Sporting Select Dykstra in Re-Entry Draft

Sporting KC made a single move in Thursday's second stage of the re-entry draft, selecting goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra formerly of DC United. Sporting KC will now has the rights to make a bona fide offer to Dykstra over the next seven days.

Dykstra is a eight year MLS veteran having played with the Chicago Fire and DC United in career along with stints on loan to the Charleston Battery and Richmond Kickers. His predominately been a back up goalkeeper during his MLS career, his longest stretch as a starter was in 2010 when he started 17 games for the Chicago Fire. Last year he played just one league game for DC United, their season opening loss to the LA Galaxy 4-1. After that he lost the starting job to Travis Worra who played in goal until starter, Bill Hamid was ready to play. In 2015, Dykstra had started nine games for United.

If Sporting ends up signing Dykstra, he'd likely become Sporting KC's second choice goalkeeper after starter Tim Melia. This would allow new signing Adrian Zendejas to go on loan to the Swope Park Rangers for the season and allow him to get playing time, which is key for him at this point in his career. This would mean that Dykstra would get field time this year in the US Open Cup and the odd league start.

Sporting Select Fire's Kann in Re-Entry Draft

Sporting KC actually made use of this year's Re-Entry Draft. Throughout the five previous drafts, KC had only ever selected one player, taking Frankie Hejduk in the second phase of the inaugural Re-Entry Draft in 2010. Hejduk was almost immediately traded to Los Angeles for the rights to Luke Sassano. KC had never been involved in the first phase of the re-entry draft, until today when the club selected the Chicago Fire's Alec Kann with the 11th pick of the draft.

Kann a 26 year old goalkeeper from Georgia was signed by the Fire before the 2013 MLS season. He spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons on loan with the Charlotte Eagles and St. Louis FC respectively. For both he was a regular starter, appearing in over 30 games over his two seasons in the US third division. Last year he played in 19 games for St. Louis, with a goals against average of 1.24 with six shutouts and a 5-7-7 record as St. Louis' primary starter. Kann also made his MLS debut this year, starting the Fire's season finale against the New York Red Bulls. He made six saves as the Fire fell 2-1. According to the players union numbers, Kann made just $60,000 last year for the Fire as their third string goalkeeper, so his salary number would fall in line with what you'd want from your third string goalkeeper.

With the selection of Kann, Sporting now has three goalkeepers on their roster joining Jon Kempin and Tim Melia heading into the 2016 season. The trio will head into preseason with Melia the clear number one but Kempin likely wanting to challenge him for that spot. If Kempin can't beat Melia out for the starting spot I'd like to see Kempin loaned to the Swope Park Rangers for the 2016 season to get continuous playing time in goal. With the Rangers not allowed to compete in the US Open Cup you could bring him back for those games or start him if Melia gets hurt. The upside to having the USL team in town allows for more fluid movement. Kann in this example would be the everyday back up for Melia in MLS regular season games, but would also potentially spend time with SPR as well. Of course this was the same feeling I had about Melia with Luis Marin last year and we all know how that turned out.

Free Agent and Re-Entry Draft List Released

MLS today released the lists for the league's first ever free agency along with the list of players that will be available for Friday's first stage of the re-entry draft.

Twenty-six players are eligible for free agency and are free to negotiate with any team. Players must be at least 28 years old and have played in the league for at least eight seasons to be eligible for free agency, one Sporting KC player is included in that list this year, midfielder Paulo Nagamura. In 2015, Nagamura made $230,000 according to the players union numbers released this year, which is $10,000 more than he'd made in 2014, but still below his $265,000 he made back in 2013. Nagamura though turns 33 next season, and while he's played at least 17 games in all four seasons he's played with KC, questions certainly have to start creeping in about how much longer he can play at the level he has played at, and if he's worth $230,000. For me I'd love to keep Nagamura, but I'd like to see him take a bit of a pay cut to help build the team up further.

