Friday, November 27, 2009

What's Next for Philadelphia Union?

Now that the MLS expansion draft has taken place and Philadelphia has made their ten selections, what lies ahead for the expansion franchise before first kick on March 24, 2010 in Seattle? Unsurprisingly, a good bit, as they must fill out their 24-man roster (comprised of an 18 to 20 man "Senior Roster" and a four man-maximum "Development Roster"; this will be explained in depth in a later post) well in advance of first kick. And that's before taking into account courting additional sponsors (Panasonic has an agreement to provide technical services to Union Field at Chester and likely some finances in return for being the first 'major' sponsor, but of course one isn't enough), signing a local TV deal to broadcast Union games throughout the Philadelphia area, working out team transportation details, and building proper practice facilities close to Union Field. All of these necessities will be detailed over time, but for now I'd like to focus on the most pressing issue: getting 14 additional players.

Well, in reality, the Union need 13 additional players. Immediately following the announcement of the expansion draft selections, it was discovered and quickly confirmed by multiple sources that the Union has an agreement, pending league approval, to acquire the rights to goalkeeper Chris Seitz from MLS Cup-champion Real Salt Lake for "north of" $200,000 in allocation money (which can be used to sign players, and is given by the MLS to teams who lose players to foreign clubs or to retirement much like MLB awards draft picks to teams for players lost in free agency, to teams who miss the playoffs, and to expansion teams) and a promise that the Union wouldn't pick anyone from Salt Lake in the expansion draft (they didn't). Seitz, who will turn 23 two days before first kick in Seattle, is considered to be one of the America's most promising goaltenders and is expected to be Philly's starting goalkeeper with Brad Knighton, selected in the expansion draft from New England Revolution, relegated to the backup role.

So where are these 13 players likely to come from? Well, a good starting place will be the four-round 2010 MLS SuperDraft where the Union, as an expansion team, will have the first overall pick as well as the first pick in the second round (17th overall), third round (33rd overall) and fourth round (49th overall). This year's SuperDraft will take place on Thursday, January 14, 2010 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Of course, like any draft in sports, the Union is free to trade any or all of these picks if they so choose. In a later post, we will explore who the Union is most likely to select should they retain the first overall pick (which is likely).

From there, Philadelphia will get one starter (with the first overall pick), and likely one or two players to go on the development roster (whose salaries do not go against the salary cap). After that, it will be up to Piotr Nowak and staff to acquire the rights to additional players with the allocation money provided by MLS or through multi-player trades. What is more likely, however, is that there will be a number of international players signed. Philly is already rumored to be in the process of signing 18-year old midfielder Roger Torres from Colombia, and certainly has extensive scouting operations ongoing throughout the world. In addition, it's probable that a high-profile, high-impact player will be signed to an equally high-profile contract and will serve in the Union's designated player spot.

If one thing is clear from this, it's that things are about to ramp up. Big time.

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