With apologies to Jim Brennan, it's time for Toronto FC to add some players. Brennan, a Canadian international, has been the only man on the expansion side's roster for more than two months, but on Friday at 1 p.m. ET, Toronto head coach Mo Johnston will announce 10 players who will join Brennan via the 2006 MLS Expansion Draft.
We here at MLSnet.com have poured over the lists of players available to Johnston and his staff, and we've come up with our own mock draft, a rundown of what we think Johnston's list might look like. Check MLSnet.com Friday afternoon to see if we eat crow. Before we get to the mock draft, though, we've got to remember the ground rules.
First, Toronto can take no more than one player from each team, and there will be two teams who won't have anybody selected.
Second, Johnston might bear in mind Toronto FC's roster limits. The club has four senior international slots and an additional three slots for senior internationals who would count as domestic players on a team in the United States. The club also has five youth international slots at its disposal. Of course, roster limits really mean nothing in terms of the expansion draft, as clubs don't actually have to be within the league's limits until March 2007.
For the purposes of our mock draft, we've made a few assumptions. We think the Canadians available are shoo-ins, and we think Johnston will lean toward picking younger non-Canadians (as opposed to older non-Canadians), thereby leaving roster spots open for any senior internationals he might want to sign in January.
We also have a feeling that in the same way U.S. MLS teams rarely go outside the country for goalkeepers, Toronto will stay close to home in finding a netminder. Therefore, we think the odds Johnston will select a goalkeeper in the expansion draft are pretty slim.
We've set up our mock draft by team, listing the one player we think will be selected from each. The first 10 teams are the ones we think will actually lose a player. The last two are safe, according to us, but we've listed their most likely player to be picked, too, just to hedge our bets a little bit. We've listed each player's name, position and Toronto FC roster status. Without further ado ...
CHICAGO FIRE: Calen Carr, F, SI (U.S.). This one sparked a bit of discussion here at MLSnet.com HQ. Carr turns 25 in 2007, meaning he'd occupy a senior international spot with Toronto FC, but we decided a goalscorer is a goalscorer. With Nate Jaqua status uncertain, Carr is the next best option on Chicago's unprotected list.
CHIVAS USA: Tim Regan, D, SI (U.S.). Chivas has a bunch of young kids on their unprotected list, including U.S. youth international Rodrigo Lopez, but they're very much unproven commodities. Regan has shown he can hack it in MLS and could be reunited with his former MetroStars boss Johnston in the Queen City.
COLORADO RAPIDS: Mike Petke, D, SI (U.S.). Petke is a veteran defender who still has a few years left, making this a pretty easy pick for us to make. The rest of the Rapids' unprotected list just doesn't seem to make sense considering cost in some cases and inexperience in others.
D.C. UNITED: Matias Donnet, M, SI. Another tough choice. We debated amongst ourselves whether the better choice would be Clyde Simms, a midfielder and U.S. senior international who has proven himself in MLS, or Donnet, a player who didn't see a whole lot of playing time for United after joining the club late in the season but who showed a lot of skill. We went with Donnet's skill.
FC DALLAS: Roberto Mina, F, YI. A unanimous selection, Mina adds attacking punch at either the forward position or wide in the midfield, and is a youth international (Ecuador).
HOUSTON DYNAMO: Adrian Serioux, D/M, domestic. Serioux is one of two Canadians available in the expansion draft. Case closed.
LOS ANGELES GALAXY: Paulo Nagamura, M, YI. Sort of like Mina, Nagamura has proven over the last couple of years that he can do very well in defensive midfield in MLS, and he'll count as a youth international for Toronto. Looks like Johnston's rearguard is shaping up to be pretty good.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION: Jeff Larentowicz, D/M, YI (U.S.). Another defensive-type player, Larentowicz gets the nod because he's young (he turns 24 next season). If Johnston decides to throw roster limits out the window, Trinidad & Tobago defender Avery John is a possibility.
NEW YORK RED BULLS: Edson Buddle, F, SI (U.S.). There were four unanimous selections in our mock draft: Mina, Serioux and Buddle were three of them (we'll get to the fourth in a moment). Johnston seemed to like Buddle a lot in New York, and the player's time was limited once Mo left. Look for Johnston to give him another shot north of the border.
REAL SALT LAKE: Andy Williams, M/F, domestic. Our fourth unanimous choice, Jamaican international Williams was born in Toronto and counts as a domestic player. For those of you counting at home, this would be Williams' seventh MLS team.
If you haven't put two and two together by now, we think Johnston will pass on the Columbus Crew and Kansas City Wizards. But just in case ...
COLUMBUS CREW: Bill Gaudette, GK, SI (U.S.). We think Gaudette's the best option on the Black-and-Gold's unprotected list, but remember that we said it's unlikely Toronto will take a 'keeper.
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS: Will Hesmer, GK, SI (U.S.). Read our Gaudette sentence again, but replace "Gaudette" with "Hesmer" and "Black-and-Gold" with "Wizards".
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
