Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Seattle has a team now

It's official. Seattle has a team. Well, they had a team all along but they have a roster now. Here are the players they selected in the Expansion Draft:

1. Nate Jaqua (Houston Dynamo)
2. Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake)
3. Jeff Parke (New York Red Bulls)
4. Jarrod Smith (Toronto FC)
5. Khano Smith (New England Revolution)
6. Peter Vagenas (Los Angeles Galaxy)
7. Tyson Wahl (Kansas City Wizards)
8. James Riley (San Jose Earthquakes)
9. Stephen King (Chicago Fire)
10. Brad Evans (Columbus Crew)

Some thoughts:
- Galaxy fans will probably NOT be upset at Peter Vagenas' selection. It's kinda strange that Vagenas was taken considering his reluctance to leave the Galaxy. He loves the Galaxy, has bled for the Galaxy and had wanted to stay with the Galaxy until his days were done. Now this. If Sigi Schmid is taking over the team as has been rumored, this makes sense. Otherwise, I'm not sure. I've always admired Pete, always felt he was a great and underrated leader but it seems his heart is with the Galaxy.

- Chivas USA fans can now breathe a huge sigh of relief over Jorge Flores. "Sueno" was not taken and it appears Seattle made a glaring mistake. Flores is a talented player who will undoubtedly clamor for playing time next year. Even if Seattle did not see a need for him, certainly they could have dangled him as trade bait to another team that did. Also, Lawson Vaughn and Carey Talley were not taken so the club will move forward with business as usual.

- Nathan Sturgis is probably the player with the biggest upside on the roster. He's battled nagging injuries and will no doubt be an asset to Seattle if he can get over them.

- Not sure of Nate Jaqua's contract status. If he's not out of contract and he ends up suting up for them, Seattle just got themselves a talented scoring option, something expansion teams don't normally have.

1 comment:

Evan said...

Wow, Vagenas gone...

I'll admit, there were times I couldn't wait to see him gone. But I think for the most part, the fans that criticized him were expecting him to be something he's not. What, a defensive midfield player isn't going on runs into the box? What a shock.

And I think you're really right about his loyalty to the team.

Still, he was drawing a pretty big paycheck, IIRC.