Fire seek value in draft's late rounds

On Thursday, the bill comes due for the Chicago Fire.

Last summer, the Fire made a deal with Toronto FC in order to gain the services of forward Brian McBride. Included in the deal was the Fire's first-round pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft, which comes up Thursday in St. Louis.

So unless the Fire can find someone willing to make a trade with them for their own first-round pick, the Fire will not have a selection in the draft until the 28th pick overall, which is the 13th pick of the second round.

"Obviously, not having a first-round pick, it makes things a little bit tricky," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said.

Going into the draft, the Fire were in position to have their entire starting lineup back. Midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco ended any speculation that he might return to Mexico last week when he agreed to a one-year contract with the Fire.

Since the end of the 2008 season, the Fire lost talented young midfielder Stephen King in the expansion draft. They also waived forwards Andy Herron and Tomasz Frankowski, but neither were spending a lot of time with the first unit.

So Hamlett and technical director Frank Klopas go into the draft looking for depth.

"If we can get a player that can come in and make an impact, that is the No. 1 goal," Hamlett said. "I feel that on the flanks, there is a player we would like to get. Another young forward would be good. Defensively we are strongest, but if you see a good defender you might want to take him and not let him slip by."

According to Hamlett, the only contract situation still up in the air from last season's roster is veteran defender (and last year's captain) C. J. Brown, who played very little last season as he dealt with a pair of injuries.

The Fire also have to worry a bit about the continued musings of Colombian defender Wilman Conde, who stated at the start of last season he wanted to play for Juan Carlos Osorio of the New York Red Bulls, and made similar statements at the end of 2008. But Hamlett that is "status quo for Wilman."

"He had a good year for us (19 starts) and we are working with his agent," Hamlett said. "He is under contract. I know he also has aspirations about wanting to go overseas to play. If we saw something that was a good offer, for the league and for us, we would go ahead and make that decision."

The Fire's goalkeeping situation is interesting. Veteran Jon Busch won MLS Goalkeeper of the Year honors for his play in 2008, and the Fire also still have the rights to goalkeeper Dominic Cervi, whom they selected in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. Cervi did not reach agreement on a contract with MLS and recently trained with Celtic in the Scottish Premier League.

The Fire also still own the league rights to Matt Pickens, their 2007 starter who played with Queens' Park Rangers in England last year. The Fire also have Tyler Kettering and Nick Noble on their roster.

"No disrespect to anybody on our team, but if you find a good player available at the time of your pick and you feel the guy can help you, you get that player, even if you go into the draft thinking you don't need to improve at his position," Hamlett said.