Major League Soccer's annual draft of college talent (and a few others) begins today at 10 AM Pacific in Baltimore, Maryland. After earning less than a point per game in the 2015 season, the Chicago Fire have the dubious honor of picking first (or trading that pick) to kick things off.
The Seattle Sounders have pick number 15 in the first round, followed by picks 27 and 35 in the second round. Seattle acquired the 27th pick from Toronto FC for Eriq Zavaleta's rights in a trade in January 2015. Only the first two rounds are presented live today, with two more rounds taking place via conference call on Tuesday, Jan. 19. There are 249 players eligible to be drafted, including seven Generation Adidas players and five overseas-based players.
Follow along with the stream on this page and at MLS' Superdraft tracker, which will update with the picks as they happen.
Pre-draft reading:
Mock draft results earlier this week from SB Nation (picked by Jacob L.), MLS Armchair Analyst, and Top Drawer Soccer agreed in predicting that Seattle would take University of Washington midfielder James Moberg. SBI thought the Sounders will be tempted by Generation Adidas goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell at the 15th pick.
Update: SBI's final mock draft has Seattle picking Stanford RM Eric Verso (and James Moberg in the second round). MLS Armchair Analyst has updated as well, with Sounders taking versatile F/W Ben Polk out of Syracuse.
Jacob Landsberg explains Sounder at Heart's picks in the SB Nation mock draft: MLS Mock Draft 2016: Sounders will take CM depth.
Jacob also looks at players whose stock may be falling after the combine as well as some who might be surprise earlier picks: 2016 MLS Superdraft: Players to watch, sleepers and stars.
Spenser Davis explores what kind of value has been found near the 15th pick in recent years. History shows that it's rare to find first team talent, but it happens: Few gems in mid-teens of recent MLS Drafts.
This is your discussion thread for the 2016 MLS Superdraft.