By Will Kuhns, Senior Editor Four days before it is held, the MLS SuperDraft is still largely a mystery. A few key additions have been confirmed among the draftable prospects — chief among them are Connecticut defender Chris Gbandi and former Maryland striker Taylor Twellman, who spent the past two seasons playing with the reserves of German club 1860 Munich. Gbandi is a known commodity, but is recovering from a knee injury. Twellman will be seen for the first time in a couple years by MLS scouts when he plays in the combine games in Fort Lauderdale. “It’s tough to tell where [Twellman] will go,” Chicago coach Bob Bradley said. “I would think these next few days will probably be important for him because people haven’t been able to keep up with him much since he’s been at 1860.” Several MLS scouts expect Twellman to go somewhere in the first round, regardless of how he shows in the exhibition matches. Another wild card in the draft is the new “developmental player” who will be exempt from roster and salary restrictions, but will earn a low salary and probably have to live at home in an MLS city. Teams whose rosters are full may use second or third round picks on names nobody’s heard in order to take advantage of this category. Below is a breakdown of the 10 MLS teams and their holdings entering the SuperDraft. New England has the most selections (10), while the MetroStars have the least (4), but since picks made after the third round rarely prove fruitful, Soccer America devised a sliding scale to estimate which club has the most valuable package of picks. In calculating this “holdings quotient,” or HQ, the first overall selection is arbitrarily assigned a value of 12 points. Picks 2-7 are worth 11 points apiece, picks 7-12 are worth nine points. Each second round pick is worth four points and each third round pick worth two points. As a result, the MetroStars’ four picks are actually a hair more valuable than New England’s bevy of 10. “The weight of early picks is maybe even heavier than in past years,” said Dallas coach Mike Jeffries, whose team has the best hand, according to our system. Teams are listed in order of their HQ. Under each team is their total number of picks and where those fall in the six-round, 70-selection draft, followed by a brief synopsis of that team’s needs and what they might do on Sunday.
TEAM-BY-TEAM PROGNOSIS
DALLAS (HQ=33) Nine picks: 1, 6, 15, 18, 33, 44, 54, 55, 68. Jeffries acknowledged Thursday that announcing his team’s intentions with the first overall pick would be a “courtesy to the other teams,” but he was not ready to do so. Jeffries maintained that the Burn’s first priority for improvement is defense, followed by right and central midfield. The lure of the No. 1 pick is often powerful trade bait, but the best college defender of the past two years is also available. On Thursday, MLS announced that Gbandi and Stanford’s Lee Morrison have signed with the league. Gbandi is rehabilitating after knee surgery and will remain enrolled at UConn while doing so, with his estimated return to the field set for early June. “Obviously, Chris Gbandi adds another quality player to the mix,” Jeffries said. “There is an injury issue there, but clearly he’s a good player.” EXPECT THE BURN TO … pick Gbandi. The guy is from Houston and provided he recovers fully from his injury, should be an MLS all-star some day. The No. 6 pick will probably be a Project-40 midfielder.
D.C. UNITED (HQ=26) Eight picks: 4, 11, 24, 31, 40, 42, 53, 63. United keeps trying to solve its defensive holes with foreign acquisitions, but it’s hard to imagine that they’ll be able to afford more than one. That means they’ll need more help in the back, but the priority is a fourth forward to go with Jaime Moreno, Abdul Thomspon Conteh and Santino Quaranta. EXPECT UNITED TO … take a forward, like Mohammed Fahim or Taylor Twellman with the fourth pick overall. Hudson will probably try to snag a defender like Lee Morrisson or Danny Jackson with the 11th pick, if either are still around. With Mike Ammann out 6-8 months, United might take a chance on a goalkeeper, but probably not with its top two picks.
SAN JOSE (HQ=24) Seven picks: 9, 12, 17, 39, 49, 60, 70. The Earthquakes would probably like to add some depth at all four midfield spots, but even with two first-round picks, they are not in a position to get players considered ready to contribute right away. EXPECT THE EARTHQUAKES TO … take a shot at Stanford defender Lee Morrison. The Earthquakes might even trade up to keep him in Northern California, but if not, look for them to take one of the younger Project-40 players (Craig Capano or Justin Mapp) and pull an unexpected name, perhaps from the A-League, with the 12th pick.
METROSTARS (HQ=20) Four picks: 3, 7, 56, 66. Octavio Zambrano says his team needs Project-40 players and it needs midfielders, fortunately for him, all six players who left school early are midfielders. EXPECT THE METROSTARS TO … go for Brad Davis. They have to make sure neither Dallas or New England will take him before the third pick. The No. 7 pick might be used on yet another Project-40 player, like Kelly Gray, or on one of their reserve-team gems from New York, like Rodrigo Faria last year.
NEW ENGLAND (HQ=19) Ten picks: 2, 14, 21, 30, 41, 45, 51, 52, 58, 62. With its suddenly star-studded lineup, the Revolution probably can’t afford many players who take up roster space and cap room. Positionally, the Revs need depth at forward, so it would help them immensely if players like Luchi Gonzalez and Mohammed Fahim are deemed roster exempt. If not, they might have to cut one of their eight midfielders. EXPECT THE REVOLUTION TO … take their pick between Gonzalez and Fahim with the No. 2 pick, then package some of its lower picks in some sort of trade.
COLUMBUS (HQ=18) Six picks: 8, 20, 23, 35, 47, 67. By shoring up its defense in the dispersal draft, the Crew narrowed its SuperDraft day needs to midfield, where John Wilmar Perez and Brian Maisonneuve are the only givens. EXPECT THE CREW TO … take a chance on Justin Mapp because he plays the left side and let him season behind Jason Moore or some other pickup from waivers.
LOS ANGELES (HQ=16) Eight picks: 13, 22, 25, 27, 38, 48, 59, 69. The signing of Carlos Ruiz means the Galaxy has too many forwards (seven, by our last count), but they still need midfielders. None of the midfielders available are sure bets and the Galaxy can’t even try for the best ones without a first-round pick. EXPECT THE GALAXY TO … package one of its young forwards with some picks to obtain a proven MLS midfielder.
COLORADO (HQ=15) Six picks: 16, 19, 28, 29, 34, 61. Coach Tim Hankinson bemoaned the fact that as happened in Tampa, his predecessors traded away all his high-level draft picks. The defense around Robin Fraser is pretty inexperienced and if Hankinson is committed to keeping Pablo Mastroeni in midfield, he’ll need to add another veteran back. EXPECT THE RAPIDS TO … use the highest pick it can get its hands on to select an A-League defender or make a draft-day trade for a central back.
KANSAS CITY (HQ=14) Seven picks: 5, 32, 37, 43, 50, 57, 64. That the Wizards cut Michael Green and traded Brandon Prideaux are signals that they will be looking for a defender with the No. 5 pick. Peter Vermes, Nick Garcia and Mike Burns need backup. EXPECT THE WIZARDS TO … take a long look at North Carolina’s Danny Jackson — who is used to wearing light blue — or fish into the A-League for a stable back.
CHICAGO (HQ=13) Five picks: 10, 26, 36, 46, 65. It’s no secret that the Fire’s biggest need is salary relief, yet the 10th pick probably won’t satisfy Bob Bradley’s cravings. Bradley insists that finding a player who fits with the team is more important than position, but defensive depth looks like the most pressing area. EXPECT THE FIRE TO … make a significant draft-day trade to get a high first-round pick and try to get a hold of Gbandi or acquire someone else’s left back.
