Monday, January 26, 2009

MLS: Fewest Returning Players

Which MLS teams have had the fewest number of players returning from the previous season? I counted only those players which received playing time in a regular season game during both seasons. Of the 132 two-season spans we can look at, the average is exactly 14 players returning. Only seven times has a team returned fewer than 10 players.

Let's take a look at those teams:




PPG Diff
7 NY 2002-2003 0.15
8 CHV 2005-2006 0.78
9 CLB 2005-2006 -0.16
9 COL 1996-1997 0.25
9 NE 1997-1998 -0.25
9 NY 2005-2006 -0.25
9 SJ 1998-1999 0.06

What do these teams have in common? New coaches. Everyone of these teams had more than one coach in those two years, even if it was just at the end of the second season like NE/SJ. Also the fact that a couple of the teams were pretty horrible.

Bob Bradley's not shy about remaking a team, as you can see by the top two being teams that he joined. The record holding 2002-03 Metrostars used only the following players in both years:

Addo, Joe
Grafer, Paul
Howard, Tim
Jolley, Steve
Lisi, Mark
Mathis, Clint
Ziadie, Craig

To give you an idea of how hard this record will be to match, the Galaxy have been perhaps the most active (non-expansion) team this offseason in moving players around. But among their 33 man preseason roster still remains 19 of the 28 men who saw action during the 2008 season. Barring more trades, for them to join this list you would have to have Ricketts start every match in goal, Beckham and Donovan not returning, several of the mediocre guys cut, and maybe a season ending injury or two.

The most players returned record is shared by DC and LA in 2005-06, with 20. Dallas from that same time period is right behind with 19. Of course, that was year after the league expanded the roster to 28.


Returning Players: All Teams


CHI CHV CLB COL DAL DC HOU KC LA MIA NE NY RSL SJ TB TOR
1996-1997 xxx xxx 15 9 11 18 xxx 10 15 xxx 12 14 xxx 13 15 xxx
1997-1998 xxx xxx 14 13 18 15 xxx 15 17 xxx 9 14 xxx 12 13 xxx
1998-1999 17 xxx 17 12 16 18 xxx 14 17 13 15 13 xxx 9 15 xxx
1999-2000 14 xxx 14 11 17 18 xxx 12 18 17 13 13 xxx 13 14 xxx
2000-2001 16 xxx 14 12 13 13 xxx 14 15 12 15 15 xxx 10 13 xxx
2001-2002 17 xxx 14 12 12 12 xxx 12 14 xxx 11 10 xxx 15 xxx xxx
2002-2003 14 xxx 16 14 16 11 xxx 16 15 xxx 12 7 xxx 12 xxx xxx
2003-2004 17 xxx 12 13 12 13 xxx 16 16 xxx 14 12 xxx 17 xxx xxx
2004-2005 11 xxx 15 10 13 17 xxx 16 12 xxx 13 12 xxx 10 xxx xxx
2005-2006 18 8 9 15 19 20 xxx 16 20 xxx 17 9 10 xxx xxx xxx
2006-2007 18 13 16 12 17 15 17 15 15 xxx 13 15 15 xxx xxx xxx
2007-2008 16 14 18 15 18 10 15 15 13 xxx 14 15 13 xxx xxx 13

Doing "percentage of minutes returning" would be another interesting thing to look at.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Missing Out (post-2008 update)

What follows is a list of the men who have played the most games in the MLS regular season without playing in an MLS Cup. When I first posted about this in 2006, Mark Chung was the all time leader. Jason Kreis passed him on July 4th, 2006 and and has been the leader since.

For 2009, Jeff Cunningham is within striking distance of the record.

Most Regular Season Games Played Without Playing in an MLS Cup

(includes games through 2008 season)

1 Kreis, Jason 305
2 Cunningham, Jeff 289
3 Chung, Mark 284
4 Kotschau, Ritchie 244
5 Mastroeni, Pablo 232
6 Clark, Mike 221
7 Rhine, Bobby 212
8 Brown, Chris 197
9 Beckerman, Kyle 193
10 Pareja, Oscar 189
11 Buddle, Edson 187
12 Denton, Eric 186
13 Valderrama, Carlos 175
14 McKinley, Ivan 174
15 Maisonneuve, Brian 172
15 McBride, Brian 172
17 Dunseth, Brian 171
18 Washington, Dante 170
19 Burns, Mike 169
20 Chronopoulos, Ted 162
21 Warzycha, Robert 160
22 Clark, Ricardo 159
23 Farrer, Richard 158
24 Eck, Ted 156
25 Rodriguez, Jorge 155

Active players in bold.

The only new name on the list is Ricardo Clark, who didn't play in either of Houston's two title games due to suspension. Three players shot up the list in the past year: Beckerman (16-9), Buddle (21-11), and Denton (19-12).

Here are the current MLS players that have missed out despite playing over 100 games. They're next in line:

Pause, Logan
146
O'Brien, Ronnie 142
Thomas, Shavar
133
Parke, Jeff 132
Magee, Mike 130
Guevara, Amado 128
Alvarez, Arturo 124
Oughton, Duncan 124
Lewis, Eddie 123
Kirovski, Jovan 118
Busch, Jon 117
Borchers, Nat 112
Quaranta, Santino 110
Wingert, Chris 110
Boswell, Bobby 109
Simms, Clyde 105
Moor, Drew 102
Sealy, Scott 102
Guerrero, Ivan 101

Labels:

Thursday, January 08, 2009

The Best Superdraft Picks by Draft Position (Complete)

There have been plenty of articles over the years about the best Superdraft steals in MLS history. I'm sure everyone knows by now that Jeff Parke was the last pick of the 2004 draft, or that Jonathan Bornstein was a 4th rounder. Steve Davis gave us his top ten a year ago at Soccernet in a nice piece.

But I prefer the comprehensive approach. So I'm going to go through each draft position and single out the best picks ever. I'm including each year's "college" draft. So in other words, that would be the College Draft (1996-99), Superdraft (2000-08), and Supplemental draft (2005-08).

Of course, this excludes the original draft to stock the league rosters, as well as the 1996-99 supplemental draft. There will be a few professional players in the Superdraft due to its nature (combining the two annual drafts they had before 2000). Also, I include the current supplemental draft because it is really rounds 5-8 of the Superdraft, but they can't call it that apparently due to the collective bargaining agreement. So for example, pick #1 of last year's supplemental draft will be considered the 57th position.

I will be judging each pick mostly based on how good the player turned out, regardless of how the player did for the team who picked him.

The full number of picks in each year's "college" draft are as follows:

1996 30
1997 30
1998 36
1999 36
2000 72
2001 72
2002 70
2003 60
2004 60
2005 96
2006 96
2007 104
2008 112

The last four years are of course half Superdraft and half supplemental. I'll be going through all 112 positions. You can see a list of all drafts and picks here.

Since this will be a long post to write and research, I'll split it up into several days. On 9/19/2008, #83-112 were posted. On 9/20, #70-82 were posted. On 9/21, #60-69 were posted. On 9/25, #50-59 were posted. On 9/26, #42-49 were posted. On 10/1, #34-41 were posted.

Picking this up again to finish it before the new draft. On 1/5/2009, #27-33 were posted. On 1/6, #16-26 were posted. On 1/7, #8-15 were posted. On 1/8, #1-7 were posted.

Note: My "best pick" for each position is in bold.


Position #1

1996 KC Matt McKeon
1997 COL Tahj Jakins
1998 MIA Leo Cullen
1999 DC Jason Moore
2000 NY Steve Shak
2001 SJ Chris Carrieri
2002 DAL Chris Gbandi
2003 DC Alecko Eskandarian
2004 DC Freddy Adu
2005 RSL Nikolas Besagno
2006 NY Marvell Wynne
2007 TOR Maurice Edu
2008 KC Chance Myers

Best pick: Edu. It's been a pretty famous trend in MLS, how the #1 pick has rarely panned out. Adu may possess more talent than his similarly named USA teammate, but Edu looked better in MLS and was transferred for more money. Then of course you have to realize that you can't really give too much credit for the Adu pick due to how MLS forced Dallas to trade the pick to DC. They really should've just allocated him to DC outside of the draft.

