Here's the list of players the Rapids did not protect for Wednesday's expansion draft. The Rapids can lose 1 player in the draft.:
Burciaga, Jose
Burpo, Preston
Cooke, Terry
Dalby, Greg
DiRaimondo, John
Erpen, Facundo
Grazier, Brian
Harvey, Jordan
Hughes, Justin
Keel, Stephen
Kimura, Kosuke
McManus, Tom
Petke, Mike
Sarkodie, Kwame
Ward, Tim
Zambrano, Cesar
No surprise on Burciaga, Burpo, Dalby, DiRaimondo, Erpen, Grazier, Hughes, Petke, Sarkodie, Ward, or Zambrano.
Harvey and Keel were probably tough choices but a limited number of spots leads to some good players being unprotected.
Tom McManus surprises me, but at the same time I can kind of see the logic. Given that they protected Ballouchy though it seems like they could have swapped those two around.
I would have protected Kimura over Ihemelu without a second thought. Apparently Gary Smith sees more in Ihemelu than I do. I would not be shocked at all to see Seattle take Kimura. They need defense and there's a large Asian population in the Seattle area. Seems like a cheap move for a good PR payoff.
The big one is Terry Cooke. How the h@!! do you leave Terry Cooke unprotected? This only works if the Rapids have already talked to the Sounders and made a deal that means Cooke is somewhat safe. Something like leaving Kimura out there to be taken. Otherwise I see no reason you leave the 3rd best assist man in MLS unprotected while protecting Ballouchy and Peterson. If we lose Cooke it was a dumb, dumb move. Even if we don't lose him I have to wonder how motivated Terry is going to be next season.
Monday, November 24, 2008
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2 comments:
I think you're putting way to much stock in Kimura and McManus here. They both run a lot and work hard but that seems to be about it. I don't think Seattle will take anyone on this list. Remember, they don't have to and they can stock themselves with USL quality players from their own Seattle team. Maybe Burpo to get a serviceable backup to Keller.
I'm not putting that much stock in McManus. Since he was supposedly found by Smith though (according to some BigSoccer posters) though I'm surprised he was left exposed. And Ballouchy, really?
I really don't see any reason to protect Ihemelu over Kimura. Agreed, maybe I'm overvaluing him to Seattle, but he's a better player for Colorado than Ugo is.
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