Photo by Jose L. Argueta/ISIphotos.com
By AVI CREDITOR
Although the majority of teams passed on the opportunity to add players in the second stage of the MLS Re-Entry Draft, a few used Monday's exercise to stockpile depth ahead of the 2012 preseason.
Three teams took multiple players, spearheaded by the defending champion Los Angeles Galaxy, who made four selections: defenders Andrew Boyens and Chris Leitch, veteran forward Pat Noonan and veteran goalkeeper Jon Conway.
The Galaxy also took the opportunity to hold on to a pair of their own players by claiming veteran defenders Dasan Robinson and Frankie Hejduk.
Colorado and New England also made multiple picks, with the Rapids scooping up two of the bigger names in the draft pool — former Chicago Fire midfielder Baggio Husidic and Houston Dynamo fullback Hunter Freeman — and the Revolution adding former Seattle Sounders forward Nate Jaqua and former D.C. United midfielder Clyde Simms.
The Sounders started things off by trading a third round pick in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft to the Vancouver Whitecaps in order to move up from their 14th spot to No. 1 and select former United left back Marc Burch.
Here are the results from the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft and a list of current MLS free agents:
2011 MLS RE-ENTRY DRAFT (in order of selection)
FIRST STAGE
New England Revolution – Danleigh Borman, D
Chivas USA – Arturo Alvarez, M
Columbus Crew – Carlos Mendes, D
SECOND STAGE
Seattle Sounders – Marc Burch, D
New England Revolution – Nata Jaqua, F
Chicago Fire – Kheli Dube, F
Colorado Rapids – Baggio Husidic, M
Los Angeles Galaxy – Andrew Boyens, D
New England Revolution – Clyde Simms, M
Colorado Rapids – Hunter Freeman, D
Los Angeles Galaxy – Chris Leitch, D
Los Angeles Galaxy – Pat Noonan, F
Los Angeles Galaxy – Jon Conway, GK
Per the MLS collective bargaining agreement, players selected in the second stage of the draft must be extended a genuine offer from that respective team within a week.
FREE AGENTS
The following players passed through both phases of the draft untaken and are now free to sign with any team in the league:
GOALKEEPERS – Alec Dufty, Zach Thornton, Steve Cronin, Bouna Coundoul, Chase Harrison, Adin Brown, Andrew Weber.
DEFENDERS – Mike Holody, Devon McTavish, Jed Zayner, Eddie Robinson, Ryan Cochrane, Chris Albright, Rauwshan McKenzie, Shavar Thomas, Greg Janicki, Jonathan Leathers.
MIDFIELDERS – Chukwudi Chijindu, Simon Elliott, Mariano Trujillo, Kevin Burns, Brandon Barklage, Maicon Santos, Ryan Pore, Pat Phelan, Stefani Miglioranzi, Rodrigo Lopez, Peter Lowry, Nelson Gonzalez, Blake Wagner, Andre Luiz, Jacob Peterson, Peter Vagenas.
FORWARDS – Jeff Cunningham, Joseph Ngwenya, Maykel Galindo, Jason Garey, Scott Sealy.
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What do you think about the latest player movement? Which team do you think made out the best in the Re-Entry Draft process this year? Do you like how active the Galaxy were? Which free agents appear most appealing to you?
Share your thoughts below.
He must be related to him – no one else would ever say they like the way Burch plays
Boyens is garbage too. Galaxy just picked up four guys who are borderline MLS players at best. Doesn’t make sense.
Burch will be a building project for Sigi. In the games I saw his positioning and crosses were often poor.
Great player, as in his positioning, ability to read the game and leadership. Unfortunately he’s lost a step and his ball control isn’t as good as it used to be. I really wanted him to make an impact in MLS play, but he ended up being an excellent reserve team captain.
Seattle got unload Jacqua and Noonan on the same day? What miracle is this?
Thanks for the answers, everyone
Burchy blows
Thornton, Cunningham, and Trujillo have something to offer a lot of teams. Surpied LA took Conway over Devo.
20 D-Mids and Nate Jacqua….wow
David likes Magee and Keane as targets though, and Omar too 🙂
Alan Gordon 4.0…ugh. If I was Beckham, I would run to Paris.
No, LA needs better Striker depth, not another Cristman or Barrett…Typical Arena
I like Boyens, but the other 3 are garbage. They could have used the space for superior options. They need more at the Striker position if they are going to win CCL.
Settle lucked out with that selection. Now they can find a true traget forward
Half of the galaxy is now former Metro/Bulls. Go get Gaven and make it an even dozen.
someone took Jaqua, jokes on them.