None of these guys would be considered one of the top 50 players in MLS history, though. And no, Brian McBride doesn't count, that was the inaugural draft.


Position #2

1996 DC Eddie Pope
1997 TB Mike Fisher
1998 CHI Ritchie Kotschau
1999 MIA Jay Heaps
2000 KC Nick Garcia
2001 TB Ali Curtis
2002 NE Taylor Twellman
2003 NY Ricardo Clark
2004 CLB Chad Marshall
2005 CHV Brad Guzan
2006 RSL Mehdi Ballouchy
2007 CHI Bakary Soumare
2008 DAL Brek Shea

Best pick: The talent is much better here than the top spot. Pope is an all time MLS legend, but I have to go with Twellman. Fisher is notable as the highest pick in league history never to play a game (he decided to become a doctor instead).


Position #3

1996 DAL Brandon Pollard
1997 CLB Rob Jachym
1998 SJ Ben Parry
1999 SJ Richard Mulrooney
2000 COL Adin Brown
2001 DC Mark Lisi
2002 NY Brad Davis
2003 CHI Nate Jaqua
2004 LA Joseph Ngwenya
2005 CHI Chad Barrett
2006 CLB Jason Garey
2007 KC Michael Harrington
2008 RSL Tony Beltran

Best pick: Davis has been a part of two championship squads in Houston, and has easily held a starting position for years. It was a toss up between him and Mulrooney.


Position #4

1996 TB Adam Frye
1997 SJ Alberto Montoya
1998 KC Chris Klein
1999 DAL Lazo Alavanja
2000 CHI Carlos Bocanegra
2001 DC Ryan Nelsen
2002 DC Justin Mapp
2003 NY Mike Magee
2004 KC Matt Taylor
2005 SJ Danny O'Rourke
2006 KC Yura Movsisyan
2007 RSL Chris Seitz
2008 LA Sean Franklin

Best pick: Bocanegra was pretty amazing in MLS and more high profile here in the states, but Nelsen has eclipsed him since both players moved to England. He's now captaining Blackburn and is far more important to the team that Boca ever was to Fulham.


Position #5

1996 KC Chris Snitko
1997 NY Brian Kelly
1998 NE Johnny Torres
1999 KC Chris Brown
2000 DAL Aleksey Korol
2001 DAL Joselito Vaca
2002 CHI Kelly Gray
2003 DC David Stokes
2004 SJ Ryan Cochrane
2005 LA Ugo Ihemelu
2006 CHV Sacha Kljestan
2007 NE Wells Thompson
2008 COL Ciaran O'Brien

Best pick: Kljestan easily blows the rest out of the water.


Position #6

1996 NE Paul Keegan
1997 DAL Temoc Suarez
1998 LA Clint Mathis
1999 DAL Bobby Rhine
2000 LA Danny Califf
2001 TB Craig Demmin
2002 SJ Luchi Gonzalez
2003 SJ Todd Dunivant
2004 DAL Ramon Nuñez
2005 DAL Drew Moor
2006 DAL Dax McCarty
2007 COL Nico Colaluca
2008 CLB Andy Iro

Best pick: Hmm... Despite his lows, Mathis was amazing for a couple of years and deserves the nod. Califf may deserve it instead. Last year he captained Aalborg to a Danish league title. Certainly one of the best moments in YA history. But he was never at a level like Mathis was before his big injury in 2001.


Position #7

1996 LA Guillermo Jara
1997 KC Brian Johnson
1998 TB Josh Keller
1999 NY John Wolyniec
2000 COL Wes Hart
2001 DAL Ryan Suarez
2002 NY Mansour Ndiaye
2003 CLB Diego Walsh
2004 DAL Clarence Goodson
2005 COL Hunter Freeman
2006 DC Justin Moose
2007 CHV John Cunliffe
2008 CHI Patrick Nyarko

Best pick: Most of these guys ended up with around 100 games played. Walsh is now considered a top player in the Australian A-League, which doesn't make that competition look too good. The always reliable, never outstanding Wolyniec is the choice here (at least until Nyarko improves). Well, maybe once he was amazing. He also was drafted in 2000 out of the USL ( see pick #44th).


Position #8

1996 DAL Jeff Cassar
1997 TB Mike Mekelburg
1998 NY Mike Petke
1999 COL Andrew Mittendorf
2000 SJ Travis Mulraine
2001 DC Santino Quaranta
2002 CLB Kyle Martino
2003 LA Guillermo Gonzalez
2004 NE Clint Dempsey
2005 LA Troy Roberts
2006 HOU Patrick Ianni
2007 CHI Jerson Monteiro
2008 DAL Josh Lambo

Best pick: "I'll cross you over like the great Clint Dempsey!" Guillermo is better known by his nickname, Memo. That's Spanish for...no, it's too easy. Petke is the most famous of 10 MLS players to come from Southern Connecticut State. Others include Brian Bliss and Bo Oshoniyi, and they also can boast Juan Carlos Osorio. Pretty good for a D2 school.


Position #9

1996 COL Mike Gentile
1997 LA Steve Jolley
1998 CLB Jeff Cunningham
1999 CLB Matt Chulis
2000 KC John Wilson
2001 LA Brian Mullan
2002 DAL Carl Bussey
2003 NE Pat Noonan
2004 CHI Scott Buete
2005 NE Michael Parkhurst
2006 CLB Kei Kamara
2007 DAL Anthony Wallace
2008 TOR Julius James

Best pick: Parkhurst instantly became an elite MLS player. As for Cunningham, Mullan, and Noonan...well, they easily would've been the top player in the 10th position (see below). Gentile was also picked 66th in 2000.


Position #10

1996 CLB Mac Cozier
1997 DC Danny Care
1998 DAL Matt Jordan
1999 LA Tony Soto
2000 COL Alan Woods
2001 CLB Duncan Oughton
2002 CHI Billy Sleeth
2003 DAL Shavar Thomas
2004 SJ Steve Cronin
2005 CHI Jack Stewart
2006 CHI Calen Carr
2007 TOR Andrew Boyens
2008 TOR Pat Phelan

Best pick: Boy, that's not a lot of standouts for a top ten pick. At least everyone here played in the league. There's three real choices here. Jordan was a four year starter for the Burn, and now is one of the men spearheading the Montreal Impact's run to the Champions League quarterfinals. He obviously could still play in MLS. However, he probably would still only be around an average starter. Oughton has been a good role player, but hasn't played much since his big injury a few years ago. Thomas has been a pretty decent defender for half a decade now, albeit one that is continually overshadowed by more famous partners (Steve Morrow, Jimmy Conrad, Claudio Suarez).


Position #11

1996 NY Scott Lamphear
1997 COL Ross Paule
1998 COL Tyrone Marshall
1999 CHI Evan Whitfield
2000 LA Sasha Victorine
2001 LA Isaias Bardales
2002 DC Daouda Kanté
2003 DC Brian Carroll
2004 CHI Leonard Griffin
2005 KC Scott Sealy
2006 NE Leandro de Oliveira
2007 DC Bryan Arguez
2008 KC Roger Espinoza

Best pick: Oliveira was the proof that Steve Nicol actually could have a bad draft. Alas, he went on to make an equally surprising pick the next season in Wells Thompson that worked out okay. Carroll has been a part of several great teams now, including two championship winners. But you can also say that about Marshall (2001 MIA, 2002 LA, 2005 LA).


Position #12

1996 NY Miles Joseph
1997 NE Scott Coufal
1998 SJ Wade Barrett
1999 DAL Paul Broome
2000 DC Bobby Convey
2001 KC Jose Burciaga
2002 DAL Lee Morrison
2003 NY Eddie Gaven
2004 CLB Chris Wingert
2005 NY Tim Ward
2006 LA Nathan Sturgis
2007 NE Amaechi Igwe
2008 CHI Dominic Cervi

Best pick: This group seems to have a common theme: Players who haven't quite lived up to their potential. Even Convey, despite his bright spots, has been somewhat of a disappointment everywhere he's played: MLS, England, internationals.


