Just when you thought the MLS Expansion Draft would be the main business of the day in Major League Soccer, a wave of trades followed after to make it the busiest day in MLS history.
The Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps pulled off a plethora of post-draft trades, shipping off many of the players they just acquired. In total, seven of the 20 players chosen in today's expansion draft were traded away in six deals (for now).
Here is a rundown of all the trades (we'll update if any more come through:
Portland traded:
Dax McCarty and allocation money to D.C. United for Rodney Wallace and a 4th round pick.
Anthony Wallace to Colorado Rapids for allocation money.
Arturo Alvarez to Real Salt Lake for a 2nd-round pick in the 2011 MLS Draft.
Vancouver traded
Sanna Nyassi to Colorado Rapids for international player slot
O'Brian White to Seattle Sounders for allocation money.
Alejandro Moreno and Alan Gordon to Chivas USA for allocation money.
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What do you think of all the wheeling and dealing? Who do you think is in a better position to succeed in year one, Portland or Vancouver?
Share your thoughts below.
Well, you make a lot of interesting points and then get to the bottom and just misstate a fact. Vancouver did indeed draft a keeper, Joe Cannon.
Makes on wonder how many other things you had wrong in all that.
I’m not a Portland (or Seattle) fan so I don’t have a dog in this fight. That said, it’s really pretty silly to be talking smack at this point. a PDL team could take Portland at this moment–and so what? The purpose of the expansion draft is to gain some useful talent (which might mean draft picks or allocation $), not create a team that can play that day.
I’m kind of surprised so see some of the Seattle smack b/c Portland seems to be building remarkably similarly to the way Seattle did. Both teams have taken fliers on guys supposedly going to Europe (Parkes and Jaqua for Seattle). Both teams totally rejected the idea that they were going to get a bunch of starters from the expansion draft (Keller, Kennedy, Alonso, Lundberg and Montero–that was the strength of your team in year one and they were all brought in from outside MLS). Portland is saying they’re moving McCarty b/c they’ve got a foreign central midfielder in their eyes and intend to sign two strikers from outside MLS. Oh, and then the re-entry draft will come up where guys like Conrad will be available. I’m not arguing Portland is going to win the MLS Cup. Truth is, they’ll probably be a typical expansion team and not make the playoffs (especially in a tough West). But if the Seattle fans would take off their green-colored glasses, they’d see a team that (even to the point of selectively signing USL players from their side) is building using a model almost identical to the one that Seattle used.
Did any team do as well as RSL did today?
We lost a defender we did not want!
We lost a one trick pony striker who was leaving anyway.
and we got a quality midfielder in Alvarez for a 2nd round pick?
Someone better learn how to take set pieces though…
Vancouver is putting together a very impressive team. They added some pieces last year that they are planning on moving up to MLS. Guys like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davide_Chiumiento
It makes sense they are getting all of these international spots and allocation money. Look on there site at the players they have in camp.
Seattle will fill those gaps in depth. I’m actually happy at the 3 players they lost/traded away. It finally gives the team a reason to finally FIX the midfield.
and kalif alhassan has been verbally put on the team. Kid has got talent. Look up his goal from earlier in the year.
“With the two trades, Vancouver now has 10 international slots…”
If you really want to appear knowledgeable go listen to the Podcast of TalkTimbers and tell me the head coach and GM don’t have a plan. They have mentioned signing a “returning USMNT player” and a South American “versatile midfielder.”
Here’s where the PDX legacy begins….. good luck
hahahaha
And Michael Bradley and Arjen Robben are 33 and 42 respectively.
Where is Angel going to end up?
Dude, there are only 11 on the roster ATM. Premature.
No surprise New England is once again active and strategic in rebuilding their squad…and do nothing.
As of right now Sounders look like this…
Montero — N’Kufo
Zakuani — Alonso — Evans — Fernandez
Gonzalez — Parke — Hurtado — Riley
Keller
Most used subs:
Fucito then Levesque play either wing or Montero’s FW
Jaqua then White sub N’Kufo
Ianni sub Alonso & both CBs
Seamon plays either central MF
Of course Wall, Scott and Graham sub backline
I do believe Freddy is older than he says, but he is not near as old as some have suggested. My brother played against him several times when he was supposedly 14 playing U-18 and the consensus seemed to be that at that time he was likely playing in the correct age group. Older than 21? Probably. 28+? I personally don’t think so
They’ve won two cups in their first two years. You think Portland will replicate that let alone surpass that?
Cmon..
Just wanted to say I was right and you were wrong about Vancouver taking Cannon instead of Onstad.
Won’t be anytime soon. Probably 6-10 years due to the leagues training wheels mantra
The Nyassi twins are at least 28–29 years old. At least.
Check out their hairline and aging face is all I’m saying.
They’re 21 like Freddy Adu is 21.
