On Tuesday’s episode of the FiftyFive.One Podcast, we completed our version of a mock MLS Expansion Draft between Minnesota and Atlanta. Jake Rueter picked for Minnesota United, while Alex Schieferdecker played the Atlanta United role. With Jeff Rueter acting as a moderator and live reactor (they didn’t tell me their picks in advance), we have something of commentary for each pick.
You can find our series on potential targets, The Expansion Draft Cometh, in four segments: Goalkeepers, Defenders, Midfielders, and Forwards.
Enjoy!
Pick One (ATL): Sean Johnson, GK, Chicago Fire
Jeff: Again, I have not heard these picks before, so I’ll be reacting in real time. Sean Johnson is a native son of Atlanta, grew up in Stone Mountain…
Jake: Wow!
Alex: I don’t know if Chicago will protect him, but I think Atlanta already have talked to Chicago about him. They’ll send Chicago 50 Garberbucks to leave him unprotected. He is a starting-caliber goalkeeper for that team.
Jeff: There’s also been talk that they’re in trade negotiations for him, but I can see Chicago just holding onto him until the Expansion Draft. That means that no more Fire players can be picked. I know that was a destination team for Jake to choose from.
Jake: That one really hurt.
Pick Two (MNU): Nick Hagglund, CB, Toronto FC
Jake: This will be no surprise to anybody who’s read the pieces by Alex and myself. Just about anybody who’s talked about the defenders who might be available. He jumped over a bus during the Eastern Conference Final to score a goal. I think he’s a special player. He makes some head-scratching decisions from time to time, but he’s a young center back.
Pick Three (ATL): Leonardo, CB, LA Galaxy
Alex: Atlanta United will want to get some defenders in this draft. He’s experienced. He led the Galaxy in minutes in the past couple years. He’s not that old, so I think he’s the perfect veteran defender for Atlanta.
Jeff: You wrote the defender piece for our series, right?
Alex: I did.
Jeff: Did you mention Leonardo?
Alex: No, I didn’t.
Jeff: Covert! I like it.
Alex: I’ve reconsidered. I think that I’d love to have him in Minnesota. He’s experienced and he was very, very good. He just didn’t get many minutes this year.
Pick Four (MNU): Christian Dean, CB, Vancouver Whitecaps
Jake: He played last season, a bit less this season. He’s a young US international, maybe not a full international.
Jeff: He was in Camp Cupcake (January camp) one year, I think.
Jake: Or was it Camp Strudel? He’s definitely a project center back and we have seen first-hand how hard it is to identify solid young CBs. If you have a chance to take a flier on Dean, I don’t think you can pass that up.
Pick Five (ATL): Gonzalo Verón, FW, New York Red Bulls
Alex: I’ve got Atlanta picking Veron of RasenBallsport New York. He’s a winger and he’s a DP. Matt Doyle had a write-up about him…going to Atlanta. It’s not hard to see why. He’s an Argentine, he hasn’t gotten a look in at New York. As Doyle pointed out, however, his actual production when he’s on the field has not been bad.
Jeff: So that makes Atlanta’s attack, left to right, as Héctor Villalba, Miguel Almíron, Verón, and Kenwyne Jones up top? That’s not bad at all.
Pick Six (MNU): Zac MacMath, GK, Colorado Rapids
Jake: At this point, I realized that all teams with goalkeepers that I liked had been scratched from the board except for one. We saw the hot rumor that Minnesota was interested in him…
Source: Minnesota is interested in forward Giovinco should he become available for expansion draft on December 13th. #MNUFC #MLS https://t.co/zL3wPE5scp
— Jeff Rueter (@jeffrueter) December 2, 2016
MacMath got a raw deal this year. Colorado was already a brick wall before Tim Howard arrived. Part of that is thanks to Zac MacMath. He does commit a howler from time to time as a young goalkeeper. If you’re noticing a trend here…
Jeff: He’s a perfect fit for Minnesota.
Jake: I don’t expect Minnesota to be world-beaters in year one. I don’t even expect the playoffs. What I hope to see is that we have a core of young players who are allowed to develop together.
Pick Seven (ATL): Kofi Opare, CB, D.C. United
Alex: He’s another player who hasn’t always been the first choice. We saw him as surplus when we went around to protect players. He’s a young defender — it’s a theme — and I think he’s a good player.
Jeff: So to recap: we’ve made seven picks. We have four center backs — three of which we could still consider prospects. We’ve got two goalkeepers and a DP winger.
Pick Eight (MNU): Harry Shipp, AM, Montreal Impact
Jake: I was a little bit surprised that he was available at this point. In a lot of ways, Shipp reminds me of the type of player that Ben Speas was this year: American attacking midfielder who’s been stuck behind somebody at his previous club. Maybe Shipp’s parents will get season tickets to Minnesota United… It just makes sense to me to take a flier on.
Alex: The story behind that Shipp thing is that his mom called the Fire to cancel her season tickets when he was traded.
Jake: Just the best story…
Pick Nine (ATL): Cedrick Mabwati, FW, Columbus Crew
Alex: He’s just destined to be an impact sub. In truth, he hasn’t been as impactful for the Crew as you would hope. But once in a while, he’ll do something that’s totally ridiculous. You can see he’s talented. He’s too inconsistent for Columbus to spend a protection spot on him. He’d be a very good addition to Atlanta’s attacking core.
Jeff: Especially with two young wingers who would be relatively new to MLS with what you’ve got set up.
Pick Ten (MNU): Raymon Gaddis, RB, Philadelphia Union
Jake: Make you happy, Jeff?
Jeff: Yep!
Jake: Gaddis was a solid player in MLS and then Philly drafted Keegan Rosenberry, who played every minute of 2016. He’s very solid. Gaddis would bring some veteran experience to a back line that doesn’t have much of it. He’d also be competition for Kevin Venegas. It’s been weird to realize that we might have enough depth to have competition for spots along the back line this year.
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Jeff: Players that I thought you guys missed that both teams could use: if Victor Ulloa was available from FC Dallas, he’s a true defensive midfielder. If Gershon Koffie was left unprotected from New England. And Tyler Turner, who’s a right back from Orlando. He’s a raw, younger version of Gaddis, so I prefer the Gaddis pick to that. But he’s a player that Adrian Heath highly praised when they were together in Orlando.
Alex: And I get a special shoutout to Oalex Anderson from Seattle. I know I didn’t pick him, but if I had a sixth pick or if Mabwati wasn’t available, I would’ve taken Anderson. I’m really disappointed that Jake didn’t pick him for Minnesota.
Jake: I broke Alex’s heart.
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