Position #13

1996 SJ Derrick Brownell
1997 CLB John Smith
1998 MIA Pablo Mastroeni
1999 LA Seth George
2000 DC Stephen Armstrong
2001 NY Rodrigo Faria
2002 LA Hemir Neibles
2003 SJ Arturo Alvarez
2004 LA Josh Gardner
2005 RSL Jamie Watson
2006 CLB Jed Zayner
2007 HOU John Michael Hayden
2008 NE Rob Valentino

Best pick: For pure drama, nothing beats Faria. From tanking the combine and winning Rookie of the Year, to late game heroics for San Jose and unannounced disappearances. For pure amusement/pluckiness/sadness, there's Watson. After playing out his GA contract, he recently signed for Dallas as a developmental player (salary: $17,700). At least he hasn't given up. But for pure talent, it's Mastroeni.


Position #14

1996 TB Casey Sweeney
1997 SJ Jason Annichero
1998 DC Carey Talley
1999 KC John Wilson
2000 NE Rusty Pierce
2001 TB Devin Barclay
2002 NE Shalrie Joseph
2003 DC Doug Warren
2004 LA Ned Grabavoy
2005 CHV Christian Jimenez
2006 CHI Jeff Curtin
2007 DAL Abdus Ibrahim
2008 RSL David Horst

Best pick: No disputes here, it's Joseph. Now let's talk about Barclay. This is a guy whose career may have been short, but it certainly was memorable to many people. Possibly because of all the teams he disappointed. This is a kid who was the 4th youngest player in league history when he debuted, and later that year gave the pitiful Mutiny a ray of hope with his play (including scoring the last goal in team history). Of course, it turned out that only the worst team in the history of MLS would give him regular playing time. A couple years later, he was traded for the pick that became Brian Ching. Now he's a backup kicker for the Ohio State (American) football team. Crazy. Curtin was a pick that confused fans even back then.


Position #15

1996 KC Diego Gutierrez
1997 NY Will Kohler
1998 NY Joe Munoz
1999 SJ Wojtek Krakowiak
2000 KC Peter Byaruhanga
2001 DC Bryan Namoff
2002 DAL Jordan Stone
2003 DAL Jason Thompson
2004 COL Adolfo Gregorio
2005 LA Michael Enfield
2006 DAL Justin Moore
2007 CLB Brad Evans
2008 SJ Shea Salinas

Best pick: It's between Gutierrez and Namoff. Diego has been a part of the league since the beginning, so I'll give it to him based on longevity.


Position #16

1996 NE Imad Baba
1997 DAL Alan Branigan
1998 NY Billy Walsh
1999 NY Kevin Knight
2000 SJ Justin Evans
2001 LA Brian Ching
2002 COL Danny Jackson
2003 LA Scot Thompson
2004 COL Adrian Cann
2005 KC Ryan Pore
2006 KC Lance Watson
2007 LA Robbie Findley
2008 NY Eric Brunner

Best pick: Pretty lacking in talent for such a high pick. The top two picks here (Ching and Findley) both were dumped by LA less than a year after being drafted, then have gone on to have success elsewhere. At least that hasn't happened with Thompson...yet.


Position #17

1996 LA Greg Vanney
1997 KC Ike Udeh
1998 NE Jesse Van Saun
1999 DC Keith Beach
2000 MIA Martín Machón
2001 COL Stephen Herdsman
2002 CHI Craig Capano
2003 NY Tim Regan
2004 KC Will Hesmer
2005 SJ Kevin Goldthwaite
2006 NY Josmer Altidore
2007 COL Greg Dalby
2008 RSL Alex Nimo

Best pick: Altidore is probably the most famous second round pick in league history, and the sky's the limit for his potential. Even if he didn't make a huge impact on the field, he was more than worth it due to the huge transfer fee. Vanney may have 300+ league games and longevity, and he may have played in France, but he can't compare based on pure talent.


Position #18

1996 TB Steve Ralston
1997 TB PASS
1998 LA Daniel Hernandez
1999 CLB Jeff Bilyk
2000 SJ Joseph Ragusa
2001 MIA Ali Ngon
2002 DAL Matt Behncke
2003 CHI Damani Ralph
2004 NY Seth Stammler
2005 CHI Will John
2006 DAL Blake Wagner
2007 DAL Andrew Daniels
2008 NE Michael Videira

Best pick: Ralston. No explanation necessary. Though I have to wonder why the Mutiny would pass on their pick a year after taking the 1996 rookie award winner at the same spot. That's the highest "PASS" in league history. Second highest is the Rapids at 29 in 1996. Ngon is better known as Ali Gerba, the Canadian international.


Position #19

1996 COL Paul Grafer
1997 LA Shawn Boney
1998 TB Chris Houser
1999 MIA Jeremy Aldrich
2000 DC Eric Denton
2001 DAL Edward Johnson
2002 COL Jeff Stewart
2003 LA Arturo Torres
2004 CHI Matt Pickens
2005 DC Nick Van Sicklen
2006 KC Tyson Wahl
2007 NY Dane Richards
2008 DAL Eric Avila

Best pick: Despite his flaws, EJ could tear up MLS defenses when he was on. He'll probably be doing that again sooner than we'd like to see. Every player here except for Boney played at least one competitive match for an MLS team.


Position #20

1996 CLB Ricci Greenwood
1997 DC Tom Presthus
1998 KC Tom Hardy
1999 COL Tom Poltl
2000 COL Keyeno Thomas
2001 SJ Eddie Robinson
2002 CLB Jeff Matteo
2003 LA Ricky Lewis
2004 CHI Sumed Ibrahim
2005 CLB Marcus Storey
2006 CHI Brian Plotkin
2007 LA Josh Tudela
2008 CLB George Josten

Best pick: Presthus started in two MLS Cups for DC, but Robinson has four championship rings for San Jose and Houston. Eddie was underrated for years, but now it seems that he' s finally considered an elite MLS defender.


Position #21

1996 DC Jesse Marsch
1997 COL Mike Feniger
1998 CLB Andrew Gregor
1999 SJ Jamie Clark
2000 CLB Roland Aguilera
2001 NE Nick Downing
2002 NE Ian Fuller
2003 DAL David Comfort
2004 NY Zach Wells
2005 NE James Riley
2006 COL Jacob Peterson
2007 CHI Nate Norman
2008 LA Ely Allen

Best pick: Marsch has been a solid player year in and year out for the past decade. We might see him on the sidelines after his playing days are over.


Position #22

1996 NY Hamisi Amani-Dove
1997 NE Steve Klein
1998 DAL Hans Wittusen
1999 LA Sam Franklin
2000 DAL Antonio Martinez
2001 LA Robbie Russell
2002 LA Bryheem Hancock
2003 NE Dimelon Westfield
2004 LA Memo Arzate
2005 RSL Jay Nolly
2006 DAL Dominic Oduro
2007 DAL Ryan Guy
2008 CLB Ricardo Pierre-Louis

Best pick: Russell had a nice career in Norway, winning a title and seeing Champions League action for Rosenborg before coming home to America. Martinez would be the runner up here.


Position #23

1996 SJ Eddie Lewis
1997 CLB Todd DeNault
1998 COL Jason Boyce
1999 CHI Greg Sutton
2000 LA Peter Vagenas
2001 CHI Justin Evans
2002 CLB Jon Busch
2003 SJ Roger Levesque
2004 NE Jeremiah White
2005 CLB Domenic Mediate
2006 NE Willie Sims
2007 LA Ty Harden
2008 KC Yomby William

Best pick: Busch and Vagenas have done pretty well for themselves, but Lewis is the obvious choice. The so-called "American Beckham" has played in the World Cup and the Premiership, and has generally impressed everywhere he's gone.


