Major Link Soccer: Draft Fallout, Open Cup Dates and Jerseys Leaked

First, some assorted draft links. Find out where Eriq Zavaleta was mocked to in SI's mock draft. Considering the connection between Zavaleta and Sigi Schmid, perhaps this pick should have been expected. In he end, the players being picked are young athletes, and there are no sure things. Seattle-native and former first-overall pick Nik Besagno is a testament. Bone up on each team's picks with MLS' handy chart. Then, meet Zavaleta and DeAndre Yedlin. People seem to be fans of Seattle's 2013 draft. You may not be a fan of Yedlin's hair, but at least it isn't nearly as obnoxious loud as new LA Galaxy homegrown player Gyasi Zardes. If you aren't clear about any pre-draft moves, the Times has put it all together nicely. Also, Chris Henderson speaks.

The host of the draft was Indianapolis, perennial event city and future host to a NASL team. It may be a stepping stone to a higher form of gaming. Speaking of NASL, the New York Cosmos are talking about building a 25,000 seat stadium for themselves, separate from the Queens project. It seems incredulous, and probably is. Finally, I don't remember the source, but the deal between MLS and the USL should be formally announced soon.

If you're interested in picking up a Zavaleta or Yedlin jersey today, you can get 30% off on the soon to be outdated 2011/2012 Sounders kits. Interesting to note is that the Cyan jerseys are also on sale, which may or may not mean bad things for people expecting XBOX to continue on as the Sounders sponsor. If they change to Boeing, let's hope they won't be emblazoned with "787".

Colorado and San Jose, by my count, are the only MLS clubs left without kit sponsors, now that Sporting Kansas City has made a deal with Ivy Funds for 2.5 million dollars. The sponsorship was revealed on the chest of KC's new kits. Even better, they won't be paying the Livestrong foundation for the rights to put their name on their stadium.

Toronto, Vancouver, and Kansas City have had their 2012 jerseys shown off, either officially or otherwise. The Portland Timbers may also have sprung a leak, if this fanpost is to be believed. Hardly the only news out of Portland, Kris Boyd's contract is rumored to be bought out. He may be following Alvaro Fernandez and Eric Hassli out of the league, making a trio of former Cascadian DPs. The acquisition of Jeff Larentowicz may be part of why Chicago considers Fernandez expendable. Speaking of Cascadia, here are Eightysix' thoughts on Trademarkgate (TM).

Salt Lake is also making moves. The 33 year old attacking force Javier Morales has been resigned, and after buying back the rights to Robbie Findley from the Timbers, the club brought him back from Europe.

The Galaxy also re-signed an important player, the frustrating Juninho. In fact, it seems the Galaxy have bought the entirety of his rights. Presumably this means they'll actually be paying money for the player now, though it could still be a "free" contract. The news on Landon Donovan and Omar Gonzalez isn't as positive; Donovan is still undecided, and Gonzalez has been unwilling to sign a new contract extending beyond 2013.

Eddie Johnson was considered a risk when he was acquired. He joined MLS only a year after another former US wunderkid made his own "triumphant return". But whereas Johnson made his first year an unmitigated success, Freddy Adu is playing himself out of the league. His transfer is "possibly imminent".

Prosoccertalk is reporting that dates for the US Open Cup have been leaked. Clear your calendars and arrange for transport to Starfire on May 28th asap. Of course, that is barring any closed-door coin flips.

I'm pretty sure New York is the only team left without a head coach. That may be rectified soon (shouldn't this have been done a month ago?) if Ives' information is accurate.

Toronto has been terrible for a long time now. Is it a cultural issue?

On the women's side of things, there appear to be two other SB MLS blogs following the NWSL. One makes sense, with The Daily Wiz covering all things FC KC. The other, Waking the Red, is surprising in that Canada doesn't have a team. Now that allocation has happened, Free agency has begun. Not to be outdone, the Sounders Women have hired their technical director.

US Soccer has a new crest, and despite the fact that little has changed, it is suddenly heads and tails better. It is like they are playing some trick on me. Denver will be the first host in the hexagonal round for the Mens National Team. It remains to be seen whether Seattle will be one of the others. Fox doesn't feel like they need a dedicated channel to show these games (or others) anymore, and are thinking about converting to an entertainment network(like every other channel they run #nopolitics). Brad Evans is feeling good about his time with the Nats.