The Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps are ready to make the first selections in the 2011 MLS Expansion Draft.
The Timbers have already begun building their team with the signings of USSF D-2 standouts Ryan Pore Eddie Johnson and Bright Dike, while the Whitecaps recently unveiled U.S. national team defender Jay DeMerit as their first major acquisition.
Both sides will move closer to forming the teams we could see when the 2011 season kicks off next spring.
I will be providing live commentary from the expansion draft so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the draft (Commentary is after the jump):
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FINAL– That's all for now. Feel free to share your thoughts on the expansion draft in the comments section below.
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2:54pm– That's that. Portland started well, but Vancouver finished well and may have had the edge overall. Portland spent two picks on lottery tickets with Findley and Bornstein. If either of those players comes back then you like the Timbers draft. Otherwise, Vancouver wins today.
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2:53pm– Vancouver selects John Thorrington with the final pick. A great pick, a steal really, and Chicago will wind up regretting not protecting him.
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2:52pm– Funny but I think Portland had a much better first half of the draft while Vancouver has had a stronger second half of the draft.
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2:51pm– Portland selects Arturo Alvarez.
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2:50pm– Vancouver selects Jonathan Leathers from KC, who I like MUCH better than Jordan Graye.
Better pick from the Whitecaps.
KC pulls back Eric Kronberg. Why? I have no idea. Guess they REALLY hope someone takes Chance Myers or Jimmy Conrad.
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2:49pm– Vancouver two picks left.
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2:47pm– Portland selects Jordan Graye from D.C. United. Not a fan of that pick at all.
D.C. United pulled back Kurt Morsink. No, really. They did.
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2:45pm– Portland is up. Corey Ashe perhaps?
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2:43pm– Vancouver selects Joe Cannon. Not a surprise. Yes, Pat Onstad would have been a nice nostalgia pick, but Cannon is a solid starter.
San Jose pulls back Tim Ward.
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2:41pm– Portland selects Jonathan Bornstein. Double Wow?
Chivas USA is off the board.
Who's doing their draft, Bob Bradley?
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2:40pm– The Union luck out today. Losing Salinas and Moreno doesn't hurt Philly at all.
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2:38pm– Vancouver selects Alejandro Moreno from Philadelphia.
Union are off the board and get lucky not to lose Brad Knighton. Would love to be in the room for Peter Nowak's first meeting with Knighton.
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2:36pm– Portland selects Peter Lowry from Chicago. Very underrated player, sneaky good goal scorer.
Chicago pulls back Dasan Robinson. Fire got lucky there.
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2:35pm– Portland is up.
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2:32pm– Vancouver selects O'Brian White from Toronto. Still don't get why he wasn't protected.
Whitecaps should give White a chance to play. Toronto pulls back Julian DeGuzman.
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2:31pm– Vancouver is up next.
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2:30pm– Portland selects Robbie Findley. Not that surprising. Findley played college soccer for Oregon State.
Real Salt Lake is off the board.
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2:29pm– Surprises? Philly pulling back Chris Seitz and exposing Brad Knighton. How do you bring him back now? Definitely a vote of no confidence by the Union with that move.
As for who is out there. Doesn't look like either team will be taking Jimmy Conrad, which is a bit surprising. O'Brian White is out there and someone I see Vancouver taking. You also have John Thorrington.
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2:27pm– Halfway through this expansion draft it's tough not to give the edge to Portland. Timbers have grabbed five solid players. Vancouver took three MLS starters first, but Salinas and Gordon are questionable in my book.
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2:25pm– Vancouver selects Alan Gordon. Just don't get that one.
Chivas USA pulls back Mariano Trujillo.
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2:24pm– Vancouver is up now. They have to go centerback eventually.
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2:21pm– Portland selects David Horst from Real Salt Lake. Interesting one. He's a big centerback who Portland surely saw in USSF D-2 play.
Real Salt Lake pulls back Collen Warner. WOW, they got lucky there.
Color me shocked that Portland didn't grab Collen Warner. Timbers will regret that.
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2:20pm– Vancouver takes Shea Salinas from Philadelphia.
Philly pulls back Chris Seitz. WOW.
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2:18pm– Loving the Timbers draft so far, and not just because they've taken three players I had them taking.
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2:17pm– Portland selects Anthony Wallace. Colorado pulls back Wells Thompson.
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2:17pm– Sturgis is a very good player who finally put injury issues behind him. Will Sturgis stay healthy? If he does, Vancouver got a steal. Seattle will miss him.
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2:15pm– Vancouver selects Nathan Sturgis from Seattle.
Sounders are done and Blaise Nkufo stays with Seattle.
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2:12pm– Portland takes Adam Moffatt. Columbus loses Brunner and Moffatt.