If KC wanted to be active in the free agency market, there are some different paths that KC could go to address some needs this offseason. One area that KC needs to address in goalkeeper, where KC only has two at the moment, and one, Jon Kempin, is out of contract and may not be back. Even if Kempin is back most people want him to spend the season on loan with the Swope Park Rangers getting regular playing time. That would still leave a spot for a back up for Tim Melia. There are a couple experienced goalkeepers KC could look at on the free agent market if they wanted to, Jon Busch and Troy Perkins. Busch would likely be the cheaper of the two options, as he made just $85,000 last year according to the union numbers, but his issue is that he turns 40 during the 2016 MLS season. As for Perkins, he'll turn 35 in 2016 and made $130,000, not an amount I'd want to see Kansas City paying on a back up goalkeeper even if the goalie will be getting time next season in the US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League. Both would be able to fill the back up role for Kansas City if this was a route KC wanted to go, Busch has played over 300 MLS games and recorded 83 shutouts in that time frame. Meanwhile Perkins has played about 100 fewer games, but has recorded over 50 shutouts himself.

Robb Heineman has had fun with free agency starting, throwing out two names on Twitter as recruiting targets, naming Montreal Impact midfielder Justin Mapp and Chicago Fire forward Mike Magee. Mapp didn't play much in 2015 for the Impact, fracturing his elbow in the season opener against DC United, he was limited to just five games in 2015. In his career Mapp has recorded 65 assists, just over four a season for his career. He'd provide some attack down the wing and some further creativity. His salary, just over $185,000 isn't that bad either and he'd provide an upgrade over the likes of Bernardo Anor, Connor Hallisey, and Jacob Peterson on the wing. The issue is does he bring enough to the team.

As for Magee, if KC wanted to target him, I'd assume he'd need to take a pay cut as he made $400,000 in the 2015 season. Like Mapp, Magee is coming off an injury shortened 2015 season where he only contributed two assists to the Fire attack. This is two seasons after being the league MVP in 2013, scoring 21 goals while splitting time with the Fire and LA Galaxy. Right now I'd prefer Dom Dwyer in that starting forward spot, so unless the price is right for Magee salary wise a move for him doesn't make a lot of sense.

The thought of Magee that I do like in terms of free agency is getting a reserve striker. This was an area that KC really struggled with last year, a spark off the bench. There are a few guys that KC could at least look at, all have been regular goal scorers in the league, but may be a little expensive. The likes of Edson Buddle, 300 games played, 100 goals scored, made $100,000 in 2015, but turns 35 next year is available. Another forward that could be an option that's a little younger is Chad Barrett. Barrett turns 31 next season, he's scored 56 goals in just over 250 games played in his career. He scored five goals for Seattle last year, making $95,000 starting just nine games. So there are some options there for KC to go after if they wanted to find some striker depth.

Re-Entry Draft

As for the re-entry draft, that's an area that KC has never really used under Peter Vermes, in the five previous re-entry drafts, KC has taken a total of one player, none since the first draft in 2010 and none in the first phase of the draft. If there's a player that Vermes has wanted in the draft he has usually worked out a deal with the players current club to acquire him via trade before the draft. And while the 2015 re-entry draft probably has the most talent of any draft so far it wouldn't surprise me again if Vermes either does his business early or does no business at all.

The first decision that Vermes will have to make is on one of KC's players in this year's re-entry draft as Seth Sinovic is out of contract and available for the draft. After suffering through a concussion in the middle of the season Sinovic came back and regained his starting spot last season, but didn't seem to be fully back from the injury. The questions is whether a full offseason would see him come back at the level he was. Sinovic and KC have until late afternoon on Thursday to make a decision. Based on past experience where Sinovic was ready to retire instead of going to KC that could turn teams off of looking at taking Sinovic in the draft.

While there are some interesting choices available in the first phase of the re-entry draft; Tommy Meyer for some center back depth, Matt Lampson as a back up goalkeeper option, and Marco Pappa as an attacking option, I think that Vermes and Kansas City are going to stick to their regular process during the first phase of the re-entry draft. If there's a player they want they'll make an early trade and not wait to see if he falls to KC at the 11th spot.

