Real Salt Lake loses two in the MLS Expansion Draft
by denz on Nov 24, 2010 1:38 PM MST
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PrintSo if before the expansion draft if you had said that RSL would lose David Horst and the rights to Robbie Findley, almost every fan would consider that to be a best case scenario and that is exactly what happened.
David Horst, who spent last year at the Puerto Rico Islanders and did very well with them both in D-2 play where they won the Championship, and in CCL play, was selected 5th by the Portland Timbers. I think he will do very well for them, but playing on turf may be tough on his knees. RSL then added Collen Warner back to their protected list, a smart move as most pundits had him going to Portland in the draft.
Then with their next pick the Timbers chose Robbie Findley who many believe will be leaving MLS to play in Europe, but I believe this is a very smart move as I believe that Robbie may head to Europe but I expect that he will be back in MLS sooner rather than later. Robbie has ties to Oregon, as the played his college ball at Oregon State.
There is still an unanswered question for Real Salt Lake, and that is what will happen with Alex Nimo? I expect a trade for a second or third round pick in the 2012 draft is most likely and maybe a few allocation dollars as well.
After the jump the complete list of players taken in the draft:
 |
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|
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Dax McCarty (DAL; Daniel Hernandezprotected) |
Round 1 |
Sanna Nyassi (SEA; Patrick Ianni protected) |
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Eric Brunner (CLB; Kevin Burns protected) |
Round 2 |
Atiba Harris (DAL; Dallas removed from draft) |
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Adam Moffat (CLB; Columbus removed from draft) |
Round 3 |
Nathan Sturgis (SEA; Seattle removed from draft) |
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Anthony Wallace (COL; Wells Thompsonprotected) |
Round 4 |
Shea Salinas (PHI; Chris Seitz protected) |
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David Horst (RSL; Collen Warner protected) |
Round 5 |
Alan Gordon (CHV; Mariano Trujilloprotected) |
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Robbie Findley (RSL; Salt Lake removed from draft) |
Round 6 |
O'Brian White (TOR; Julian de Guzmanprotected) |
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Peter Lowry (CHI; Dasan Robinsonprotected) |
Round 7 |
Alejandro Moreno (PHI; Philadelphia removed from draft) |
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Jonathan Bornstein (CHV; Chivas removed from draft) |
Round 8 |
Joe Cannon (SJ; Tim Ward protected) |
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Jordan Graye (DC; Kurt Morsink protected) |
Round 9 |
Jonathan Leathers (KC; Eric Kronbergprotected) |
| Arturo Alvarez (SJ; San Jose removed from draft) | Round 10 | John Thorrington (CHI) |
If we look at my 10 players I would have selected:
- Chad Barrett - Forward - TFC
- Sanna Nyassi - Midfielder - SEA- taken by Vancouver
- Joe Cannon - Keeper - SJ - taken by Vancouver
- Jean Alexandre - Midfielder -RSL
- Mike Magee - Forward - LA
- Dax McCarty - Midfielder - FCD - taken by Portland
- Adam Moffat - Midfielder - CLB - taken by Portland
- Wells Thompson - Midfielder - COL (added to protected list after first COL pick)
- Cristian Arrieta - Defender - PHI
- Jimmy Conrad - Defender - KC
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Very surprised, but happy with selections.
I thought for sure rsl would lose 1 or 2 players such as Grabavoy, McKenzie, Schuler, Warner or maybe Russell (But he is older and higher salary). I thought Warner would be taken first! Gotta love the mls commentators, “Horst has played well the last 2 years in Champions League!” Are you really serious guys? He was basically in Puerto Rico the entire year and never made an appearance in Champions League!
Like you said, if you would’ve told me before the draft that Horst and Findley would’ve been taken, that would’ve been “best case” scenario!
I’m still surpised fcdallas players Harris and Mcarty were left unprotected! Maybe there is a personality conflict, who knows!!
by Alan Christensen on Nov 24, 2010 1:52 PM MST reply actions
Horst played in CCL both years
with the Islanders and he was one of the main guys who shut down the Galaxy to boot them out in the qualifying round of the CCL, and then in their group he not only was solid but scored a couple big goals for the Islanders including the game winner in their 3-2 win over Toluca. Horst became more expendable this year with the development of Chris Schuler, but I expect that David will find himself fighting for a starting position and becoming a good central defender for them.
Portland already has a number of midfielders and there were a number of decent ones available, but center backs are tough and young, cheap ones are even harder to find.
I think Horst will surprise
He was a kid who needed playing time, he got that with the Islanders and from the 5 matches of theirs that I watched this year has turned into a good player. Learning how to be a good center back at the pro level takes 2-3 years for most players, and that is right where Horst is.
What do you think about RSL picking up Aurturo Alvarez? is that a good signing for us? What does he bring to the table? Also why would RSL just wave Nimo does that have anything to do with the trade for Alvarez?
by James Christopher Weeks on Nov 24, 2010 5:59 PM MST reply actions
I think RSL was simply tired of him
Listen he is a young kid who struggled this year, and he was making nice GA money (over 100K) and when he didn’t go in the draft (which would have allowed a renegotiation of salary) it was clear nobody was going to give us anything for him. He didn’t want to come back here and be a reserve and we weren’t going to pay a reserve that kind of money.
I think Alvarez brings great value, he has talent on and off the ball and coming here to be a role player and not have the pressure of having to be the main creative player is going to be great for him. He will get a chance to play both in the midfield and up top, I have to agree with Garth, I have had my eye on him for a couple years as a player I hate to have RSL face. I think he could be an offensive Kyle Beckerman.
Alvarez
While I think Alvarez is the exact type of player that RSL needed (attacking midfielder, good off the dribble and agressive) I’m not sure about him being a good value. $190k is very expensive and seems like RSL could get someone even better for less from Argentina or Colombia. However, I understand maybe the predicament that Garth is under: they’d like this type of player for the Champions League but the window for signing such a player from overseas would be very small. I think Alvarez will be a good player/just don’t know about the cost (in terms of salary). However, I assume Garth knows better than me on this score.
I believe because he was drafted
that his contract can be redone, so I have to expect that RSL will probably drop him down a bit and offer some incentives. It will be interesting to see but with Andy getting a bit older, Robbie being gone, this gives us some interesting flexibility both in the midfield and up top, we could easily use him to adjust formations quickly in matches without having to make subs. Just another card in the RSL deck.
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