Part 3 of Inside the Superdraft: Round 1 of the draft

by sidereal on Feb 8, 2011 1:53 PM PST in Sounders: MLS Regular Season

MLSSoccer.com's video series profiling the three Cascadia teams in the runup to and execution of the 2011 SuperDraft has hit part 3. You can watch it here. It covers the first round, including the top 2 picks by VAN and POR as well as the sequence of trades for the Sounders' 11th pick.

There's one thing in particular that I think deserves highlighting. After the SuperDraft, Adrian was quoted as saying the draft was 'shockingly fantastic' from the Seattle perspective and that all 5 of their picks were in the top 23 of their draft board. There was some speculation that this might be a bit of post-draft propaganda to get the fans excited, especially after a number of the Sounders picks didn't follow the live draft scripts and were relatively obscure compared to some of the higher profile names (like Rooney) still available.

This video provides conclusive proof that Adrian wasn't blowing smoke. This episode opens with the Sounders staff discussing the wisdom of trading out of 11 and about 2 minutes in Sigi talks about the players that might still be there at 11. He includes Salgado (whoops), Anibaba, and Tetteh. So we know Tetteh was on their radar. And then they discuss the players that might still be available at 20, they discuss Warshaw, Leone Cruz, one of 'the goalkeepers', Caskey, and Carrasco. If we assume that Meredith falls into 'one of the goalkeepers', then that includes every player they took in the draft. Keep in mind this is before the draft even starts, and these are the players they are hoping to fall to 20, and they get every one of them but Warshaw and pick up Tetteh in the second round.

That doesn't mean these were really the best players available. Time will tell whether their scouting was successful. But it does mean that Adrian wasn't exaggerating when he said that it was a fantastic draft from the Seattle perspective, and that all of their players were in the top of their wishlist.

Tweet Comment 10 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

MLS does a lot of stupid stuff, but I really appreciate them be willing to go ahead and put a lot of info out there that I don’t know if other leagues would. It’s pretty great to get a seat at the table with the Sounders during the draft and to see the actual process, instead of some anodyne quotes afterward.

by Perrinbar on Feb 8, 2011 2:01 PM PST reply actions

Very Interesting

My favorite part of the episode is Dominic Kinnear hustling like a used car salesman on every pick. You can see why Houston ends up doing so well in the draft. It also looks like Portland came out ahead on the trades for the 11th pick by waiting longer in the process.

by Dizzo on Feb 8, 2011 2:21 PM PST reply actions

Not sure how you figure they came out ahead.

I’d say all three teams did well.

Houston got their guy
Portland got a slot and allocation money
Seattle got allocation money and a 2nd round pick

Not sure how you can honestly look at that, especially without knowing $ amounts and say Portland came out ahead.

by 200tang on Feb 8, 2011 2:23 PM PST up reply actions

The reaction from Portland

Specifically, the reaction from John Spencer. He comes very close to saying that they came out ahead on allocation money. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but that’s the impression I get from watching the clip.

by Dizzo on Feb 8, 2011 2:33 PM PST up reply actions

Yeah, he seemed to imply they got more cash. But key to that is that the Sounders wouldn’t necessarily have gotten the pick if they had waited. So the Sounders got cash and Tetteh. Which is a pretty good deal.

by Perrinbar on Feb 8, 2011 2:52 PM PST up reply actions

Not to mention....

Tetteh is a GA…so it’s like we’re getting even more cash since his salary is subsidized

ZackyRy

by Zack Ryland on Feb 8, 2011 3:05 PM PST reply actions

money & players

In the draft coverage, they do a good job of fogging out the amounts being spoken but it appears to be $45,000 of allocation money that Seattle got, plus the #20 pick (for #11 and an international slot).

I swear it looks like Spencer mentions that they (Portland) got $60,000 in allocation money (for the #11 pick from Houston, but they did not receive a pick in return.)

Side note: the scouting for our Sounders did misfire on at least one of their selections- Caskey has already been cut.

The others look promising.

by James Owen Gallagher on Feb 8, 2011 8:20 PM PST reply actions

Caskey was a 3rd round pick

It’s pretty difficult for a 3rd round pick to stick especially on a deep roster like Seattle’s. Ford, however, is still in camp which is quite an achievement for a supplemental draftee. After today’s performance he looks like he might grab the 3rd goal keeper slot over Meredith.

by Dizzo on Feb 8, 2011 8:36 PM PST up reply actions