Sporting Add Nemeth and Marin, Pass on Re-Entry Draft

After being mentioned that deals were close, today Sporting KC confirmed the signings of Krisztian Nemeth and Luis Marin. The 25 year old Hungarian last played with Roda JC Kerkrade in the Dutch league. Nemeth was starting to become a regular for Hungary during their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, appearing in five of their qualifiers, scoring one goal. His last appearance for his country though was back in October of 2013 when he played in Hungary's 2-0 win over Andorra, the game right after coach, Sandor Egervari, resigned. Since then he's been unable to get a call up from the next two coaches.

Coming into KC, Nemeth can play any of the three forward positions according to Vermes, which should give KC some options up top next season. Nemeth has experiencing playing in a 4-3-3 system, so that part of his transition should be okay, it'll depend on whether he can adjust to Vermes' high press usage of the formation. As I mentioned yesterday, he certainly has the pedigree to do well in MLS with the likes of Liverpool and Olympiacos on his resume. The question will be whether he is going to be able to stay healthy (an issue that's dogged him for much of his career).

Marin will come in and likely be Kansas City's starting goalkeeper in the 2015 season. The Chilean has mainly been a back up to Chile's number 2 goalkeeper at Club Universidad de Chile, but has been a starter much of the rest of his career. He's also played a role with his national team, appearing eight times for Chile and was on the country's roster for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

From watching some highlight videos, Marin seems to be a quick distributor of the ball. That's something that Kansas City really hasn't had, but with the way that KC likes to play, could be a useful tool for the club this year.

In other news, true to Robb Heineman's word in his Q&A on Twitter the other night, Sporting didn't have any interest in anyone in the second stage of the re-entry draft. The team passed on their pick in today's draft.

Sporting Pass on Re-Entry Draft. Kronberg, Gruenebaum Selected

MLS held the first phase of this year's Re-Entry Draft. And like most years, there was little movement. The prior four drafts had averaged under three picks in the first phase. Today, three players were taken, none of them going to Kansas City, as Sporting passed on making a selection in the draft. Peter Vermes has still yet to pick someone in the first phase.

Of the three players that were taken, two of them were Sporting KC players. With the first pick, Montreal selected KC's former starter, Eric Kronberg. With the Impact having dumped Troy Perkins, Kronberg will likely be battling Evan Bush for the starting job in Montreal. With the second pick in the draft, the San Jose Earthquakes grabbed KC's other available goalkeeper, Andy Gruenebaum. Gruenebaum had played well for Kansas City, but continued to struggle with injuries, missing games at three separate times during the season. He'll likely come in and either compete with or be the back up to David Bingham. The third player taken was Toronto FC grabbing Real Salt Lake's Robbie Findley.

Re-Entry Draft Tomorrow

Tomorrow MLS hosts another one of their drafts, the first stage of the Re-Entry Draft. The draft, a mechanism added in the last CBA to allow players some movement within the league. Tomorrow's first leg is usually the slower of the two stages of the draft. Since the draft started in 2010, only 11 players have been taken in the first stage of the four prior drafts. Last year saw the most activity ever in the first stage as five players were selected.

This year, there are 62 players available to select in the draft. The rules of this stage of the draft are simple. The players are every MLS player that meet certain requirements (at least 23 years old with 3 years experience, at least 25 with at least 4 years of experience, or at least 30 years old with at least 8 years of experience) and have had their contract options either declined or are out of contract. If a player is selected at this stage, the team that selects him is agreeing to either pick up that player's option or to make them a bona fide offer. If the player doesn't accept the contract, the team owns that player's MLS rights.

Usually the second leg, which offers more flexibility is where there is more activity.

For Sporting KC, Peter Vermes has never made a selection in first stage of the re-entry draft, passing every year so far. For me, even though KC is in a bit of a rebuilding mode right now, I see no reason that this strategy of Vermes' is going to change. In fact Vermes hasn't really even used stage two of the draft either, only selecting one player, Frankie Hejduk (who was almost immediately traded to LA for Luke Sassano) ever.

Looking at this year's list I again don't see any players that Vermes is going to want to live without. Come next week Sporting could look at grabbing someone like Hendry Thomas.

Meanwhile, three Sporting players are available for selection, Josh Gardner, who's retired and taken up individual volleyball, and two of Sporting's goalkeepers, Andy Gruenebaum and Eric Kronberg.

