ST. LOUIS -- Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.
Perhaps no other MLS team has more decisions to make at Thursday's SuperDraft than Seattle Sounders FC. As a first-year expansion team, the Sounders face the challenge of stocking their team with as many decent players to be competitive.
So, they face some intriguing decisions as owners of the very first pick in the draft.
Do they keep the pick and select a promising college player, such as what Toronto FC did in 2007 with midfielder Maurice Edu?
Or do they trade it away, which was exactly what the San Jose Earthquakes did last year to obtain veteran defender Nick Garcia from the Kansas City Wizards.
No decision has been made yet and club officials are willing to listen to all offers until the draft begins at 2 p.m. ET Thursday.
If he was leaning one way or the other, Seattle coach Sigi Schmid was keeping his best poker face.
"My philosophy is to make sure through the draft that we can help our club in the best and strongest possible manner," he said. "That might be keeping that picking and taking that player if we think that is the solution. Or that we've been made an offer that makes sense, just like San Jose last year.
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"Getting a veteran player is going to help our club more than taking a college guy. It might be a situation where two players make more sense than one. The one thing I can tell you is that we're going to keep all our options open going into the draft."
Sounders FC technical director Chris Henderson said the team has had some offers but wasn't about to rush into anything. Right now, the Sounders could find themselves among as many as 14 suitors, as in the number of the other teams in the league.
"If it plays out with the positions [that the Sounders want to fill] and some of the players we're going to be looking at, it will become more clear on what we're going to do," he said. "We still have other things that we're working on that could change who we can pick up. We're weighing the options."
Henderson said the Sounders researched the way previous expansion teams approached stocking their teams.
"You look at San Jose. They went a little more defensive," he said. "They chose a lot of midfielders -- one forward -- and defenders. Toronto getting Maurice Edu was a great pickup for them.
"Every year the draft is different. The crop of players coming out [this year] is ... stronger."
Two years ago, Toronto made Edu the very first pick. It certainly turned out well for the club as the former University of Maryland standout climbed the U.S. national team ladder, winning a regular spot with the national team and playing in last summer's Olympics in Beijing. He was so good that Glasgow Rangers (Scotland) gobbled him up, buying his contract from MLS and Toronto last year.
In that draft, looking to build a squad from scratch, Johnston didn't tip his hand before the draft in saying he keep or move the top pick -- and that reticence to speak before the draft has continued through the present day. But they also traded for a later first-round pick and selected defender Andrew Boyens; both he and Edu were regular starters throughout TFC's inaugural season.
"We traded up because we wanted to get two first-round draft picks and we achieved that," Johnston said after the 2007 draft. "We have got two main starters who can start straightaway. We are happy."
Instead of taking a college player last year, the San Jose Earthquakes opted to deal away the pick for veteran Nick Garcia. The Kansas City Wizards, who were on the other side of the trade, used that selected to choose UCLA defender Chance Myers.
For the expansion Earthquakes in 2008, it was a no-brainer.
"You have no players, no veteran players," Earthquakes general manager John Doyle said. "To surround a No. 1 draft pick without any veteran players, it's difficult, it's hard to succeed. Teams that are established, like Houston or Kansas City, you have a group of players. You bring in one or two college kids. They don't have to make an immediate impact. They don't have to step up and be a leader. They can fit in and learn MLS and be a good professional.
"We really didn't have that opportunity. to put someone into that situation -- I don't think it's fair to the player. I wanted to make sure we had veteran leadership and it's hard to get veteran leadership. So we had a chip to be able to get it."
That chip turned into Garcia, an eight-year veteran entering last season.
"Nick had a good season," Doyle said. "He solidified the defense and did a good job. We wanted to have a solid base."
The Wizards got someone for the future. Myers, then 20, did not play that much, due to injuries. He performed in 681 minutes over seven starts and 10 matches.
K.C. coach Curt Onalfo said that it didn't hurt that defenders Aaron Hohlbein and Tyson Wahl had developed and were ready to take their game to the next step.
"We felt we could make a move that would bring a young guy to the starting lineup," he said. "At the same time, get a young guy who can help us for the future."
"We were in the process of turning over our roster. We felt it was an opportunity get a young player with a bright future. We said it from the beginning. We took Chance for the future. We never expected him to make an immediate impact."
Henderson wouldn't say which college player the Sounders might select as No. 1 if they kept their pick, although if he had his way, he would take a young stud in the mold of an Eddie Johnson or Jozy Altidore.
"You're always looking for attacking-type players, that special player who can come in in their rookie year and score five to 10 goals," he said. "Someone who's going to develop into a true goal-scorer."
So, what advice do some recent MLS coaches and general managers have for the Sounders as they ponder their options?
While Johnston wouldn't comment on anything about this year's draft, he did give this little bit of advice through a club spokesperson: "I'd tell Seattle to give us the first pick."
Johnston might be considered a draft glutton because Toronto already has three first-round selections -- the second, fourth and 13th overall picks.
The same question was put to Doyle.
"I wouldn't ever want to ... [give] advice to anybody," he said. "They did a great job by putting Chris Henderson in there. they did a good job in putting Sigi Schmid in there. I think Seattle is going to be just fine."
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