On Tuesday, Minnesota United took part in the Expansion Draft with Atlanta United. In a draft that matched very few people’s predictions, both teams came out with five new additions to their roster. FiftyFive.One’s Jeff Rueter and Alex Schieferdecker look at the hauls.
Jeff: Hey Alex! I think I’ve finally caught my breath from the Expansion Draft. Lots of moving parts and I’m sure that’ll be the case for the rest of the week. Let’s work our way through Minnesota’s draft before spending a little time on Atlanta.
I was really surprised to see Chris Duvall taken first, but being able to flip him for Johan Venegas was a great deal in my eyes. Venegas is a lethal attacker and if he can show the consistent flair he possesses for Los Ticos, he’ll be a great component of the Minnesota attack.
Alex: Hey Jeff. Only this once I’ll gloat about being the only FiftyFive.One staff member to guess any of MNUFC’s picks correctly — 40 percent, baby!
Okay yeah, I was quite surprised to see Duvall picked as well and then not at all surprised to see him swapped. It feels to me that the club has confidence in JD and Viva and so using a scarce expansion draft pick on competition for either of them would be an unacceptable opportunity cost. But if you can then flip that full back for an attacker like Johan Venegas, it’s certainly worth it. The Costa Rican has really performed well for his country and his previous club, but not achieved his potential with Montreal. If his style of play better fits into the possession approach of Heath than the counter-attacking of Montreal, than we’ve got a win-win deal for both sides. I’m optimistic about it. We have a likely opening day starter from this first pick and resulting trade.
Let’s look next at Minnesota’s second pick, Collen Warner. I saw Warner on a few mock drafts beforehand. He’s fairly expensive (his 2016 hit was just under $175,000), but he seems to have impressed in the second half of his season with Houston after they dumped Owen Coyle. Houston were actually in the top half of teams defensively, they were bad primarily because their offense was horrible. Warner is a pure defensive midfielder. Is he the final answer for this position for the Loons?
“Venegas is a lethal attacker, and if he can show the consistent flair he possesses for Los Ticos, he’ll be a great component of the Minnesota attack.” – Jeff Rueter
Jeff: Coming out of this draft, I think that Minnesota has four of their opening day XI locked in. That said, I don’t know if I’d go so far as saying Warner is a lock to be a starter. Now on his fifth team since joining MLS in 2010, he can be a true No. 6, protecting the Minnesota backline and muscling players off of the ball. However, I’ve gotten the sense that United is aiming to use a DP slot or two in their main spine. This narrows it down to four positions: center back, defensive midfield, a No. 10, or a striker. I don’t think it’ll be a striker, so process of elimination leads me to suspect that they’re targeting an enforcer in the Ozzie Alonso mold.
Still, Warner is a good addition as a guy with league experience at 28 years old. The player picked after him (Mohammed Saeid) seems a safer bet to start right away. He ended up as a defensive mid for Columbus by the time he was through, but Saeid is a very strong option to go box-to-box, adding five assists in 2016. I know he was on your shortlist — why should readers be excited about him?
Alex: I was excited about Saeid because I find him a very useful midfield player. That’s hard to quantify, but where Saeid excels is in connecting passes and serving as a bridge between attack and defense. He’s the kind of player you don’t necessarily notice, because he’s bustling around the engine room making sideways or short forward passes. He’s not your main defender or creator, though he can be a defender or a creator. I agree with you, I think he’s a day one starter for us.
Amos Magee told you and Wes that they were surprised to find him available. So was I, and once he became open, he was immediately on my list. Just to close on Saeid, I’ll repeat the point I’ve made in other places, which is that Columbus Crew fans are really mad about losing him. I think they’re right, there’s no way either team would’ve picked Adam Jahn if he were available. We got a valuable player here.
On to Minnesota’s fourth pick. Here, they selected Jeff Attinella, which finally brought to a close the great goalkeeper debate we’ve been having since we started to prepare for this draft. To me, Attinella is the 1a/1b guy we’ve wanted all along. This is a guy who is surprisingly young at 28, he’s trained with Nick Rimando, Rimando’s GK coach, and a former GK in head coach Jeff Cassar. I’ve been clear about Attinella being my choice of the goalkeepers in the draft, but I know you and others preferred the likes of Clint Irwin or Steve Clark. How are you feeling now that the picks are in?
“Where Saeid excels is in connecting passes and serving as a bridge between attack and defense. He’s the kind of player you don’t necessarily notice, because he’s bustling around the engine room making sideways or short forward passes.” – Alex Schieferdecker
Jeff: We started the Attinella Hype Train way back in September and this pick makes us look really good. I still rate Attinella over Clark, but I do think Irwin was the best available GK in the draft. Still, it seems as if Toronto was always going to offer some sort of package to reacquire him, so if United wanted to walk away with a goalkeeper, Attinella was the guy.
Personally, I’m thrilled about it. He’s a guy that’s been chomping at the bit to start, but was blocked by Rimando. First, the bad news: Attinella has a 7-15-6 record (27 points) in 28 starts since joining RSL in 2013. It’s tough to gauge how much of an effect a starting goalkeeper has on a record, but that’s enough of a sample size for slight concern. Still, he averages just under four saves a match, which shows he’s been somewhat busy every time he’s out there. I feel fine if he’s starting week one.
