By CAITLIN MURRAY
The New York Red Bulls could use a bit of good news, and it appears they have some.
The club has signed this year’s MAC Hermann Trophy winner and top UCLA product Leo Stolz, according to Goal USA. Stolz signed an agreement with the club Saturday, the report said. (UPDATE: The Red Bulls confirmed the signing on Saturday afternoon.)
Stolz, regarded as a top five pick for the Major League Soccer college draft, became a question mark after he refused to agree to terms with the league last month and skipped the MLS Combine. He reportedly only wanted to play in either New York City or Los Angeles and looked at offers in his native Germany.
At No. 18 overall in the draft, Stolz’s selection was a steal for the Red Bulls. Stolz had been widely expected to be a top five pick, but as he refused to cooperate with MLS and reportedly had offers abroad, teams didn’t want to risk a pick that could go to waste.
But it was Stolz who ensured the Red Bulls would use a pick on him by reaching out to the club ahead of the draft, promising he was interested in playing for New York.
Stolz, 23, was the PAC-12 player of year in 2014 and won the prestigious Hermann trophy, which goes to the top soccer player in the country. He led the Bruins with nine goals and six assists on the season to the NCAA Men’s Division I College Cup final.
The Red Bulls head into 2015 without top scorer Thierry Henry, who retired at the end of the season, and without coach Mike Petke, who was fired this month. They are among the clubs linked to a potential move for midfielder Sacha Kljestan, and are expected to address the club’s need for defensive reinforcements after dealing centerback Jamison Olave to Real Salt Lake earlier in the offseason.
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What do you think of this signing? Think Stolz can fill in some gaps for the Red Bulls? Glad to see Stolz stay stateside and play in MLS?
Share your thoughts below.
well, he still will not be playing in New York
loved reading the john elway stuff. Great comparison!
If I’m the player? And i want LA or NY? I’m using every leverage available to me to get what i want.
If I’m don garber? I’m cracking down hard on this to ensure this kind of thing doesn’t repeat again.
I think it all just depends on your point of view.
you do not need a draft in MLS. The drafts existence just proves how ignorant the MLS front office is about the sport of soccer.
OR maybe, just MAYBE a combination of academies and a draft is the best mix for a country the size of Europe is VERY small and has hundreds of clubs and associated academies which all but assures a clean sweep of possible talent. The draft provides clubs a chance to get players that academies don’t get to or can’t (e.g kid who lives in South Carolina or North Carolina
Good for him! I hope this happens 20 times in the next draft and 50 in the one after that!
MLS could easliy prevent this by suspending players for several games…of course, a lot of rookies don’t see the field anyway or they could just take offers in Europe or elsewhere.
The MLS draft and relationship with the athletes is NOT like the NFL or NBA. In those leagues, the individual teams negotiate and set terms with the athletes directly. If an agreement is not reached, the drafting team is able to be compensated through a trade or cash.
Newly drafted MLS players all become employees of a single entity corporation and have virtually no leverage. Unless the player has a GA contract or is an early signing under the arcane MLS rules, he will be playing for a few years for a mid five figure salary. In the large markets, that barely covers the cost of living. If he excels, he might reach a low six figure income. A year or two later he is in danger of being waived because of salary cap issues. He can be replaced by less expensive draftees.
If someone with Stolz’s accomplishments, Hermann Trophy etc, wants to have direct input on his own future, so be it. He came through the college system without getting entangled with a professional team.There is no Home Grown tag. He has options overseas. If he has the soccer stature to control his own destiny, more power to him.
Just my opinion.
Good for this kid. It’s his life. He should have some say as to where he goes. Good for him using the system to his advantage.
USL Pro team. Top college player falls into their lap. I’m *almost* ready to feel optimistic again.
Fanhood is a kind of affliction.
Good luck to him! It’s good that he wants to play here, and I hope to see him still suiting up for us when an energy drink logo isn’t on his chest anymore.
#RedBullOut
The second coming of Steve Shak?
Ouch! That really hurts.
whats the asking price again? 250million, thats a very cheap price.
In ligamx Chivas are for sale and Vergara is asking for 900$ million dollars. It includes everything, stadium and all the bells n whistles.
Garber needs to sell nyrb and help their fans get a real owner and name.
If columbus got a new owner, why cant nyrb.
Happens in other sports too…look at Eli Manning…and it worked out pretty well for him I guess…
At the same time, I agree that it’s kind of a crappy move…
I think it’s chumpish. Snobbish.
NY and LA are the only teams you’ll go to? Why, because you want to start a fashion line, or be movie star? I want to hear this dude’s reason. I get the feeling he is putting the cart before the horse.
It turns the idea of a draft into a mockery, when players are allowed to do this. Either a player has submitted to the rules of the draft, or they cannot be picked. You shouldn’t be able to get better players just because Jay-Z makes rap songs about you.
Sure, Leo had some interest in Germany, and could be picky, but it’s not a good look, for him or the MLS.
This happens from time to time, right? No harbinger of things to come, right?
that my friend is called leverage..
How did he not submit to the rules of the draft?
Because he didn’t attend the combine? He’s not the only player drafted that didn’t attend the combine.
Was it because he didn’t sign a MLS senior contract? MLS shouldn’t have low balled him and offered him the same or better contract as the one they offered him as a junior. I’m sure he felt he could receive a better deal if he negotiated with the team directly.