To all the Portland fans out there: Even though I am a Seattle fan, I was prepared to at least respect your coach and your franchise. However, I didn’t see anything worth respecting today. First, you let Dax go to DC. Then you selected my least favorite soccer players on the planet: Findley and Bornstein. Does Portland want to be seen as the home of crappy national team players? Apparently, it does. Maybe Portland will nab a huge DP. Still, I don’t see much talent on this team. Certainly much inferior to Seattle. And don’t start talking smack about the Sounders. They’ve won the US Open Cup twice, and made it to the playoffs in their first two seasons. Let’s see if Portland can come close to those achievements.
As a neutral whose team was not affected (Houston), I love watching the opening shots of the MLS Cascadia rivalry. The 2010 season ended three days ago and vitriol for 2011 is already here. Are you listening, Mr. Garber? We don’t need engineered rivalries. Sorry for the the off-topicality.
Have to disagree with you about Horst. This year on a team that played route one, The Islanders, he ate the Galaxy for lunch in the CCL and he played well against the Mexican and Central American sides in that tournament. He’s good against teams that play the same as well (Seattle for example). I’m not sure if he can last a full season on turf though. Not a big loss to RSL since they don’t play that way, it wasn’t a good fit for Horst.
I liked that RSL gave up Findley, I hope they can use the extra cap space to sign Paulo Jr. He’ll fit in well to their attack.
Success in sports shouldn’t be measured in one year. Especially a new team.
An international player slot? Who could the Whitecaps get??
I agree that it is a little too early to make a judgment on Portland’s success, but what a lame final statement. Crashing out in the first round of the playoffs? Ask Toronto and Philadelphia fans, along with most likely you guys next year how successfull that is.
Fernandez is going to be our replacement for Sturgis not Nyassi. Fucito is much better than Nyassi and should replace him on the wing. With an off-season addition at either one of those positions, they should be just fine without both of those guys.
Seeing that I’ve feared this day as an RSL fan for almost a year, I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised with how well things turned out. Horst was horrible and despised by almost every RSL fan – so for him to be picked first (instead of Warner, no less) is amazing. Losing Findley’s rights does suck a bit – but he never really had the breakout season everyone expected and RSL was ready to move on. THEN landing Alvarez for a second round pick (which is usually a crapshoot anyway) and I have to say that if the Sabo deal can get done, RSL will be back in contention again next year.
the timbers didn’t let the draft dictate their roster. Took an unprotected player that wasn’t the type of player they wanted and flipped him for a protected player that they did want.
Don’t let the draft dictate your roster, use it as a vehicle to put together your roster according to your plan.
@The Dude: Blah blah blah, bias, blah blah blah, unwavering seattle fan must hate portalnd blah blah blah, must avoid cognitive dissonance.
Have a thought of your own today?
Don’t make a judgement before everything is said and done. You and I both know there are still several things that are going to happen in the next few days, weeks and months.
Also, rumors going around that PDX is targeting an international midfielder and getting the allocation money will help offset the cost of that.
There are also several players that were with Portland last year that are believed to be joining the team (goldwaithe, alhassan, Marcelin et al.)
Typical seattle jumping to conclusions. I forgot that seattle’s definition of success is crashing out in the first round of playoffs.
No idea why we signed O’Brian White.
Fernandez is definitely a better player than Nyassi, but I still would have protected him and brought him off the bench.
Losing Sturgis will only be a big deal if Evans doesn’t recover from injury. Do you think Seamon will ever become a starter?
Don’t worry, we’ll have Zak for another season.
You can’t teach speed, but you can teach a guy to cross a ball accurately. Nyassi is in his early 20’s, and if he plays anything like he did for the second half of the season this is a huge loss.
He might blow up like Le Toux did.
Chivas sucks they will be next years whipping squad yet again.
I’ve been chuckling all day about Portland. Spencer is proving himself to be a pretty inept coach. Can’t wait for Seattle to destroy this team next season. There’s no chance that Portland makes the playoffs, but a very good chance that Spencer gets Prekied during the summer.
“You need starters ASAP”–I don’t think so. They don’t start playing games (even preseason) for a couple of months. They don’t need ANY starters now. They need players that fit there system who are worthy starters or they need players they can swap for something they can use.
As for getting some Canadian’s on board, I think that’s what part of the cap room/allocation money is about. The best Canadians are mostly overseas and they’re over-priced. You pay Donovan prices but you don’t get Landon Donovan. Frankly, I’d prefer to overpay for a good player than play less for someone who has contributed little to this point (OBW) if you feel that player isn’t going to get much better.
I wonder if MLS will ever have free agency? Anybody care to guess?