Position #24

1996 TB Nate Daligcon
1997 SJ Chris McDonald
1998 CLB Henrik Nebrilius
1999 DAL Darren Warham
2000 SJ Adrian Narine
2001 KC Andrew Gregor
2002 DC Mike McGinty
2003 CHI Logan Pause
2004 DC Kevin Ara
2005 KC Christopher Sawyer
2006 LA Marc Burch
2007 DC Brad North
2008 DC Andrew Jacobson

Best pick: Pause has been a starter for years now.


Position #25

1996 KC Dion Sebwe
1997 NY Andrew Lewis
1998 DAL Matt Caution
1999 NE Leighton O'Brien
2000 MIA David Wright
2001 DAL Josue Mayard
2002 LA Gavin Glinton
2003 CHI Ryan Mack
2004 COL Kevin Taylor
2005 NY Chris Corcoran
2006 LA Kyle Veris
2007 NE Ryan Solle
2008 KC Jonathan Leathers

Best pick: Lewis was the best of this bunch. He was a reserve defender for some very good trophy winning Fire teams, and later he went on to win a USL title with the Charleston Battery.


Position #26

1996 NE Paulo Dos Santos
1997 NE J.T. Roberts
1998 LA Matt Reis
1999 KC Kevin Kalish
2000 COL Jeff Dimaria
2001 NY Kerwyn Jemmott
2002 CHI Steve Totten
2003 CHI Phil Swenda
2004 NY Olivier Occean
2005 CHV Aaron Lopez
2006 RSL Ryan Johnson
2007 HOU Corey Ashe
2008 CHI Peter Lowry

Best pick: It's between two players, Reis and Occean. The Canadian Occean was signed away from the Metros during the La Manga tournament that they won that preseason, and since then he's been in the top ten goalscorers in Norway for four out of the last five seasons. He was also transferred at one point for a million dollars. Reis has turned into one of the best keepers in MLS, seemingly almost a lock to be a finalist for GK of the year every season. Not having seen much of Occean, I'm going to go with Reis. Imagine if he had been drafted by a team without another stud keeper (see three picks down).


Position #27

1996 LA Ante Razov
1997 KC Jake Joy
1998 SJ Caleb Porter
1999 SJ Todd Duncan
2000 DC Sergio Salas
2001 CLB Edson Buddle
2002 LA Alejandro Moreno
2003 COL Jason Cole
2004 SJ Mike Wilson
2005 DAL Winston Marshall
2006 CLB Brandon Moss
2007 TOR Richard Asante
2008 NE Joe Germanese

Best pick: Welcome to the land of great goalscorers. Here you have three of the top goalscorers in league history: Razov (2nd), Buddle (14th), and Moreno (36th). While Moreno is not a pure goalscorer and has won several MLS Cups, Razov has just been too impressive to deny. He's compiled seven seasons with 10+ goals, a feat only equaled this past year by Jaime Moreno.


Position #28

1996 DAL Brandon Cavitt
1997 TB Musa Shannon
1998 NY Cesidio Colasante
1999 DC David Hayes
2000 SJ Jon Conway
2001 DC Craig Ziadie
2002 COL Bryn Ritchie
2003 COL Alex Blake
2004 CHI Khari Stephenson
2005 DAL Chris Gomez
2006 KC Matt Groenwald
2007 DAL Scott Jones
2008 TOR Brian Edwards

Best pick: Two trivia questions I want to ask here:

1) Which one of these players has played the most MLS games?

2) Which one of these players was transferred for a $1 million fee?

Let's stat with the first one. Conway recently has become a starter in goal after years of being a solid backup. But would you believe that Ziadie has played more MLS games than him or any other #28 pick? I didn't remember that he actually retired after leaving MLS, and also that he tried to make the RSL roster a year ago.

As for the second one, that would be Stephenson. He was bought by AIK of Sweden in 2007. This is the guy who famously became a starter in the 2004 playoffs after barely playing during the regular season. He then went back to being a bench warmer the next season, before being waived to make room for Antti Sumiala. Great move Bob Gansler. He has struggled with injuries, and he's now playing in the Norwegian top flight as a teammate of Adin Brown.

Shannon is another notable player. He had a few shining moments in MLS, once scoring 12 goals in a season for Tampa Bay. Overall, I think Stephenson's European adventure is a bit more impressive than any of the others.


Position #29

1996 COL PASS
1997 LA Kevin Hartman
1998 NE Kevin Coye
1999 NY Jim Manganello
2000 LA Jose Retiz
2001 CHI Jim Curtin
2002 COL Daniel Alvarez
2003 NE Kyle Singer
2004 DAL Ty Maurin
2005 CHI Chris Rolfe
2006 KC Stephen Shirley
2007 KC Edson Elcock
2008 LA Julian Valentin

Best pick: Curtin and Rolfe were very good picks by Chicago. Hartman though, is one of the best goalkeepers in league history and is 5th all time in games played. He should rise to 2nd sometime next year.


Position #30

1996 CLB Todd Miller
1997 DC Brandon Leib
1998 LA Joe Franchino
1999 DAL Andrew Parrish
2000 KC Kerry Zavagnin
2001 CLB Kevin Adams
2002 NY Sam Forko
2003 NY Tim Glowienka
2004 SJ Lindon Pecorelli
2005 SJ Victor Arbelaez
2006 DAL Ray Burse
2007 RSL Steven Curfman
2008 TOR Mike Zaher

Best pick: From this point and up, we have the full complement of 13 years worth for each number. Two really good picks here, Franchino and Zavagnin. The latter was actually a member of the Metrostars from 1997-98. Apparently he didn't become a good player until he went down to the USL for a year. He then emerged to become a key player for the defensive stallions that were the 2000 Wizards. He's also been capped for the USA, which is something Franchino can also boast. However, Franchino was only capped once and was never considered an elite player in the league like Zavagnin was. Certainly his selection has to be one of the shrewdest moments in Wizards history.


Position #31

1998 TB Bill May
1999 NY Eric Kvello
2000 NE Shaker Asad
2001 SJ Craig Waibel
2002 DC Mohammed Fahim
2003 DC Hayden Woodworth
2004 DAL David Wagenfuhr
2005 SJ Orlando Ramirez
2006 DC Rod Dyachenko
2007 COL Omar Cummings
2008 CLB Ryan Miller

Best pick: A couple useful players here. Waibel has had the best career of any of them, having be en a part of four championship teams. Cummings has been one of the better picks in the 2007 draft, but he turned 25 as a rookie and the question is, how much better will he really get?


Position #32


1998 KC Mario Sanchez
1999 COL Bobby Meyer
2000 CHI Yuri Lavrinenko
2001 COL Ryan Lee
2002 KC O'neil Peart
2003 NY Kenny Arena
2004 CLB Jamal Sutton
2005 SJ C.J. Klaas
2006 HOU Andre Schmid
2007 DC Jay Needham
2008 NY Luke Sassano

Best pick: This is not a group of winners. Arena has played the most MLS games, but the less said about him the better. Yuri and Sutton also had brief cameos. But Sassano has already done more than all of them combined, starting in the recent MLS Cup. As for the others, uh...this would be interesting, but I think it's a different O'neil Peart.


Position #33

1998 CLB Nick Theslof
1999 CLB Randy Merkel
2000 CLB Brian Winters
2001 CHI Henry Ring
2002 SJ Chris Roner
2003 KC Taylor Graham
2004 LA David McGill
2005 NE Tony Lochhead
2006 CLB Dayton O'Brien
2007 NY Sinisa Ubiparipovic
2008 DC Ryan Cordeiro

Best pick: Lochhead has found a home in the Australian A-League after failing to secure a starting spot with New England, and is apparently doing well. Graham continues to be the MLS equivalent of a quadruple-A player; he tears it up in the second division but has failed twice in the big leagues. It looks like he might a third shot with Seattle. Roner had a promising career cut short by injury. Ring may be the worst player ever to win a team MVP award (during Chicago's poor 2004 season). Like Sassano, Ubiparipovic has seen an increased role with NY this season, though he's still yet to become a full time starter. That should happen in 2009. I expect Sinisa could easily be considered the best pick a year from now, but I'll give it to Lochhead as of now. He's apparently now one of the better players at his position in the A-League and has become part of the first XI for New Zealand.