United closed out the draft with a total curve ball: Femi Hollinger-Janzen. The young striker was a third-round pick in the 2016 SuperDraft but averaged a sliver below 1.00 goals+assists per 90 minutes off the bench. He became a beloved figure in the Revs’ fanbase and there’s a chance that we caught a Patrick Mullins-like steal with the draft’s final pick. Am I getting carried away with our first prospect?
Alex: I had Femi as a “target” when we first did our mock expansion protected lists several months ago, but I can’t claim to have expected his selection. I did know who he was though and I was excited when his name was called. This guy, he seemed to make a real difference for the Revs this season. He’s an agent of chaos more than anything. He’s not actually a huge player, but he naturally draws attention and seems to be very good in the air. I thought he was brilliant as an impact sub and so I’m definitely curious about whether he’ll reprise that role with the Loons, or push for a starting spot, or perhaps get stranded and not play a whole lot.
I’m still hoping we can nail down Christian Ramirez and draft Jeremy Ebobisse, so playing time for Femi could get tight, and he could see time on the wing instead. But all of that being said, I share your excitement. It’s fun to see just what young prospects the front office really does believe in and fun to see them pounce when he becomes available. If we do get Ramirez and Ebobisse, what an exciting collection of young talent we have at the striker position!
So Femi’s selection wrapped up the draft. Atlanta selected Donny Toia (traded to Orlando for the No. 8 SuperDraft pick), Zach Loyd, Clint Irwin (traded back to Toronto for Mark Bloom and GAM), Mikey Ambrose, and Alec Kann. I guess the next big question is: what surprised you? For both teams, what picks really don’t look too smart to you and which players should’ve been selected instead?
Jeff: Looking purely at Atlanta, I have no idea what their strategy was for today. They jokingly tweeted out a photo last night of their braintrust playing simulated golf instead of researching and today made it seem like they should have put their drivers away.
Thinking back to the Priority Draft – Atlanta parlayed the coin flip win (#1 expansion draft) into the 8th SuperDraft pick. #MNUFC
— Jeff Rueter (@jeffrueter) December 13, 2016
When you’re going to choose the Expansion Draft as your top priority, you better make that pick count. Instead, they took Donny Toia, whom they then traded for the No. 8 pick. Two top-ten picks might look good, but that’s bad value. I guarantee they could’ve gone second, taken Chris Duvall, and either kept him or traded him to Orlando City for that same No. 8 pick. In turn, they would’ve had the top pick in the SuperDraft. Major headscratcher.
Loyd was a really good pickup and both Ambrose and Kann should be decent reserve options down the stretch. Still, they walked out of their top priority with one starter and not a lot of truly experienced depth. Wait a second… Is that Steven Beitashour’s music?
Alex: Yeah, thanks for teeing me up. So I know that Steven Beitashour is expensive, but he’s also a proven winner. Last year, he was with Vancouver and the Caps made the playoffs behind a very good defense. This year, he joined TFC and the Reds made the playoffs behind a much improved defense, while the Caps defense really collapsed. Now, there’s more than one variable at play here, but Beitashour is certainly a key one. He’s an excellent full back and exactly the kind of player who Atlanta could use. They don’t have any full backs and their main defender, Michael Parkhurst, is a shorter, quicker, smarter defender. He’s not a guy you want defending crosses from the wings, so you’ll need good fullbacks to snuff that stuff out. So why Atlanta didn’t pick Beitashour is honestly beyond me. I’m mildly surprised that the Loons didn’t grab him, but his non-selection by Atlanta makes even less sense to me.
Given all that we’ve discussed and, understanding that this event has just happened, who do you think “won” the Expansion Draft?
Jeff: Minnesota.
…did you want more of an explanation than that?
Alex: With the 11th pick in the 2016 MLS Expansion Draft Recap, Alex Schieferdecker selects: Yes.
Jeff: Okay, fine.
I think it’s possible to immediately give Minnesota United a passing grade. They were able to bring in three possible starters in one day (by my estimations, that’s Attinella, Saeid, and Venegas). No matter the circumstances, that’s a good bit of business. Still there’s one major concern I have about the Loons’ haul:
Where’s the center back depth?
I'm hearing that Minnesota United didn't draft any Colorado Rapids (J. Watts) as part of the J. Greenspan trade this weekend. #MNUFC
— Jeff Rueter (@jeffrueter) December 13, 2016
It appears the Greenspan trade kept United from taking Jared Watts. Still, there were solid players available in the second round (Nuno Coelho, Kofi Opare, Maurice Edu) that could have been starting-caliber in 2016. I think Collen Warner is a fine player; I just don’t know if he’s going to start once the season opens. Maybe Coelho didn’t want to move here and Magee spent years with Opare in DC, so I trust his judgement. Still, that seems like the one area that needs the most attention as Minnesota moves forward.
Let’s close out with our report card, because that’s the easiest way to start a comment thread.
Atlanta: C
Eighth overall pick in SuperDraft (via trade)
Zach Loyd
Marc Bloom and GAM (via trade)
Mikey Ambrose
Alec Kann
Minnesota: B
Johan Venegas (via trade)
Collen Warner
Mohammed Saeid
Jeff Attinella
Femi Hollinger-Janzen
Alex: I like your grades. I’d edit them only slightly. I still don’t understand what Atlanta were doing. I’ll give them a C- until I see if they’ve got more trades coming. For Minnesota, I think a B+ is warranted. They’ve got four players who I think have a caliber to start and one exciting prospect. The technical staff seemed elated with their haul and I have to agree.
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