Second Stage of Re-Entry Draft Tomorrow

The second stage of the re-entry draft takes place tomorrow via conference call. The draft, a way for players in the league with a certain amount of experience to get a chance to re-enter the league. The first stage sees teams having to pick up the player's option or contract. The second stage just gives the team's the right to negotiate with the player.

This is the fourth year of the draft. In the previous three, Sporting has only made one pick, selecting Frankie Hejduk (who they traded to LA for Luke Sassano's rights). Usually, Sporting KC has done their business picking up players outside the draft.

KC's already made one similar move this year, trading for Andy Gruenebaum, who was not on the original list, but was out of contract this year.

There are a number of interesting options available in the draft, but many of them are going to be on the high side salary wise and not be worth the cost. A player like Dwayne De Rosario, David Ferreira, Joel Lindpere and Juan Toja fall into that category for me. The lowest salaried player of those three is Lindpere at $180,000 and I'm not sure he's worth that cost. When he was with New York I would have jumped at the opportunity to get Lindpere, now I'm not so sure.

There are a couple that could be potential depth signings. Someone like Brandon Barklage of New York made $60,000 last year and would be an upgrade for KC depth wise on the back line. Although the question would be whether he'd still be there at the end of the round, when KC picks. We'll see if KC actually makes a move tomorrow, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't make any.

Sporting KC News

Here's some news for you today regarding Sporting KC.

Sporting Pull Out of Swope Park Project

This actually happened last week, but with all the news regarding player announcements I keep forgetting to post about it.  The project that the city of Kansas City supports to turn the area around Sporting's training facility into a soccer complex that could rival the Overland Park Complex.  The plan was to use funds left over from the Winchester Center TIF to help fund the project.  The plan for the project immediately came under fire because the unused portion of the TIF funds was supposed to go to the Raytown School District and Mid-Continent Public Library.  In the long run Sporting probably made the smart move so as to avoid be looked at as attempting to take money away from a school.

Still the thing that continues to bug me with regards to this situation is the fact that the TIF went into effect before the team was even originally founded and nothing has been done with the left over TIF money for years.  But when another use for the project funds is found, people get up in arms over the situation. 

New Byline to the Back Post

A new From the Byline to the Back Post is up for your listening pleasure.  This week Thad and I discuss all the moves that had taken place through Wednesday evening, including Benny Feilhaber, Matt Besler, and Ike Opara.  We also discuss the Comets, FC KC, and more.  Enjoy through Posterous and iTunes.

Re-Entry Draft Stage 2 Tomorrow

The second stage of the re-entry draft takes place tomorrow.  After seeing only one player taken in the first stage, the second stage of the draft is usually much more active.  With Sporting KC making a number of moves after the first stage of the draft, including picking up Opara in a trade with San Jose.  KC took a similar method last year, trading for Bobby Convey instead of waiting for the draft.  After that trade Sporting sat out the second stage of the re-entry draft making no movement.  I wouldn't be surprised for KC to once again not make a selection now that they've picked up Opara.  There's no one on the list that immediately jumps out at this point that I would think KC would take.

Former Junior Trialing Abroad

Whether you want to consider this a missed opportunity by Sporting or not, this is pretty cool.  Former Juniors player, Badr Seyam, a 13  year old, is currently working his way around Europe, trialing for the youth teams of some of the biggest clubs in the world.  Including Arsenal and Hamburg, he's apparently also heard from Manchester City as well.  It's amazing that a kid from Sporting's youth system could reach these heights so quickly.  I wish the kid nothing but luck for his future

Re-Entry Draft Tomorrow

Tomorrow the MLS offseason continues to move along with the first stage of the Re-entry draft.  It's the third year MLS has had the re-entry draft with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, and it's still just as confusing as it was in it's first season, so let's quickly run down the rules for players being eligible for the draft, specifically for stage one of the draft.

Players who are at least 23 years old and have a minimum of three years of MLS experience whose options were not exercised by their clubs (available at option salary for the next season).

Players who are at least 25 years old with a minimum of four years of MLS experience who are out of contract and whose club does not offer them a contract at their previous salary (available at previous season's salary).