That's a good pick for the Timbers. Moffatt can start for you right away.
Columbus will go with Ekpo and probably Danny O'Rourke in central midfield.
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2:10pm– Vancouver selects Atiba Harris. Interesting move there. Harris is a useful player, but the only way he's dangerous is when he tackles people.
No more Dallas players can be taken, including Eric Avila and Kyle Davies. They just lost starters Dax McCarty and Atiba Harris.
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2:10pm– Vancouver up next. Kyle Davies, Blaise Nkufo, O'Brian White are possibilities.
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2:09pm– Columbus pulls back Kevin Burns.
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2:08pm– Portland takes Eric Brunner.
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2:07pm– Is Nyassi the best player available? No, but you have to consider positions as well as the fact that if the other expansion team takes someone from a team, you could lose out on the chance to take someone.
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2:06pm– Patrick Ianni is pulled back by Seattle.
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2:05pm– Sanna Nyassi to Vancouver. The Whitecaps get a winger and hurt arch-rival Seattle.
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2:04pm– Vancouver is up next.
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2:03pm– Dallas pulls back Daniel Hernandez. Surprising. I really don't think Dallas understand expansion draft machinations.
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2pm– PORTLAND-Dax McCarty. No shock. Everyone saw it coming.
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1:58pm– Quincy Amarikwa? What a waste of a pick he would be.
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1:55pm– I agree with Greg Lalas on John Thorrington. He could be a steal here coming off an injury-hit season. Chicago may regret not keeping him.
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1:54pm– I know a lot of people were wondering about the designated players I had go in my Fox Soccer mock expansion draft. I can definitely see NKufo to Vancouver. As for Angel to Portland? That seems unlikely unless there's a trade in place. Schelotto to Vancouver? That one was more a wishful thinking pick on my part. Doubt that marriage would work.
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1:52pm– Listen folks, FC Dallas flat-out dropped the ball in leaving Dax McCarty unprotected. Whether they like Eric Alexander or not, the fact remains they could have traded McCarty for value, perhaps even a first-round pick.
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1:51pm– The expansion draft starts at 2pm. Get your coffee ready and feel free to mute your computers for the next nine minutes.
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1:50pm– When will the actual expansion draft start? Hopefully soon. Really interested to see whether it's Pat Onstad, Joe Cannon or even a Brad Knighton as Vancouver's goalkeeper pick.
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1:47pm– No, the picks haven't started. We'll be forced to listen to some analysis from the MLSSoccer guys. Or you can just wait for me to tell you who the picks are.
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1:30pm– We're about 15 minutes away from the expansion draft. Consensus is that Portland will take Dax McCarty with the first pick, but at least a few think the Timbers may go in a number of directions. I'll go with McCarty.
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…and Findley, who wanted to leave anyway. Seriously Portland, you are the best!
White? Gordon? Findley? Horst? I can’t believe how shockingly bad these picks are!
Interesting pick my Portland. Oregon State grad…
Findley is from Phoenix, not Portland
Findley! Ha! I was hoping he’d move to Moldova and never be heard from again. I now have even more animosity toward Portland.
Findley being taken means some actual playing time (even if off the bench) in MLS because he would have seen no time likely abroad.
Who’s the happiest about that selection?? ….BB.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
I know, that got to be the nastiest strike partnership up top in league history, and I mean that in a bad way, I mean I’d rather have….. don’t let me say Jaqu… *Ugh* *Ugh* *Barf*.
Speed isn’t a skill, and doesnt save a player from himself.
If you think Nyassi has more on-ball skill than Fucito, I implore you to watch more Sounders matches.
once a player is picked from a team, that team can chose another unprotected player to protect. So “pulling (whoever) back” is putting them on the protected list.
Jaqua scores goals when he is healthy and I don’t expect Kufo to play many years or be able to play every game (open, ccl) at his age so I’m gald Jaqua is still a Sounder.
+1 I’m wondering why Ives rates Sturgis so highly when us Seattle fans don’t like him at all. It’s Nyassi who we like. He had great potential. Au revoir, Sturgis!
Seitz played two games with the Timbers on a loan, Philly may have thought he was more likely to be picked late than Knighton instead of giving Seitz a vote of confidence.
Yes, RSL protected Warner (2011 Champs), Just sell off Nimo and we’ll be fine!!
Once you lose a player to expansion, you are allowed to protect another from your roster.
+1
Alan Gordon? Really?
Vancouver with Harris and/or Gordon up top. Barf.
Portland is my new favorite team! They take David Worst and let RSL protect Warner! Happy days here in Utah!
I might agree with you but….if they had lost Jaqua instead ?
