Expansion club gets first choice of North America's elite soccer talent and is targeting a franchise player
By Bruce Constantineau
The Vancouver Whitecaps will grab the first pick in the 2011 Major League Soccer Super-Draft of college and Generation Adidas players in January.
The MLS-bound club made that decision Monday at the league's expansion priority draft that involved the Whitecaps and their MLS expansion cousins, the Portland Timbers.
Vancouver won a coin toss with Portland last month and had the option of taking first pick in the SuperDraft or the league expansion draft of unprotected players.
The Whitecaps will get the second pick in the expansion draft scheduled for November while Portland gets second pick in the SuperDraft.
Vancouver director of soccer operations Tom Soehn said the "exciting prospects" available in the SuperDraft caused the team to take the top SuperDraft selection.
"The SuperDraft, over its history, has produced some quality players who have become cornerstones of MLS franchises," he said in a conference call.
He noted U.S. national team captain Carlos Bocanegra was chosen by the Chicago Fire in the 2000 SuperDraft, while 2007 Toronto FC selection Maurice Edu became the league's Rookie of the Year before being transferred in 2008 to Rangers FC of the Scottish Premier League for $5 million US.
The SuperDraft targets college players and Generation Adidas players who get fast-tracked into the league instead of going to college. The Whitecaps recently had 16-year-old Generation Adidas player Omar Salgado train with the team and hoped to sign him for the rest of this season, but his international paperwork could not be completed and he is now training with Portland.
But with the first pick in the SuperDraft, the Caps could select Salgado for their MLS roster if they want him badly enough. Soehn and Whitecaps director of professional teams Greg Anderson said the club will scout SuperDraft-eligible players extensively between now and Jan. 13, when the draft is held in Baltimore.
Anderson said the team will have certain needs at certain positions but its general draft philosophy will be to take the best player available, regardless of his playing position.
Besides grabbing the top SuperDraft selection, the Whitecaps also get the top MLS allocation ranking for 2011 and the top priority in selecting a free agent from the USSF D-2 Pro League, where they currently play.
The top allocation ranking gives the Whitecaps first choice at signing any former MLS player or U.S. international player returning to the league. Soehn said a top allocation ranking can have "unbelievable value" at times.
Chicago had to give Toronto FC a first-round SuperDraft pick and forward Chad Barrett in 2008 when U.S. international striker Brian McBride - whose allocation rights were owned by Toronto -wanted to return from England to play with Chicago.
"It gives us the potential to bring back someone who can make us a better team immediately," Soehn said. "We don't know who that might be but it doesn't stop us from researching and making sure we might be able to lure someone back."
In other player-acquisition mechanisms available to expansion teams, the Caps got the second spot in the designated player ranking, used when at least two MLS clubs want to negotiate with the same high-profile player.
Vancouver got the 18th spot in the discovery ranking, used when MLS teams want to sign a player from a different league, and 18th spot in the lottery ranking, used for Generation Adidas players who sign with the league after the annual SuperDraft.
The Whitecaps also got the 17th waiver ranking spot, used to pick up players placed on waivers by their MLS teams.
SIDE KICKS: The Whitecaps are close to signing Ghanaian midfielder Gershon Koffie but need to clear up some paperwork issues ... defender Nelson Akwari sat out Monday's practice with a back injury suffered in training before the Tampa Bay game last week ... the Whitecaps will play two exhibition games on local fields next week -against Seattle University on Monday at the Caps' SFU training centre and against the University of B.C. next Thursday [Sept. 2] at UBC.
bconstantineau@vancouversun.com © Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