O’Brian White is now Seattle’s #3 target forward, behind N’Kufo and Jaqua. Can we now please release Pat Noonan and free up his 100k in salary to keep Zakuani in RBP? Losing Nyassi is tough, but Fernandez is a better player and more than capable replacement. I have eben less of a problem losing Sturgis, given that we have Seamon & Evans. Today could have been worse for Seattle. That said, I won’t sleep well until this “Zakuani training w/ Everton” thing is over and he’s back in Seattle.
Don’t Vancouver and Portland get to bring some/most/all of their USL/NASL squads with them? Maybe they have confidence in the teams in place, and don’t feel the need to essentially start over – which is what you’d be doing with 10 new players added to your roster.
Losing Nyassi is not a huge loss of talent. Speed? Yes. Talent? No.
If all Seattle wants is a guy that can run fast down the wing and put awful crosses into the box, they could pick up any track athlete and give him a uniform.
I won’t comment on any specific deals. But generally, I think this is SMART behavior by the two expansion teams. Here’s why:
–there are very few quality starters (other than some aging guys like Angel or Schelotto or Conrad) in the expansion draft. The expansion draft is mostly about
–failures or guys you don’t want to pick (they’re going to Europe, they’re injured, they’re a team cancer, they’re no good as a player….yes, I mean YOU Khano Smith).
–role players who, in the right system and with the right coach, can be good contributors or without those things look lost and mediocre
–young guys with athletic ability and potential who in 3-4 years can be a good starter (ala Jason Hernandez).
Getting a Sebastian Le Toux or a Chris Armas is rare–it’s like getting a pearl in your oyster you ordered for diner–it happens but just enough to notice how rare it is.
So a smart expansion does 3 things:
–jumps on a player you’re convinced is a starter now (and usually that’s a player who has shown they can start in the league in 2-3 different systems)
–goes for a few young players with physical skills who clearly have room to grow.
–keeps a role player who they know fits their system like a glove
–uses the bulk of their expansion picks to acquire things that give them more flexibility (draft picks or allocation $ or international slots).
Teams who counted on the expansion draft for more than 2-3 starters in year one have sucked: RSL is the poster child for this approach. Chicago and Seattle (the two most successful expansion teams) are ones that relied on a spine of foreign or outside MLS talent (Chicago was originally: Campos, Kubik, Nowak, and Podbrozny and Kosecki down the middle, Seattle was Keller, Kennedy, Alonso, Lundberg, Montero in key roles). Far better to grab 1-2 likely starters, 2-4 young guys who will be over-matched in your first year but are likely to still be with the club in 3 years (or valuable enough to trade for someone else down the road) and then get “other value” (by agreeing to pass up another team, or picking someone a third team wants–Brian Carroll is a brilliant example of one team’s trash is another team’s treasure as a limited player who’s very good at somethings, not so good at others) that you have fewer limits on (like draft picks and allocations.
Also, really smart move passing up all the GKs in the expansion draft. Portland and Vancouver already have GKs available and it only makes sense to add a GK if it’s someone like Marcus Hahnemann–a major upgrade over MLS veterans.
Is allocation money more valuable to an expansion team than players? What does that allow them to do that makes it better than having drafted players for their roster? Essentially, what the expansion teams did in a few cases was hold another team’s player hostage for ransom……..
When you list out Vancouver’s post-draft trades like this, it looks as if they will try to acquire a quality target forward forward. At least, somebody much better than Moreno, Gordon, and White. They’re collecting allocation $$.
Per John Strong: [I paraphrase]
“We didn’t need Dax because we already have an offer for a overseas midfielder.”
McCarthy never impressed me. He was slow and not as good a defender as others claimed him to be. Rodney Wallace had a good rookie season before getting hurt. I might make that trade if circumstances allowed.
As for the others, I don’t know.
1. Alverez for a 2nd round pick? Guys you need starters ASAP. How many 2nd rounders give you that. If you didn’t think Alverez was the guy, why take him over a dozen other mids?
2. Anthony Wallice for cap room? I thought he was finally meeting his talent when given a permanent position. Cap room doesn’t buy you much on the foriegn player market.
3. White to Seattle? What about have SOME canucks on board?
4. Nyassi to Rapids. Again, don’t you need SOME players on the field in May? OK, I guess if you can go out and get another foreign (for one year).
5. Gordon / Moreno – sorry, Moreno hasn’t been steady in years and Gordon is one dimensional, a decent holdup guy and fierce in the air but can’t beat a traffic cone.
Just don’t get it.
Vancouver might be, but Portland I doubt.
It goes to show both clubs think they wanted more flexibility than just taking what they got. It appears they’re going after more international signings to flesh out the starting squads.
As a Seattle fan, I’m not at all happy about this draft. First we lose Nyassi (who we should have protected). Then we pick up O’Brian White? WTF. That’s a net loss of talent for us.
Sweet! Colorado got Wallace back! And Nyassi, not bad! Way to keep the team together.
Nice to see Chivas pick up (or keep) two of the worst starting forwards in MLS. The tradition keeps getting better.