The only explanation I can think of for protecting Jaqua and Fucito, and hence losing Nyassi and Sturgis, is that Sigi only switched to the two holding mids – two fast offensive wingers as a stopgap for this year. I don’t think he loves that system, and now can bring Evans and Seamon (and a maybe a midfield DP) into the midfield mix with Zakuani, El Flaco, and Olanso.
I’d love to see Nyassi move on so Sigi doesnt have an excuse to keep Fernandez on the bench. Nyassi’s understanding of structure and tactics leaves a lot to be desired, and doesnt seem to have improved since he came here. Given Sigi’s history of player development I lean toward this being Nyassi’s problem over Sigi’s.
Excellent, Warner stays…
What the hell is the pulling back thing?
yeah what were the sounders thinking in leaving Nyassi and keeping Jaqua ?
I think I have to blame Sigi, he is the one that seems to love him ?
Fernandez starts at Right Mid and Evans starts at Center Mid, losing Nyassi and Sturgis has very little effect on Seattle and taht is why they were unprotected.
Ives, you’ve got to be kidding me with your analysis of Nathan Sturgis.
Beyond a couple assists this year, Sturgis didn’t do much at all. He has no attacking instincts, panics with the balls at his feet, and doesn’t pass with any conviction.
You call that a very good player? Personally, I’m very happy he’s not a Sounders anymore. Good riddance.
Jaqua SUCKS that is all.
I would have rather the hated Whitecaps take NKufo from their Idols the Sounders like projected.
Losing midfielders where Evans and Fernandez on the bench, it could have been worse.
Ives,
You’re wrong about Sturgis. There’s no place for him with Evans getting healthy and pairing with Olonso. Also, Sturgis’ style is too similar to Ozzy and neither are creative enough to breakdown an organized defense like with say against Galaxy. Plus if need be Fernandez can push inside and play along Ozzy as well.
Nooooo, not Salinas! 🙁
Goodbye Salinas.
I know a lot of Union supporters were dreading his loss.
Seattle could have lost Ianni, Nkufo, or Leo Gonzales. Nyassi is a loss, but I am not high on Sturgis. MLS Radio is right, Osvaldo makes any one better.
Definite head-scratcher. Nyassi is a huge loss, unless there was something going in behind the scenes we don’t know about.
Having written that, I really don’t see Fucito or Jaqua doing much next season, whereas Nyassi was primed to really breakout next season.
You are wrong. That’s why. Jaqua scored far more goals last year when healthy and Fucito scored a bunch of goals in limited playing time. Nyassi doesn’t have good soccer sense. He’s fast, but he wasted so many opportunities that he created with that speed.
Nyass scored 5 great goals, but started back into his “cross to no one” routine at the end of the season. I would rather have Nyassi than not have him, but I’d rather have Fucito and Jacqua.
Nyassi lacks a soccer brain. I watched him time and time again try and dribble his way out of trouble, which didn’t work at all.
+1. But we’ll regret the loss of Nyassi. I literally can’t believe that Hanuer rates Fucito over Nyassi.
Hopefully Nyassi plays on the right for them, because he won’t be getting any service from Sturgis on the left.
My face is in my palm over Seattle leaving Nyassi unprotected. Why would you leave Nyassi unprotected over Fucito and Jaqua (two hacks)? Nyassi scored five great goals, and really came alive at the end of the season. Stupid move by Seattle. On the other hand, I’m delighted that Sturgis is gone. Hello Fernandez!
YES! Goodbye Sturgis! Oh man! I’m so happy! It’ll be great watching Sturgis suck it up for a rival.
Yeah I mean if the NBA can have 16 markets make the playoffs, WHO RELLY CARES RIGHT!! THAT’S HOW YOU MAKE A BOATLOAD OF CASH!!
By losing Nyassi?
Agree. I don’t see what the big deal about Harris is. He did absolutely nothing in the playoffs, but somehow kept starting.
Bwahaha! Ives, that Harris comment was genius.
Don’t agree at all. Fucito works hard but lack Nyassi ability.
Ianni isn’t all that either. He filled in admirably with Hurtado out, but his limitations were exposed in the playoffs.
I don’t think anyone’s crazy about 10 teams watering down the playoffs and meaningfulness of the regular season. What are we, the NBA?
Well, apparently someone did want Harris, Ives. Though, I still think he’s garbage (too).
Warner did provide some decent depth in the CCL when he came off the bench, I guess they thought he was expendable…… geezz with the rosters expanding to 30 and the reserve league returning it would’ve been nice for him to be on RSL’s reserve squad he could ne a promising young player. Perhaps, he’ll shine in Portland or Vancouver, though I likely see him in Portland with the Timbers.
Fucito > Nyassi. As is Alvaro. So… see ya later Nyassi and thanks for playing Vancouver! And we keep Ianni. Oh that’s much better.