2015 MLS SuperDraft Winners and Losers
Another Major League Soccer SuperDraft is in the books as the 20 teams of MLS gathered in Philadelphia on Thursday to make their picks.
Drafts in any sport are tricky to manage. A team has to balance its needs on the field, financial concerns, building plans for the long-haul and duty to make its fans happy.
But in MLS, the draft can be even harder to figure out with things like allocation money and Generation Adidas contracts in play.
And that's to say nothing of homegrown signings, international roster spots, the allocation order (not to be confused with allocation money), designated players and the like—complexities that MLS teams deal with everyday.
With all that in mind, here are your 2015 MLS SuperDraft winners and losers.
Winner: Orlando City SC
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Not only did Orlando City SC have a strong fanbase attending the draft—impressive for an expansion team, to say nothing of the distance between Orlando and Philadelphia—but it picked up two of the best prospects available in University of Connecticut forward Cyle Larin and U.S. U20 defender Conor Donovan.
Winner: Columbus Crew
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In the second round, with the 35th pick in the draft, the Columbus Crew selected 25-year-old forward Sagi Lev-Ari. Some considered his age to be a detriment, but considering how few MLS draftees actually make an impact upon entering the league, Lev-Ari—who many consider to already be "pro-ready"—is a great pickup.
Part of his advanced age is due to the fact that, as an Israeli citizen, he did three years of compulsory military service—an experience that one would assume makes him far more ready to assume the role of a professional than a typical person in his 20s.
Lev-Ari is also comfortable as a solo forward and should be able to make an impact with the Crew right away, especially considering that they lacked a true goalscorer last year and often played in a 4-5-1 formation.
Both: Cristian Roldan
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Cristian Roldan was widely projected to be selected second in the draft. Instead, he fell all the way to 16th.
The negative side is that he reportedly lost money due to his free-fall, as his contract had incentives based on where he was picked.
The upside of falling to Seattle is that, while he likely won't see much playing time on such a stacked team, he will have plenty of time to develop (under some excellent, experienced attackers) and have little pressure to contribute in his first year.
It's a win and a loss for the young midfielder.
Loser: Chicago Fire
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At this point, the Chicago Fire need players just about everywhere. They spent last season leaking goals and lacking any sort of cohesive midfield, and they lost out on the now-infamous Jermaine Jones "blind draw."
Bakary Soumare, the team's most experienced defender, left the Fire after the season and then ripped the team for being mismanaged. Last year, they also often relied on midfielder Jeff Larentowicz to fill the gaps at center-back and even Patrick Ianni, who has since retired.
And that's to say nothing of the fact that they have few players to get excited about, with no U.S. internationals—outside Sean Johnson, who is, at best, third on the U.S. depth chart—and seemingly no plan to get out of their current mess.
They drafted two "locals" in Southern Illinois-Edwardsville defender Matt Polster and Saint Louis forward Kingsley Bryce.
The choice of Polster was described as going "out on a limb" by American Soccer Now and the choice of Brice as a "reach" by Ives Galarcep of Goal.com.
Not encouraging.
Winner: Real Salt Lake
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With the 27th pick in the draft, Real Salt Lake picked up defender Boyd Okwuonu. He's only 5'9"—which turned some teams away from him—but he can play as both a center-back and as a player on the right. He has also been compared favorably to A.J. DeLaGarza, one of the best defenders in the league.
Okwuono could help fill a number of gaps for RSL, which lost defenders Nat Borchers and Chris Wingert this offseason.
Follow me on Twitter @JohnDHalloran.
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