Toronto FC and the MLS Draft

[AvroArrow]

Of the 16 players selected by Toronto, only 2 remain with the team (Frei and Nane). Frei may eventually move on while the jury is out on whether Nane will make a longterm impact. Edu would be the other success story, as he was sold to Rangers.

The question remains on whether the draft offers any more then a handful of quality players every year. As a result, are draft picks worth the premium that some people place on them? I would argue they are not. This may also explain why TFC would trade their 8th overall pick to Vancouver for Sturgis. Better to have a proven player then a 10% chance at getting some one of any use to the team beyond filling a "temporary" roster spot for 1 or 2 seasons.

2010

2nd Zachary Herald (retired)

4th Joseph Nane (still on team)

2009

1st Sam Cronin (traded for allocation money)

1st Obrian White (lost in expansion draft)

1st Stefan Frie (still on team)

3rd Mike Grella (did not sign, now in England)

3rd Kyle Hall (???)

2008

1st Julius James (traded along with allocation money for DeRosario, more of a salary dump by Houston than an actual "trade")

1st Pat Phelan (traded for an international roster spot)

2nd Brian Edwards (released)

3rd Mike Zaher (traded for undisclosed draft pick)

3rd Joseph Lapira (never signed, went to Norway then India)

2007

1st Maurice Edu (sold to Rangers)

1st Andrew Boyens (released)

3rd Richard Asante (released)

4th Jeffrey Gonsalves (????)

[BearcatSA]

How does TFC's drafting record compare with the rest of the MLS over the same stretch of time?

[loyola]

You should look at who TFC got in trades for some of those players. This would give you a better idea of the whole picture.

[AvroArrow]

Updated for who/what they were traded for. I don't think the James trade was as much a trade as it was a salary dump by Houston. No way Houston is that dumb.

[Smapti]

You should look at who TFC got in trades for some of those players. This would give you a better idea of the whole picture.

trading for an established player didn't work in 2010 when TFC got Serioux for the pick and money, played one year and was traded for a 3rd round. FCD drafted Zach Lloyd who played in the MLS Cup. The advantage of the draft is the GA player who doesn't count against the cap. Frei for example didn't count and the cap space could be used for someone else. The problem with draft picks you have the rights making them, unfortunately TFC had Mo.

[loyola]

To make a real judgement on the draft you need to see where the players are today. Among the 15 listed (I don't count Herald because of his health problems), I think you have at least 9-10 players good enough for MLS and at least 2 of them (Edu and Frei) are aiming for biggers things.

[AvroArrow]

With the exception of Frei and Edu, are there any players on that list that you can honestly say TFC is missing or left a glaring hole after they left? Would you even want any of those players back in your starting lineup (maybe Cronin)?

[TheKottonmouthed1555362307]

With the exception of Frei and Edu, are there any players on that list that you can honestly say TFC is missing or left a glaring hole after they left? Would you even want any of those players back in your starting lineup (maybe Cronin)?

maybe not, but I think, Phelan, James and Boyens (probably Grella hard to judge) were players who could still be around, they aren't wowing by any means, but they all are MLS quality players for the bench I'd say, yeah probably replaceable by many different players, but they could fit a system in the MLS>

[loyola]

maybe not, but I think, Phelan, James and Boyens (probably Grella hard to judge) were players who could still be around, they aren't wowing by any means, but they all are MLS quality players for the bench I'd say, yeah probably replaceable by many different players, but they could fit a system in the MLS>

Exactly, Frei, Edu, Grella, Phelan, James and maybe Boyens are all at least decent MLS players. Call me crazy but I still think OBW could become a decent player in MLS (remember he has only played one full pro season). Also, someone like Edwards could still reappear in the league at some point.

[BearcatSA]

Exactly, Frei, Edu, Grella, Phelan, James and maybe Boyens are all at least decent MLS players. Call me crazy but I still think OBW could become a decent player in MLS (remember he has only played one full pro season). Also, someone like Edwards could still reappear in the league at some point.

Interesting point. I had hoped that in year two he would have become a better technical player as a target man striker, holding the ball up under pressure and laying it off to his support players, benefitting from the tutoring of a guy like Dichio who had done a good job in that role during his TFC playing days. Unfortunately, he was quite disappointing in that area, showing the ball too much and giving away possession far too easily. Contrast his play in that role with Santos, who I thought did a really good job prior to his knee injury (not coincidentally, the team's overall attacking play, despite DeRo's efforts, started going south when he went down).

If he really works on the specific skills needed to be a good target man type player within a team's attacking scheme, he might "click" and become a decent player at this level. But it wasn't happening in TO, so I think parting ways is good for both club and player.

[TFCRegina]

Interesting point. I had hoped that in year two he would have become a better technical player as a target man striker, holding the ball up under pressure and laying it off to his support players, benefitting from the tutoring of a guy like Dichio who had done a good job in that role during his TFC playing days. Unfortunately, he was quite disappointing in that area, showing the ball too much and giving away possession far too easily. Contrast his play in that role with Santos, who I thought did a really good job prior to his knee injury (not coincidentally, the team's overall attacking play, despite DeRo's efforts, started going south when he went down).

If he really works on the specific skills needed to be a good target man type player within a team's attacking scheme, he might "click" and become a decent player at this level. But it wasn't happening in TO, so I think parting ways is good for both club and player.

Maicon Santos, when healthy, was fantastic for the club. He had a long injured stretch and we blew because of it.

[BearcatSA]

^My question mark with Santos is durability/fitness. But I was pleased to see that he was protected.

[Standard]

Yeah I was also delighted to see Maicon protected, was very good in the games he played for us and will be interesting to see how he does next season.

[Standard]

http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2010/11/nane-traded-rapids

Nane Joesph to Colorado for a 3rd round pick in 2012.