Position #34

1998 TB R.T. Moore
1999 LA PASS
2000 DAL Steve Bernal
2001 TB Alberto Munoz
2002 COL Matt Moses
2003 DAL Mike Tranchilla
2004 DC Josh Gros
2005 LA Quavas Kirk
2006 CHI Jordan Russolillo
2007 CHI Mike Banner
2008 LA Matt Allen

Best pick: Gros is the obvious standout, starting for some great DC United teams. Hopefully we'll see him play again.


Position #35

1998 COL P.J. Brown
1999 DAL Aaron Lewis
2000 MIA Nick Rimando
2001 KC Ben Stafford
2002 CLB John Barry Nusum
2003 CHI Rob Friend
2004 COL Kevin Richards
2005 CHI Gonzalo Segares
2006 NE Kyle Brown
2007 COL Nick LaBrocca
2008 TOR Joseph Lapira

Best pick: A two man race. Segares is a great left back and one of the top defenders in the league. But he has only just started to fulfill his potential, whereas Rimando has been one of the league's better keepers for a while now. Every time people count him out, he comes back with another strong season. Due to the longevity of his career and what he's accomplished, he's my choice.


Position #36

1998 NE Tom McLaughlin
1999 CHI Stefani Miglioranzi
2000 NE Fabio Zuniga
2001 COL Eric Lukin
2002 CHI Dipsy Selolwane
2003 SJ Josh Saunders
2004 NY Michael Bradley
2005 CHI Thabiso Khumalo
2006 LA Chris Dunsheath
2007 COL Justin Hughes
2008 COL Adrian Chevannes

Best pick: Bradley is now a starter for the US national team.


Position #37

2000 NY Daniel Alvarez
2001 SJ Fabio Eidelwein
2002 KC Chris Brunt
2003 CLB Michael Ritch
2004 KC Jay Alberts
2005 RSL Luke Kreamalmeyer
2006 CHV Jonathan Bornstein
2007 DC Ricky Schramm
2008 RSL Brennan Tennelle

Best pick: Bornstein. The lowest drafted of any of the ROTY winners.


Position #38

2000 NE Adam Eyre
2001 MIA Greg Simmonds
2002 LA Cory Gibbs
2003 COL Matt Crawford
2004 CHI Denny Clanton
2005 CHV Esteban Arias
2006 CLB Duke Hashimoto
2007 NE Bryan Byrne
2008 CHI Dwight Barnett

Best pick: Who jumps out at you here? Gibbs, right? I can't give the Galaxy credit for this pick, though. This was the second time he was drafted, and they only did it to get his MLS rights (he was already playing in Germany). See pick #40.

Man, if it wasn't for Barnett, we could say every single pick here played for an MLS team. Eyre is married to USWNT 2008 gold medalist Aly Wagner. As for the best pick, Crawford had the longest and best MLS career of the rest, so it's him. Probably would still be going strong if not for a series of injuries. He's still competing, though.


Position #39

2000 NE Bo Oshoniyi
2001 CLB McKinley Tennyson
2002 SJ Kevin Sakuda
2003 SJ Jamil Walker
2004 CHI Phil Hucles
2005 CHI Karim Deltz
2006 DC Jeff Carroll
2007 HOU Mike Sambursky
2008 KC Matt Marquess

Best pick: Oshoniyi is another player, like Yari Allnut below, who played in MLS early on, then dropped a level before being drafted again. He finally got to be a full time starter with KC by the end of 2004 and for the next two seasons, but was one of the league's worst starters. I wonder how MLS Cup 2004 would've turned out with Tony Meola in the net?

Walker was used almost exclusively as a late game sub, but he had his shining moment starting in the 2003 MLS Cup where he played very well and set up the second goal for the Quakes. This is close, but I think Walker was a more useful player.


Position #40

2000 SJ Andrew Hemmerich
2001 MIA Cory Gibbs
2002 DC Dennis Ludwig
2003 LA Hamid Mehreioskouei
2004 SJ Marin Pusek
2005 DAL Julian Nash
2006 KC Eric Kronberg
2007 TOR Jeffrey Gonsalves
2008 CHI Stephen King

Best pick: Gibbs, easily. This pick is different from the above one because this was the normal pick after college, and there was a possibility of him signing.


Position #41

2000 DC Michael Burke
2001 COL Ryan Trout
2002 NE Derek Potteiger
2003 DC John Swann
2004 CLB Adom Crew
2005 SJ Antou Jallow
2006 NY Blake Camp
2007 CLB Aaron Chandler
2008 NE Matt Britner

Best pick: Burke and Camp played a handful of MLS games each, but both are now with the USL. Burke's had a long career with Richmond that continues to this day, following them from the A-League/USL-1 to the USL-2. Camp is now with Atlanta. Potteiger was a part of Cleveland's recent USL-2 championship. Interestingly, both Burke and Trout were at the USMNT training camp as replacement players during the labor dispute. The top pick has be Burke who has won numerous honors with the Kickers.


Position #42

2000 TB Amos Magee
2001 NE Yari Allnutt
2002 DC Bob Brennan
2003 NY Jacob LeBlanc
2004 CLB Luke Vercollone
2005 SJ James Twellman
2006 DAL Michael Dello-Russo
2007 KC Kurt Morsink
2008 HOU Geoff Cameron

Best pick: Allnutt was drafted five years after playing one game for the Wizards in 1996! Just like Oshoniyi. Anyway, this is interesting because the last three guys are still full of potential. Morsink has been the biggest contributor so far.


Position #43

2000 COL Lance Key
2001 DAL Adam Zapala
2002 KC Dominic DaPra
2003 KC Jack Jewsbury
2004 LA Jason Perry
2005 COL Guy Melamed
2006 DAL Mike Ambersley
2007 DAL Tommy Krizanovic
2008 CHV Keith Savage

Best pick: Jewsbury. Still going strong with the Wizards.


Position #44

2000 CHI John Wolyniec
2001 TB Adam Throop
2002 DAL Adauto Neto
2003 CHI Chad Dombrowski
2004 DC Kevin Hudson
2005 CLB Knox Cameron
2006 HOU Mike Chabala
2007 LA Tally Hall
2008 NY David Roth

Best pick: This is an interesting pick to judge because Wolyniec was also selected in the 1999 draft (see pick #7). I suppose I should take into account everything that happened since the pick. Well, no matter how you judge it, Wolyniec has had the best career here. Always room on the roster for a cheap guy who can score a few goals. He has struggled as of late, so who knows if he'll be back next year. Meanwhile, Hall is in Denmark and Chabala is a two-time MLS champion without ever playing a league game. Can he get the triple crown? Seems like that would be an unbreakable record. He was even on the bench for the final last year.


Position #45

2000 CLB Christof Lindenmayer
2001 LA Brent Rahim
2002 NE Marshall Leonard
2003 DAL Michael Mariscalco
2004 COL Gary Sullivan
2005 COL Amir Lowery
2006 COL Josh Brown
2007 LA Bobby Burling
2008 DAL Jamil Roberts

Best pick: Leonard had a nice run with the Revolution, starting in 2004 and 2005 (though he was one of their worst starters). He also might've set an MLS record last year for most times appearing on the bench without getting into an game. He did play twice in the Open Cup, however.


Position #46

2000 DAL Brian Piesner
2001 NY Martin Klinger
2002 CHI Mike Nugent
2003 SJ Johanes Maliza
2004 NY Johnny David
2005 LA Mubarike Chisoni
2006 CHI Jeremy Ashe
2007 CHV Cameron Dunn
2008 LA Brandon McDonald

Best pick: Not a lot to choose from. Metrofanatic has the scoop on former Metros Piesner, Klinger, and Nugent. Chisoni was an occasional sub on the Galaxy's 2005 MLS and Open Cup double winners, though he didn't play a game in either tournament. I'll remember him most for his post championship celebrations, when he rode on a Zamboni at a LA Kings game with the trophy (pic). Dunn was a part of Hollywood United's team this year. I'll take Mcdonald, who's seen a lot of time for a rookie; he's already played more in MLS than anyone else here.