Players who are at least 30 years old with a minimum of eight years of MLS experience who are out of contract and whose club does not wish to re-sign them (available for at least 105 percent of their previous season's salary).

If a player is selected in the first stage of the re-entry draft the team must exercise the player's option or extend a "bona fide offer."  If the player rejects the deal, the team retains the first right of refusal on the player.  Teams then have the ability to renegotiate with their players ahead of the second stage.

The first stage of the drat isn't used very much, in the two previous years of the draft, only 5 players have been taken.  The rest of the teams all passed on their picks, and even those that did make picks passed on the second attempt.  The real interest in the draft will take place in the second stage of the draft a week from tomorrow. 

I don't expect Sporting to make any movement in the draft tomorrow, no one on the list really stands out as someone to take in this stage of the draft.  There are a few guys that I would consider in the second phase, especially for center back depth, which KC needs when just looking at the roster.  Specifically Julius James and Ike Opara could add depth or challenge for starting spots for Kansas City.  The likes of Corben Bone or Blair Gavin could give KC some depth in the midfield.

As I said previously there's little movement in the first stage of the draft so I expect less than 5 players to be taken in tomorrow's draft. 

Harrington Trade Official, Aiyegbusi to Rentry Draft

It's been an extremely busy day in MLS circles today as the trade window opened up and teams started to prepare their teams for next year.  Sporting KC was active making a trade with the most active team of the day, Portland.  The rumored trade last night of Michael Harrington for allocation money came off, sending the 6 year veteran to the Pacific Northwest.  It'll be interesting to see what Kansas City does with the allocation money, but rumors are that KC could be busy the rest of this week with news as well. 

Harrington was the team's second most tenured player in KC behind Eric Kronberg, having been with the club since being drafted in 2007.  He scored the quickest goal in a debut, scoring just 3 minutes into his debut against DC United.  His record was topped by CJ Sapong last year.

Harrington finishes his career in KC with the 9th most minutes played in league play in KC history 11,633 in 149 appearances, tying him for 8th place with Mo Johnston.  He started 128 of those, tied with Josh Wolff for 9th.  In all competitions, Harrington played 13,276 good for 11th on that list, in 170 appearances, set for 9th place on that list.  Of those, 143 were starts, good enough for 12th on that list.  In his career, Harrington scored 5 goals for KC, but none since 2008.  In the past two seasons, Harrington has seen his minutes and appearances decrease due to the emergence of Seth Sinovic and Chance Myers.  Harrington started on 16 games last year, and appeared in 23 games.  This year it was even lower as Harrington only started 9 games and appeared in only 11, a career low for him.  With his $125,000 salary it's tough to justify that for a bench player.  And while it'd be nice to have an experienced veteran on the bench, Harrington has to be wanting to get himself more playing time as his career continues.  Good luck to him.

Also announced today was that the team will not be picking up the option on defender Korede Aiyegbusi.  The Englishman appeared in only 9 games, starting 2 over his 3 year career with KC, playing only 152 minutes.  This year it was only 1 appearance for a total of 19 minutes for Aiyegbusi.  He also made one US Open Cup and one USOC qualifier for KC in his career.  Aiyegbusi will go into the reentry draft, the first stage of which takes place on Friday.  Very few, if any of the players on this list will be taken in the first stage, the majority of the movement will take place next Friday in the second stage of the draft.

The departure of these two puts KC extremely low on the number of defenders on the roster.  KC still has their 4 starters, Myers, Sinovic, Matt Besler (who is currently out of contract), and Aurelien Collin, KC has only 3 other defenders on the roster.  Lawrence Olum, Kevin Ellis, and Kyle Miller.  All the appearances for KC between those 3 in competitive games belong to Olum, save 1, a substitution appearance for Kevin Ellis in the Open Cup last year.  There's no doubt though that there will be defensive depth brought in this offseason from one location or another.

Good luck to both Harrington and Aiyegbusi in their continued careers. 

