The first trade between two Canadian MLS teams is in the books. Vancouver sent Nathan Sturgis, who they picked up yesterday in the expansion draft from Seattle, to TFC for the Reds first round pick in the college draft. Toronto's pick is eighth overall.
It's a case of knowing what you are getting, rather than rolling the dice for Toronto. He's likely penciled in as a starting fullback for Toronto next year, although he can play a bit in the middle. After yesterday's moves, Toronto found itself without a natural fullback - only Nick Garcia, who is out of contract, could reasonably play there.
Vancouver obviously values the pick more - either as trade bait, or to keep for themselves. The Whitecaps now hold two of the top eight picks in the draft.
Initial reaction in Vancouver was excitement. Used to hockey -- and the NHL's near obsession on draft picks -- there seemed to be a feeling that an eight overall pick was more useful than Sturgis. Time will tell, of course, but here is a breakdown of who has gone eighth overall in MLS drafts.
2000 - Travis Mulraine (15 games played, 0 goals)
2001 - Santino Quaranta (150, 8)
2002 - Kyle Martino (141, 13)
2003 - Guillermo Gonzalez (12, 0)
2004 - Clint Dempsey (71, 25)
2005 - Troy Roberts (61, 2)
2006 - Patrick Ianni (77, 2)
2007 - Jerson Monteiro (5, 1)
2008 - Josh Lambo (0, 0)
2009 - Matt Besler (40, 0)
2010 - Dilly Duka (3, 0)
So a mixed bag. Dempsey is, clearly, a home run. Jerson Monteiro, less so. That only one player drafted in that slot in the last four years plays regularly is a bit telling as to the evolution of how teams in MLS build though.