A little harsh, methinks. You should have plenty of excitement if you see Ngwenya on the field playing AGAINST your team. No one has ever rooted against 11 v. 10.
That’s good to hear. Depth is what LA needs.
Okay but what about his overall point regarding Klinsy playing attacking soccer by using more than the Bradley standard 2 defensive midfielders?
I’m excited at the prospect of not having to see Joseph Ngwenya in MLS next season.
You like the way he plays? You must have him confused with someone else.
I like him personally, but he’s the most one-footed player ever — and not even that good with that foot. Plus, he’s a defender who can’t defend.Burch can kick the ball really hard on free kicks, though — but he can only blast it at the feet of the wall. Other than that, he offers nothing.
It has nothing to do with players returning from overseas. It’s “re-entry” from other MLS teams that didn’t want them any more..
Ummmm….I’m glad to see Burch gone from DC United. I was disappointed DCU got rid of Rodney Wallace and kept him. Burch was borderline garbage in 2011. I could count his good plays on one finger. Hopefully, he plays well in Seattle, just not when they’re playing DCU (presumably with Najar burning him all afternoon).
Noonan is a good locker room presence, and I liked to think that he would do well in Seattle, but all in all, meh. He can play several positions though so offers value with depth.
Sounder fans (I know you’re reading. You’re always reading), what’s the deal with Noonan? He any good?
I admit to not paying much attention, but did Chris Albright have a bad season for NY, (worse than any of the other Red Bull defenders?) he is only 32 and could likely help most teams, at least with some depth.
Arena is no fool, he just picked up some defenders who can play for at least another year. He does have 4 backs who are his presumed starters, but he could easily lose one or more of them to a european or Mexican team. Furthermore, he knows well enough how injury can play havoc with a presumed starting lineup. All that and I think it means he can offer lower salaries than if they had been picked up in the first round.
A clever, and presumably inexpensive, way to get depth.
They will have a lot of cap room with Ricketts gone and a LOT more if Beckham signs with PSG. Arena is a good judge of talent and likes experienced players.
I remember a long time ago when George Allen built teams for the LA Rams and the Wash Redskins out of “reclaimed” vets.
Sometimes teams take a chance by putting vet players on waivers and subject them to the re-entry draft. Under MLS collective bargaining rules a player sees his salary go up every year he plays. Sometimes it goes up to a point that it is no longer “economical” to keep him under his “old” salary. When he is picked up under the re-entry draft he can be signed for a lower amount, This makes him more viable given the teams salary cap.
It’s good that LA resigned Hejduk. His work rate is still good, and his experience ake him valubale as a backline utility player.
You use different names but still post the same s… thing. Get over it they are not going to fire Jurgen just because you hate his guts lol.
And there’s plenty of room for him. Seattle has 1 first team fullback on it’s roster after seeing Rily leave in the expansion draft and trading Wahl.
If they trade for Logan Pause and play him on the right wing, New England can upgrade to Jurgen Klinsmann-style soccer.
LA’s season starts earlier than most…. CL tourney begins late Feb.?
LA picking up two defenders from the scrap heap… what does it all mean?!
Cunningham has 2 problems though. Age and Ego! You know the rumors about his “Vanity problem” have to be true, he’s played all over the place.
When the leading scorer is 35 years old, it should come as no surprise.
I think Burch is going to see a comeback in Seattle. Always liked the way he plays but could never settle in with DC.
Funny to see the league’s all-time top scorer inauspiciously slide into free agency
Revolution seemed destined to play Bob Bradley football, with Joseph and now Simms as defensive midfielders.
The re-entry draft is MLS’s answer to free agency. It allows players whose contracts were not renewed or who didn’t have options picked up a chance to land with a different team. Previous to the latest CBA there was no free agency so when a team couldn’t agree terms with a player that player couldn’t attempt to sign elsewhere with another team.
What constitutes a genuine offer? I understand that in the first stage that a bona fide offer (at previous year’s salary) was required but I haven’t read anywhere what a genuine offer means salary wise. Is it related to previous salary, is it based on min salary dependent upon years of experience?
He was put on waivers, etc.
Happy to see RSL passing on at this point. In my opinion only a couple of this guys are good enough to play at this level. It just shows you how much better the league is now then even three years ago.
This may be a dumb question, but why is Jaqua in the re-entry draft? I’m not too familiar with the Re-entry draft process, but I thought it was for former MLS players coming back to the league after being overseas.