I wrote three years ago that the MLS draft was in danger of becoming irrelevant.
The MLS Draft demise has been greatly exaggerated
The Designated Player option was new, and there was already chatter that clubs might soon be able to stockpile even more of these A-list stars (which has indeed happened).
Teams at the time were on the front end of establishing their academies. We can still debate about the true value of these so-called academies versus the old club system some other time. For now we can agree that teams are, in fact, promoting players off these young rosters onto the senior team, so there’s some value for sure. I expected regional rights and these academies to gradually encroach on the draft’s relevance.
So I believed that the draft would be less important as a player acquisition method going forward.
So far, that prediction isn’t working out so well.
I’m working today on a mock MLS draft for SI.com. The process unfolds Thursday from Baltimore.
And the consensus about this draft class: full of blue ribbon talent and deep as a country well. Vancouver will almost certainly find a top-shelf player with the No. 1 selection – probably Darlington Nagbe, the promising Akron striker and Hermann Trophy winner who just led his team to an NCAA Championship.
In the big picture, the expanding MLS field (18 teams this year) has helped keep the draft front and center as a method for roster reinforcement.
This part, too, is interesting regarding this year’s draft: Not so long ago the proceedings went six rounds. Then it was cut to four. This year it’s just three.
That’s also a product of an expanding league. Not so long ago Major League Soccer was a 10-team operation. So the number has nearly doubled – and soon will double.
The key point here is that a reduction in draft-day selections means teams need be darn sure they don’t swing and miss here. Take the Philadelphia Union. Peter Nowak’s side picks at No. 5. At that spot they can probably get a strong player – but they aren’t in the no-brainer zone. That is, the picks won’t be obvious.
So Nowak et al must choose wise. Because they won’t be on the clock again until the 23rd overall pick. Friends from the NFL or NBA may tell them “that’s how it’s always been in our league,” and fair enough. But in the MLS world, teams have generally had a little more margin for error. Those days are as done as the 10-team league.
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