Position #47

2000 LA Josh Henderson
2001 NE Fernando Ortiz Solis
2002 CLB Chris Leitch
2003 CLB Guy Abrahamson
2004 KC Justin Detter
2005 KC John Minagawa-Webster
2006 DC Kenny Bertz
2007 CHI Simon Omekanda
2008 COL Brian Grazier

Best pick: Leitch is one of those guys that nobody is ever really impressed by, but he continues to stick around. Not only that, but he's now in the top ten for the most starts with NY all time.


Position #48

2000 NY Orlando Perez
2001 KC Pablo Webster
2002 LA Noah Delgado
2003 COL Casey Schmidt
2004 KC Ryan Barber
2005 DC Tim Merritt
2006 LA Aaron King
2007 NE Adam Cristman
2008 CLB Steven Lenhart

Best pick: As a left-footed fullback, Perez had an 8 year MLS career. He was a starter on the 2003 Chicago team that won the Supporters' Shield. But he was never one of the best players on any team he was with. Cristman was a rookie of the year finalist and is continuing to play well this year.


Position #49

2000 NY Colby Jackson
2001 SJ Corey Woolfolk
2002 SJ Erik Ozimek
2003 NY Marco Velez
2004 CHI Ian Pilarski
2005 RSL Steven Rhyne
2006 CHV Drew Helm
2007 CLB Ben Hunter
2008 COL Scott Campbell

Best pick: Velez is the easy pick, though it took him a while to make it to MLS.


Position #50

2000 KC Tom Zawislan
2001 DC Caleb Norkus
2002 KC Davy Arnaud
2003 LA Jimmy Frazelle
2004 SJ Tighe Dombrowski
2005 CHV Javier Barragan
2006 RSL Jeff Rowland
2007 DC Luis Robles
2008 DAL Ben Nason

Best pick: Arnaud in MLS - 161 games and 30 goals. The others combined: 4 and 0.


Position #51

2000 TB Mark Schulte
2001 CLB Scott Powers
2002 CLB Christof Lindenmayer
2003 DC Michael Behonick
2004 CHI Ryan McGowan
2005 CHI Justin Cook
2006 CLB Andy Gruenebaum
2007 NE Kyle Helton
2008 LA Matt Hatzke

Best pick: Schulte was part of a horrible Crew team in 2005 and is now the two-time USL-2 defender of the year. That tells you a little about the standard there. Hatzke is with SJ now and doesn't play. He's not be confused with his brother Nick who doesn't play for Houston. Gruenebaum is the backup keeper for Columbus. Despite the 2005 lack of success, I'm still gonna pick Schulte. He's played for good teams in Iceland and Uruguay, and actually had some success. The others have barely played.


Position #52

2000 SJ Ian Russell
2001 MIA Teofilo Cubillas Jr.
2002 NE Pass
2003 DAL Andy Rosenband
2004 CLB Matthew Haefner
2005 DAL Kevin Wilson
2006 KC Anthony Noriega
2007 HOU Eric Ebert
2008 DC Tony Schmitz

Best pick: Easily Russell. He was an important player for the Earthquakes during their two championships. One of the better professional players to be drafted (he was in the A-League for two years previously).


Position #53

2000 MIA Pablo Gentile
2001 NE Eric Pogue
2002 DC Pass
2003 KC Kevin Friedland
2004 LA Alan Gordon
2005 SJ Brett Rodriguez
2006 NY Joe Vide
2007 TOR Jarrod Smith
2008 KC Rauwshan McKenzie

Best pick: Three guys to debate here. First, let's compare the two who play the same position, Gordon and Smith. The latter may be a New Zealand international, but he hasn't scored goals like the former has. So Gordon versus Vide, who wins? I'll take Gordon. His goal tally looks better when you include all competitions, and I think he's a bit better than people give him credit for.


Position #54

2000 TB Brian Waltrip
2001 NE Shaun Tsakiris
2002 DAL Jeremy Piette
2003 CHI Ryan Futagaki
2004 DAL Edwin Miranda
2005 NY Jason Hernandez
2006 DAL Christopher Joyce
2007 CHV Desmond Brooks
2008 CHI Austin Washington

Best pick: Hernandez is a starter for San Jose, the only 54 to claim such a role in MLS. The Salvadorian Miranda was just in the news for scoring in the CONCACAF Champions League for Puerto Rico.


Position #55

2000 COL Peter Scavo
2001 DAL Gary DePalma
2002 DAL Ricardo Villar
2003 LA Joe Barton
2004 COL John Pulido
2005 COL Sasha Gotsmanov
2006 HOU Mpho Moloi
2007 KC Aaron Hohlbein
2008 NE Spencer Wadsworth

Best pick: Hohlbein is the only one to have any kind of impact in MLS.


Position #56

2000 CHI Alejandro Rincon
2001 TB Mersim Beskovic
2002 NY Mario Gomez
2003 SJ Frank Sanfilipo
2004 NE Felix Brillant
2005 CLB Matt Oliver
2006 DAL Miguel Guante
2007 COL John DiRaimondo
2008 HOU Jeremy Barlow

Best pick: Lot of USL-1 level guys here. DiRaimondo has contributed for the Rapids in his second season after being part of the league's top reserve team last year.


Position #57

2000 CLB Dominic Schell
2001 LA Alex Bengard
2002 KC Brian Lavin
2003 NE PASS
2004 LA Chris Aloisi
2005 CLB Bill Gaudette
2006 COL Jordan Harvey
2007 LA Steve Purdy
2008 SJ Adam Smarte

Best pick: A bunch of benchwarmers is the reaction that comes to mind. Most of the players got a bit of playing time without much success, though Aloisi was on the bench for the 2006 MLS Cup. Harvey and Smarte are still in the league, but Gaudette is my pick due to his recent heroics in goal for the Puerto Rico Islanders. It was just a year ago that he was dropped as the Crew's backup for Gruenebaum, one of the better picks at 51. Good move?


Position #58

2000 DAL Seth Marks
2001 NY O'neil Peart
2002 NE Pass
2003 CLB Jake Traeger
2004 NE Andy Dorman
2005 LA Benjamin Benditson
2006 CHI Floyd Franks
2007 NY Randi Patterson
2008 TOR Xavier Balc

Best pick: Dorman was a big part of NE's success in recent times. He has since become a hit in Scotland after signing with St. Mirren as a free agent. There was even talk about a possible move to the Premiership. He's a no-brainer pick, but one to watch may be Patterson. He didn't play a minute for NY, but this year is one of the leading goalscorers in the USL-1. If he keeps that up, he could get another shot.


Position #59

2000 LA Thomas Serna
2001 KC Narciso Fernandes
2002 LA Lawrence Smalls
2003 DC PASS
2004 CHI Tony McManus
2005 KC Edwin Ruiz
2006 NE Danny Wynn
2007 CHI Nick Noble
2008 COL Kevin Forrest

Best pick: Geez, a grand total of 3 MLS games here. Noble still has a chance at becoming a good player. He's the #2 keeper for the Fire, albeit because Matt Pickens left for Europe. Yet to make his league debut, though he's played in the Open Cup. Forrest is now playing for the Sounders, so maybe he could be in MLS next year.


Position #60

2000 DC Micah Cooks
2001 TB Hector Navarte
2002 SJ Aaron Biddle
2003 KC Byron Carmichael
2004 NY Jeff Parke
2005 DC Matt Nickell
2006 LA Trevor McEachron
2007 CHI Mark Totten
2008 LA Michael Gavin

Best pick: Parke famously was the final pick in 2004, and now wears the number 60 to honor his status as a former "Mr. Irrelevant." And of those players in MLS draft history, he's really the only one to have any success. I suppose Stefani Miglioranzi could be considered a success, but he didn't make his MLS debut until 7 years after being drafted so that really doesn't count.


