocation funds to work with.
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11:38am– Philly sent just allocation money to Dallas for the No. 6. That's pretty shocking. I know Dallas has a ton of young players but I think this will be a trade they regret.
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11:27am– No word yet on what Philly gave up for the No. 6, but I'm sure allocation money is invoilved.
Philly now has the No. 1, 6 and 7 picks. Wow. They will take Danny Mwanga first, and I know they covet Amobi Okugo. Who could go at No. 6? Corben Bone if he's still there. If not, I'd bet on Dilly Duka going to the Union.
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11:25am- Kyle McCarthy is reporting that Philadelphia has acquired the No. 6 overall pick from FC Dallas.
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10:57am– In case you missed it, I posted a mock draft on Wednesday, and I threw in a third round to it later on last night.
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10:30am– Okay folks, I will be heading over the draft now. Feel free to share your thoughts here. I will be back as soon as I am settled in.
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10:15am– The DC/Philly deal for Troy Perkins moves New York into the first spot in the MLS Allocation order, which is used to determine who has first crack at returning American players to MLS. FC Dallas is looking to move up the allocation order to land Lee Nguyen, but I don't see New York giving up that spot any time soon. Perhaps after the European winter transfer window. Even then, holding on to the top spot could pay dividends this summer.
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10:10am– Here is how I see the Top Five shaking out right now:
1. Philly-Danny Mwanga
2. NY- Tony Tchani
3. San Jose- Ike Opara
4. Kansas City- Teal Bunbury
5. FC Dallas- Zach Loyd
If it sounds crazy not to have Corben Bone in the Top Five, I agree but I also have good reason to believe Dallas will pass on Bone at 5 if he is available.
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9:45am– Following up on my Dave Van Den Bergh story from Wednesday, if you are wondering what FC Dallas is looking for in a trade for Van Den Bergh, apparently it isn't much. I've been told the Dutch winger could be had for a partial allocation. So who is interested? It wouldn't surprise me if Los Angeles were one of the interested parties. It was Bruce Arena who acquired Van Den Bergh in New York from Kansas City in one of the better trades in MLS in the past few years.
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9:38am– Early favorite for Youngest Looking Parent of a First Round Draft pick honors goes to Alex Bunbury, father of Akron striker Teal Bunbury. A Canadian national team legend, Bunbury looks much closer to 30 than 40 and actually looks younger than a few players in this draft (I won't name any names).
TFC fans might go crazy if they heard that Alex Bunbury and Mo Johnston were seen talking a lot last night, but it should be noted that Bunbury and Johnston were teammates on the 2000 Kansas City MLS Cup-winning team.
Did Toronto FC pull off any trades last night? I was told they did, but I'll wait for more details before saying that they definitely did.
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9:35am– Plenty of Red Bulls stuff this morning. I spoke to a source close to Juan Pablo Angel last night and he squashed the Angel-to-River Plate rumors. You might have heard those making the rounds. It was baseless. Angel-to-River rumors are to Argentina what George Weah to MLS rumors used to be to New York.
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9:32am- I am also hearing that FC Dallas is moving closer to dealing its No. 6 overall pick. Corben Bone and Amobi Okugo are players that are being highly-coveted in that part of the draft.
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9:30am– So what other trades were consumated last night? Colorado was involved in completing a deal, but I haven't been able to get details on what was involved. It sure sounds like New England was involved in making more than one deal last night. Hopefully we start hearing of these trades as players involved are notified and the league completes paperwork on them.
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9:20am– Good morning all. It's a frigid Thursday morning on the East Coast and MLS Draft Day is sure to feature plenty of action for fans to enjoy. There will be trades (and have been already) and there will be surprising picks.
My early thoughts on the D.C. United-Philadelphia trade? I think D.C. overpaid badly, but I can understand the willingness to do so after having to endure a season with Josh Wicks and others in goal. Troy Perkins is a steady goalkeeper who should be able to add a handful of points that D.C. would have otherwise lost (and have lost the past two years). That said, I still think D.C. could have fought harder to pay less.
My question is whether Troy Perkins is a $300,000 goalkeeper. I was good in his first go-round with D.C., and has improved since moving to Europe, but is he "highest paid goalkeeper in MLS" good? Not sure about that one.
If Perkins has a stellar season, D.C. won't care what it paid, but if Fred rebounds and has a strong year and Philly's No. 7 overall pick winds up being a contributor, this deal could wind up being as lop-sided as many people feel it is.
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