We know a ton more today than we did yesterday about Seattle Sounders FC, Major League Soccer's newbie from the Pacific Northwest.
We already knew that Kasey Keller would be the BMOC in the back, as Seattle had previously signed one of the country's most decorated goalkeepers. And we knew who would be steering the attack, as general manager Adrian Hanauer and technical director Chris Henderson had been fast to scoop up fast Freddie Ljungberg.
Now know a little more about the rest of the roster, following Wednesday's expansion draft for the league's 15th team, set to rock the house at Qwest Field starting in about four months.
Everyone will have the weeks and months ahead to debate the selections, as fans watch the squad come together in training camp and then in games around mid-March. But what if, just for a day, we consider the players who weren't selected, the talent left on the table following Wednesday's important process?
These are weighty decisions, to be sure. If you don't think the expansion draft can be a critical building block in expansion team fortunes, then you weren't paying attention to what San Jose did in 2008. Manager Frank Yallop's shrewd use of the November 2007 expansion draft process was a key element in the quick build of a respectable side, one that never seemed to be fighting out of its weight class in 2008 -- and one that very nearly crashed the old-timers' playoff party.
Names selected a year ago, like Ryan Cochrane, James Riley, Ned Grabavoy and Jason Hernandez, became part-time starters for Yallop, at least. And others, like Ivan Guerrero and Brian Carroll, became important chips to play on the trade table.
So, suffice to say, this was a big day for young Seattle. To a lesser extent, every other club knows a little more about its roster setup for 2009. Four clubs didn't lose a player: D.C. United in the East, and Chivas USA, Colorado and Dallas in the West. (You might recognize three of those clubs from the list that didn't make the 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs; only Chivas was a postseason participant.)
There were some interesting goalkeepers among Wednesday's list of available players, including at least six that could be considered starters. Pat Onstad, for instance, was available just one year removed from setting an MLS record for best goals-against average in a season.
And Louis Crayton, who shined in the D.C. United net and was the catalyst behind the RFK outfit's late postseason charge, was also left unprotected. Ditto for veteran Kansas City starter Kevin Hartman, Toronto starter Greg Sutton and others.
But most teams could feel relatively safe leaving their goalkeeper exposed, since the Sounders are well-armed at backstopper. With the longtime U.S. international in charge, the Seattle braintrust did, indeed, pass on all available goalkeepers.
But it was not exactly a slam-dunk. Even when the odds seem stacked against taking Player X or Y, clubs do risk something by leaving valuable starters exposed. Dangle too pretty a carrot before the expansion teams, and the new guy on the block might just grab X or Y and set him out as trade bait. Real Salt Lake once made that mistake, leaving Jason Kreis unprotected back when he was a high-scoring sniper, before he became the league's youngest manager. Toronto took Kreis in the expansion draft, and then immediately traded him back to reeling Real, effectively gaining something for absolutely nothing.
Houston's list of exposed talent was surely a GM's delight. The Dynamo have built the league's deepest roster, never mind that surprise first-round playoff exit of early November. No matter whom he protected, Dynamo manager Dominic Kinnear was going to leave some enticing talent there for the taking. Seattle got a good one in Nate Jaqua, who appeared to return from a short stint in Austria last summer as a more polished product.
In taking Jaqua, the Sounders left quick midfielder Corey Ashe, who would have been a fantastic midfield depth provider behind Ljungberg. Dynamo left back Wade Barrett might have been exposed a bit recently by Red Bulls blazer Dane Richards. But the Houston captain is a rock-solid locker room presence and is a left back that probably would have started anywhere in MLS in 2008 except perhaps Chicago or New England.
Jaqua always appeared to the logical choice, as he has roots in the Northwest (Eugene, Ore.). But there were plenty of intriguing choices out of Robertson Stadium, even beyond Jaqua, Ashe and Barrett. Craig Waibel, Richard Mulrooney and U.S. Olympian Patrick Ianni were other potential starters left unselected from Houston's roster. Barrett, Ianni and Waibel made a combined 57 starts on the league's top defense in 2008. Waibel, in fact, has started in three MLS Cup matches (all wins). At 33, his best years might be behind him, but that's still a heaping helping of veteran guidance to have on what could be a young team past Keller and Ljungberg.
New England was another team to dangle some interesting options. Seattle went with the long legs and big left foot of Khano Smith, but feisty midfielder Wells Thompson could have been a good choice, too. He has less experience than Smith, but also makes a little less in salary.
Salary is always a major component in these matters, especially as Seattle already has two big compensation packages on the books in Keller and Ljungberg.
Cap management probably helps explain the day's big surprise among the "passes." The Sounders elected to not to scoop up Columbus midfielder Eddie Gaven. The Sounders took a good player off the newly crowned league champs in attacking midfielder Brad Evans.
But in Gaven the league's newest club had access to a potential game-breaker. Here's a guy who just scored the game-winner in the Eastern Conference semifinal, a well-regarded midfielder who, at age 22, still has his best years ahead. He was a critical element in the Crew's historic season, which included the 2008 Supporters Shield and the club's first MLS Cup. Gaven's salary, commensurate with a six-year veteran, compared to that of Evans, after just two years in the league, surely made the difference.
Salary considerations might similarly help explain why experienced fellows like Duilio Davino, Chris Klein, Terry Cooke, Viktor Sikora, Mulrooney, Hartman and a few others were available but weren't selected. All that experience comes at a price -- which is exactly why clubs feel OK about leaving some of those guys exposed. They know Seattle is already in a position where they need to pinch the pennies, so they leave their more pricey vets off the protected list, fairly confident those guys would still be in their familiar colors once Seattle had made its selections.
In other cases, the word might have been put out through proper channels that certain players would be uncomfortable playing home matches on an artificial surface. (The Sounders will play on a synthetic field at Qwest.) That might help explain why a terrific talent like Ronnie O'Brien, the Earthquakes energetic right-sided midfielder, could be left unprotected without much concern of being lost.
Then again, Seattle did take Galaxy midfielder Peter Vagenas, who will soon move into his ninth MLS season, and who certainly carries a vet's salary. Which just goes to show you: All of this is more art than science.
Sounders bolster defense through draft
Patient Pablo Waiting For Opportunities