I didn’t mention contract or combine. I wasn’t keeping secrets. I think what I said makes sense if the reader doesn’t bring his/her baggage into it.
“The rules of the draft” had pretty clear context in that paragraph. I’m referring to disobeying the nature of the draft by saying he is only willing to be drafted by a couple select teams. You don’t get to pick how you’re drafted, and that’s essentially what Leo did, and what MLS allowed.
What if more players did this?
What if the US had some great conflict arise and you were drafted into the services, are you allowed to pick whatever job you want, and where you go? You may think the extension of this analogy is hyperbole here, but I’m mainly trying to get across what a “draft” is supposed to mean.
Baggage? You’re a joke. You must be a nightmare for your family to deal with.
Good luck to future players that try to emulate this. Most don’t have the European connections like Stolz or have a MAC Hermann Trophy. This concern of yours is moot and unfounded beyond this isolated situation.
Okay, I guess I was right to not want to respond to you, since you drew far out conclusions, asked three strange questions that didn’t make any sense, and when I attempt to answer them, you don’t care, you just harp on some other thing, again trying to pull it out of context. I’m not concerned with this idea taking off, mostly because it makes whoever does it look bad, I’m making a point about it not being a good idea. Anyway, thanks for the insults, and bringing my family into it.
Of course you’re concerned with this idea taking off. That’s why you asked the question, “What if more players did this?”
But I guess you’re just going to claim that I’m taking your quote out of context.
No, I’m saying that it would be a mess if everyone started doing this, because it’s not good. When someone does something that’s good, if more people started doing it, it wouldn’t turn into an unfortunate mess. I don’t fear that it could possibly happen, I’m just saying the results wouldn’t be good, because it undermines the process to a degree.
Then you’re just an alarmist.
Any team could have drafted him. Stolz complied with every rule of the draft, and as for “disobeying the nature of the draft”, I have no idea what that means.
And I hope you’re not serious with the comparison of the MLS draft and the military draft.
Apparently nobody else clicks on these RBNY posts besides fans. My bad.
Leo said before the draft he’d only go to LA or NY, so no, no other team (in their right mind) could have drafted him.
I guess you didn’t read my explanation on the sole purpose why I made that analogy. I made that analogy because some people don’t want to admit that a draft is a crapshoot for the individuals, and who selects them, and when, is supposed to be based on your talent and potential, and not the fact that you said you’ll only play for one or two teams.
Any team drafting before RBNY could have drafted him, and then either signed him to a contract or traded him to RBNY. Of course, the risk of doing that is that Stolz may have gone to Germany, in which case it would have been a wasted draft pick.
Leo Stolz had the leverage that Danny Szetela did not, so Szetela got stuck in Columbus instead of with RBNY, which was his preference.
it happens in all sports… remember Manning not wanting to got San Diego? NY Giants traded up for him…
Both Manning brothers, John Elway, Bo Jackson, JD Drew…
The list goes on. Those with leverage use.
Hope he ends up living up to his hype on the actual field. Not a way to endear yourself to folks out here in flyover country. Who knows if won’t end up elsewhere in the next round of expansion drafts.
You mean like how John Elway used playing pro baseball to get traded from Baltimore to Denver?
He used his leverage to state his preference. If he was drafted by one of the places he didn’t want to go, then off to Europe he went.
Yes, Elway off to play professional baseball with the York Tommies. I think that’s a great example.
it was a VERY real possibility for Elway to go play for Steinbrenner and even start for the Yankees. he was not going to play for the Colts, period, and he used that leverage
it happens in all sports… remember Manning not wanting to got San Diego? NY Giants traded up for him…
I think John Elway, Eli Manning, and Kobe Bryant might have an opinion on this. America does drafts. Those with leverage sometimes can get what they want.
Yes, I know this, and wasn’t trying to say otherwise.
You must recall that Elway and Manning both got a lot of grief, and fairly, in my estimation.
I didn’t really follow the NBA when Kobe came out of HS.
Now, I love Elway–Broncos forever–but that was a seriously weak move, dissing Baltimore and the Colts and all their fans because he wanted to stay on the West Coast. What was Leo’s reason again? Anyway, if NFL followers chose not to like Elway for that reason, I’m fine with that, and in fact, would expect nothing less from Colts fans.
happens all the time, and in soccer perhaps the most! players leverage what they can to get and go where they want
How dare someone want to control where they live and work!
I hope he got a no trade clause in that contract.
The MLS?!
That is all
Hahaha. You right!
In other languages (French, Spanish, Italian, and I think German too), the article in front is necessary. Since MLS is officially followed/broadcast in Spanish and French, it should be ok for everyone to say “the MLS” if they want or by mistake.
Get over yourself and learn how to negotiate.
It’s called leverage and options. Could have backfired on him too. It only works if your desirable and have options.
Twit
THE DRAFT IS A MOCKERY!
Why shouldn’t he be allowed to pick the team he wants to play for? He doesn’t need to explain to you or anyone else. I’m surprised more players don’t do this. I, for one, would want to control where I play and who I play for and if I had the leverage, I would do the same. Kudos to him for sorting things out ahead of time unlike Eli Manning who agreed to the terms of the NFL draft and then cried like a child when he didn’t get what he wanted.
This is a huge steal for NYRB. He should be a quality player during his career. I’m happy we can see Stolz stay in MLS to see how his game works in the league.