Position #61

2000 NY Jake Dancy
2001 SJ Jorge Martinez
2002 COL Matt Harrell
2005 RSL Michael Lookingland
2006 CHV Darren Spicer
2007 DAL Sandi Gbandi
2008 COL Cesar Zambrano

Best pick: Dancy was picked after being cut by KC. None of these goals has done anything in MLS, so at the moment I'll go with Spicer who is a starter with Charleston in the USL-1. Zambrano is awaiting his chance with the Rapids, if he ever does anything this spot is his for the taking.


Position #62

2000 KC Casey Sweeney
2001 DC T.J. Hannig
2002 NE Pass
2005 CHV Helmis Matute
2006 RSL Willis Forko
2007 LA Gordon Kljestan
2008 CLB Billy Chiles

Best pick: Forko was a key member of RSL for two seasons. He's now with a Norwegian team. That's better than Matute, who played in Iceland. The only one currently on an MLS roster is Sacha's brother, signed this year with NY. Can he ever hope to achieve anything close to what his sibling has done?


Position #63

2000 NE Tom Hardy
2001 CLB Phil Karn
2002 DC Pass
2005 CHI David Mahoney
2006 CLB David Chun
2007 DC Shawn Crowe
2008 NY Danleigh Borman

Best pick: Borman, he of the underwhelming goal celebrations, has shown promise for the Red Bulls and looks to be a supplemental steal.


Position #64

2000 TB Ubusuku Abukusumo
2001 MIA Daouda Kante
2002 KC Dane Erickson
2005 DAL Abe Thompson
2006 KC Ryan McMahen
2007 NE Phil Marfuggi
2008 NE Kheli Dube

Best pick: Dube was on his way to becoming a rookie of the year finalist before his injury. Still, I have to pick Thompson due to his 14 career league goals (and more in other competitions). He may not be the most skilled player, but he finds a way to get on the scoresheet. I remember back on draft day 2005 how some fans were shocked to see the Superdraft come and go without his name being called.


Position #65

2000 TB Ernest Inneh
2001 COL John Carroll
2002 KC Mark Spears
2005 NE Jamie Holmes
2006 NY Peter Dzubay
2007 HOU Nick Hatzke
2008 CHV Kraig Chiles

Best pick: Holmes is a guy who had a great preseason but didn't have much of an MLS career (like Casey Schmidt). Now he's in the USL-2. Hatzke and Chiles are both still in MLS; the latter has seen more minutes due to the massive amount of injuries Chivas has had.


Position #66

2000 TB Mike Gentile
2001 NE Michael Feller
2002 NY Jeff Moore
2005 SJ Robby Fulton
2006 DAL Brad Napper
2007 TOR Darryl Roberts
2008 DC Brandon Owens

Best pick: Roberts chose not to sign, and is now making a successful career in Europe.


Position #67

2000 COL Rich Cullen
2001 DAL Miguel Saavedra
2002 CLB Scott Leber
2005 LA Drew McAthy
2006 DC Andy Metcalf
2007 CLB Ryan Junge
2008 KC Pat Healy

Best pick: Junge has seen some time for the Crew this season. How about Saavreda, who actually was a Project-40 (now Generation Adidas) player? That's really incredible to see such a player barely get drafted.


Position #68

2000 CHI Kevin Jackson
2001 CHI Danny Risch
2002 NY Leo Krupnik
2005 CLB Eric Vasquez
2006 HOU Hector Guzman
2007 KC Michael Todd
2008 CHI Kai Kasiguran

Best pick: Krupnik has been playing in Israel for the last couple years, after never playing a game for the Metros.


Position #69

2000 CLB PASS
2001 LA Mike Potempa
2002 LA Ishmael Mintah
2005 NE Ryan Latham
2006 COL Liam Girrard
2007 RSL Haddon Kirk
2008 NE Chris Tierney

Best pick: Latham has to be one of the least memorable players to ever play in an MLS Cup. He was cut during his second year. Another Rev, Tierney, is seeing time this year and has already played more games than Latham did, including starting the Superliga final.


Position #70

2000 DAL Angel Rivillo
2001 NY Russell Payne
2002 SJ Lars Lyssand
2005 LA Matt Kovar
2006 CHI Dasan Robinson
2007 LA Kevin Long
2008 HOU Johnny Alcaraz

Best pick: Robinson is in his third year with the Fire, although he's not played a big role this season. That may change if Brandon Prideaux is lost in the expansion draft to Seattle. Meanwhile, the less said about Payne's MLS career, the better.


Position #71

2000 LA Ali John Utush
2001 DAL Roberto Navarro
2005 DAL Aaron Pitchkolan
2006 NE John Queeley
2007 NY Sal Caccavale
2008 SJ Tim Bohnenkamp

Best pick: Caccavale should go down in history as one of the few MLS players to score in his only appearance. That's the only notable thing about every selection except FCD's Pitchkolan, who has filled in at both DM and CB. He's a solid MLS player who can play multiple positions.


Position #72

2000 DC PASS
2001 KC Matthew Cross
2005 DAL Drew Cavanagh
2006 LA Daniel Paladini
2007 CHV Erasmo Solorzano
2008 TOR PASS

Best pick: Paladini has played a few games with Chivas this year due to injuries.


Position #73

2005 RSL Noah Palmer
2006 CHV Lawson Vaughn
2007 CHI Osei Telesford
2008 RSL Tino Nuñez

Best pick: All four players have MLS experience. Palmer was a third stringer for RSL until he became an emergency stopgap "solution" for the Crew in 2006. Nunez is an attacking option off the bench in his rookie year. Telesford only was with the Fire briefly and didn't impress, but since moving to the Puerto Rico Islanders he's become a regular for his national team. Doesn't seem to be one of their better players, however. Vaughn was a regular for last year's stellar Chivas team. He's had the most success in MLS.


Position #74

2005 CHV Mike Munoz
2006 RSL Chase Harrison
2007 LA Zach Kirby
2008 LA Charles Alamo

Best pick: Munoz, who is back in MLS after a stint in the USL.


Position #75

2005 CHI Chris Karcz
2006 CLB Ivan Becerra
2007 CLB Tonci Skroce
2008 COL Mike Graczyk

Best pick: Let's see. Graczyk is in MLS now, but only as a pool keeper. Becerra started one Open Cup match for the Crew and scored. Karcz, whom Ives wrote about last year, signed with NY during 2007 but never played. He's now in the PDL. Can't find anything on the other guy. Let's give it to Graczyk, who's appeared on the bench for at least 3 MLS teams this season (COL, DAL, LA).


Position #76

2005 DAL Chris Schwarze
2006 KC Corey Farabi
2007 CHV Raul Batista
2008 CLB Cory Elenio

Best pick: Elenio just signed with the Crew this summer and made his debut. He's the only one to play in MLS. Although, Schwarze has played in the USL the past couple years.


Position #77

2005 SJ Noah Merl
2006 NY Brian Cvilikas
2007 NE Gary Flood
2008 NY Michael Palacio

Best pick: Flood has filled in for the Revs when necessary. Unfortunately for him, he plays a position (defensive midfield) where they are stacked.


Position #78

2005 NY Patrick Hannigan
2006 DAL Sean Babcock
2007 LA Taylor Canel
2008 DAL Yannick Reyering

Best pick: Yes, Reyering is now a college football kicker. Will he stick with that or tryout with Dallas next year? Until then, the pick is Hannigan, who was Miami FC's starting keeper in 2007.


Position #79

2005 COL Eugene Sepuya
2006 NY Brian Devlin
2007 TOR Hunter West
2008 CHV Javier Ayala-Hill

Best pick: Ok, I did not know that Sepuya (or Ssepuuya, apparently) is playing in Europe for the third best team in Serbia. Really? He's also scored a couple goals for Uganda in WCQ's.


Position #80

2005 CLB Ryan Kelly
2006 HOU Tony Donatelli
2007 RSL Jared Kent
2008 DC Dan Stratford

Best pick: Donatelli for now, who scored a goal as Vancouver won the USL title in 2006. I think that beats a handful of MLS games. Let's see what happens to Stratford after being waived.


Position #81

2005 NE Easton Wilson
2006 COL Keith Cauldwell
2007 KC Chris Konopka
2008 KC Vicente Arze

Best pick: Konopka was the Wizards' third keeper last year and is now in Ireland as the backup for the league leaders, Bohemians. Also, Arze has played almost every game for Vancouver, who are second in their league. Appears to be used mostly as a substitute. Wilson was with the Revs for 2005 and is now in the USL-2. Close battle, but I'll say Arze since he's actually playing games. I'm not convinced that the top team in Ireland is better than the Whitecaps (see the Russell Payne link above).


Position #82

2005 LA Ryan Shaw
2006 CHI Ezra Prendergast
2007 KC Eric Frimpong
2008 CHI Adrian Bumbut

Best pick: None made an MLS roster. Shaw was in the PDL as of last year. Bumbut, whose chances were likely hurt by his international status, just finished his first season as a starter for Richmond in the USL-2. He's the pick, since that's the best thing I can find about these four. Prendergast is Jamaican, I've always assumed that he's somehow related to the notorious official. How many Prendergasts are over there? Let's not even talk about Frimpong.


Position #83

2005 KC Doug Lascody
2006 NE Adam Williamson
2007 CHV Anthony Hamilton
2008 NE Kyle Altman

Best pick: Hamilton was tied for the MLS reserve division golden boot in 2007, though he's barely played so far with Chivas.


Position #84

2005 DC Andrew Terris
2006 LA Armando Melendez
2007 KC A.J. Godbolt
2008 HOU Craig Thompson

Best pick: Thompson is seeing action after being traded to DC.


Position #85

2005 RSL Cameron Knowles
2006 HOU Josh Fender
2007 CHV Lyle Martin
2008 SJ Greg Curry

Best pick: Knowles, who is the captain for Portland in the USL-1 and was just voted the team's best player of 2008 by the supporters. Martin also seems to be doing pretty good for Vancouver as a right back.


Position #86

2005 CHV Dan Kennedy
2006 COL Daniel Wasson
2007 CHI Asmir Pervan
2008 TOR PASS

Best pick: It's between two players, both of whom have gone abroad in their short careers. Kennedy played a year in Chile, while Wasson is now in the 2-Bundlesiga (though he apparently is with the second team). I have to go with Kennedy, who has succeeded everywhere he's been and is young for a keeper. He's got his shot right now to claim the starting role.


Position #87

2005 CHI Hollis Ryan Donaldson
2006 DAL Peter Louis
2007 COL Kosuke Kimura
2008 RSL Kevin Reiman

Best pick: Kimura has played a lot this season for the Rapids.


Position #88

2005 DAL Sammy Tamporello
2006 KC Chris Hamburger
2007 COL Riley O'Neill
2008 LA Greg Folk

Best pick: O'Neill is with a team in the German 3rd division.


Position #89

2005 SJ Chris Wondolowski
2006 RSL Chris Lancos
2007 DC Guy-Roland Kpene
2008 COL Daniel Antunez

Best pick: Wondolowski is the king of the reserves and a serviceable bench player. Kpene is now with the Dynamo as well and can't get on the field, which makes for an easy comparison.


Position #90

2005 NY Usiel Vasquez
2006 CHI Idris Ughiovhe
2007 NE Chris Loftus
2008 CLB Lukasz Tumicz

Best pick: Loftus was with the Revs for a year and now is playing in the Swedish second division. You'd think he'd be the easy choice. However, Tumicz is the best pick. Why? He signed with a first division team in his native Poland, and is getting some playing time. Here he is scoring two goals in a match a few weeks ago. I wonder if teams knew he was signing abroad and that's why he was drafted so low?


Position #91

2005 COL Dan Gargan
2006 DC Devon McTavish
2007 HOU Erik Ustruck
2008 NY John Gilkerson

Best pick: McTavish has turned into a regular starter for United. Meanwhile, Gargan's a bit unlucky to share position 91 with him given the lack of talent at some of these spots (though he did just retire).


Position #92

2005 CLB Chris Lee
2006 HOU PASS
2007 TOR Tyler Hemming
2008 DAL Ben Shuleva

Best pick: Hemming played a few games for TFC and now is going after a European career, in Finland.


Position #93

2005 NE Jeff Larentowicz
2006 KC Luke Enna
2007 CLB Ted Niziolek
2008 CHV El-Hadj Cisse

Best pick: One of the easiest positions to decide on, Larentowicz. Along with McTavish, he's one of the two best picks from position 90 or later.


Position #94

2005 LA Jeremiah Gallegos
2006 CHI Richard Mupfudze
2007 HOU Justin Douglass
2008 CLB Zola Short

Best pick: Uh...let's see. None of these four made a roster, and I can't find anything about them playing anywhere else since. Douglass is definitely not playing, it appears. Gallegos is listed on the Galaxy player register at MLSnet, but he's not listed on any of the transactions as ever being with him so that must be a mistake. Mupfudze tried out for the Carolina Railhawks a year ago and apparently failed. He also played a reserve game for the Galaxy in 2006. So at least he almost made it somewhere else, so I'll go with him. Mupfudze it is.


Position #95

2005 KC Ryan Caugherty
2006 NE Matt Wieland
2007 RSL Kyle Reynish
2008 KC Tom Gray

Best pick: None have played an MLS match, but Reynish is still around as RSL's #3 keeper.


Position #96

2005 DC Shawn Kuykendall
2006 LA Matt Couch
2007 LA Kiel McClung
2008 CHI Zach Pope

Best pick: Kuykendall is the only guy who played in MLS. But it was only for 25 minutes over 3 games for DC in 2005, though he was picked up by NY the following season (and then injured himself). Meanwhile, McClung played for the California Victory in the USL-1, and was just on the USL-2 championship squad in Cleveland (though he only played a couple games). Is that better than a handful of MLS minutes, and should Kuykendall's injury be factored in?

I guess I'll go with Kuykendall for now as he was on an MLS roster for two seasons, so we know he could play at that level. And this has nothing to do with that analysis, but he also enjoys making Youtube videos.


Position #97

2007 DAL Chase Wileman
2008 NE Saidi Isaac

Best pick: Wileman. He's still in MLS, whereas Isaac is back in the PDL. No, he's not the guy who retired to become a priest, that's Chase Hilgenbrink.


Position #98

2007 NY Danny Cepero
2008 HOU Kieran Hall

Best pick: Cepero has been regularly making the bench as NY's backup keeper ever since Zach Thornton was traded. Though NY just signed a new senior roster keeper.


Position #99

2007 CHI Daniel Woolard
2008 SJ Tim Jepson

Best pick: Woolard, who's played in 7 games this season. Jepson not in MLS.


Position #100

2007 KC Michael Kraus
2008 TOR PASS

Best pick: Kraus. Yet to play but still with the team.


Position #101

2007 RSL Dustin Kirby
2008 RSL Kenny Anaba

Best pick: Kirby. He's made a few appearances for Salt Lake, while Anaba is nowhere to be found.


Position #102

2007 CLB Kevin Burns
2008 LA Daniel De Geer

Best pick: Burns. He's still with the Crew. Actually, according to his bio he played a year in the USL before he signed.


Position #103

2007 NE PASS
2008 CHI Steve Bode

Best pick: Bode by default, despite the fact that he didn't make the team.


Position #104

2007 KC Willy Guadarrama
2008 CHI Tim Conway

Best pick: Guadarrama. He was on an MLS roster for a year, even though he didn't play. I wonder if he was more successful with his contest date? Now he's with the Austin Aztecs of the PDL, and I'd imagine should be able to make their USL-1 team next year. We'll see. Meanwhile, Conway was cut in preseason and is now in the NPSL.


Positions #105-112

Due to expansion to 14 teams, this season's 105-112 picks are the only choices and are the best picks by default. Only Thorpe remains on an MLS roster.

105 2008 NY Laurent Manuel
106 2008 DAL PASS
107 2008 CHV Andre Sherard
108 2008 DC James Thorpe
109 2008 KC Andrew Kartunen
110 2008 CHI Melford James, Jr.
111 2008 NE PASS
112 2008 HOU James Georgeff

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