Bravo Leaving KC for Mexico

photo courtesy of Jarred Donalson

The rumors have been around basically since the season ended. The fact that Omar Bravo had only played 5 minutes in Sporting KC's playoff run certainly did nothing to temper those rumors. In the offseason Bravo's been linked with every club in Guadalajara, from Chivas to cash strapped Tecos. He's also been linked with Club America, Veracruz, and other clubs. In the end though, it is Mexican City side, Cruz Azul that gets the services of the former Mexican international.

Bravo leaves Kansas City having played in 27 games this past season, starting all but one of them. In that time he scored 9 goals and 2 assists in league play. He added another 2 appearances in the US Open Cup and 1 MLS Cup playoff appearance to his total. He tied Teal Bunbury and Kei Kamara for the most goals this year.

Bravo's departure opens up not only a designated player spot, but also an international spot. That leaves KC with 6 of their 7 international slots currently filled. The designated player spot I 100% expect to be filled by the time that next season starts. I also wouldn't be surprised if there were 2 DPs on the field when KC take the field.

The move involved Sporting getting a fee from the Mexican club for Bravo's services. Although the official status of Bravo's move has not been published. It's possible that the move could be just a loan of some kind. Either way KC retains Bravo's MLS rights, but I doubt we'll see the Mexican back in MLS.

REENTRY DRAFT
In other Sporting KC news today, the second phase of the reentry draft took place today. Sporting KC was one of 14 teams that chose not to select anyone from the list of players available in the draft. On the other end of the draft, now former Sporting KC player, Shavar Thomas was not selected at all by any of the teams and is now a free agent able to sign to any team in the league.

Quiet First Stage for Sporting KC

Today was the first stage of the MLS Re-Entry draft. Like last year it was a fairly quiet round, with most teams choosing to pass instead of taking a player at their current salary or at a bona fide offer. Only 3 players were selected in the draft. Arturo Alvarez was picked up by Chivas USA, Columbus picked up Carlos Mendes, and New England grabbed Danleigh Borman. KC decided to sit out the first stage not making any selections.

KC will now look towards the second stage a week from today. Sporting defender, Shavar Thomas will also be looking towards the second stage next week as well to possibly be selected by a team. The two remaining candidates I put on my original list are still out there, Baggio Husidic and Ryan Cochrane both could be available in the second stage.

Sassano Opts Out of Re-Entry Draft

Yesterday while looking around MLS' website I went back to the list of players that were put into the re-entry draft. The list of Sporting KC players had been reduced by one. Luke Sassano was no longer listed as being available in the draft. Today on Twitter, I got a response from @agenterob, Sassano's agent. In the response I was told that Sassano opted out of the re-entry draft.

So what does that mean? Well from doing a little searching, I found this article from the Revolution that talks about the players they have that are eligible for the re-entry draft. It says: "Eligible players may either choose to participate in the Re-Entry Process or opt out and sign with their current clubs."

The bolded part is mine. If this is correct, it would seem that Sassano has opted out of the draft and signed a new contract with Sporting KC. I know that will make quite a few people happy, especially those at Pandolfi's, home of The Sassano, probably the best sandwich in the city in my opinion.

Sassano played in 9 games, starting 5. He also scored this goal to cap off Sporting KC's win over Dallas.

A Look at the Re-Entry Draft List

MLS released the list of players that are available for the Re-Entry Draft next week. Up until Friday team's can still negotiate with their players and potentially reach a deal that would see the player stay with their current club. So fans of Luke Sassano (sorry I'm not sure Shavar Thomas has many fans in KC at this point) don't have to get worried quite yet that the midfielder will not be back. Both Sassano and Thomas did not have their options picked up by the club. If no deal is reached by Friday, then players will go into the first stage of the draft, which takes place on Monday the 5th. In the first stage, teams pick up a player's option or make them a bona fide offer. Per what was released last year, a bona fide offer is considered the same same guaranteed salary they made this past season if they are 25 years old and at least 4 years experience or 105% of their 2011 salary if they are 30 with 8 years. The other potential is a player under 25 with 3 years experience that could be picked up at their option price if their option wasn't picked up.

The second stage on December 12th, there wouldn't be any specific contract requirements.

Last year in the first stage, only one player, Joseph Ngwenya by DC. This year I think we could see a few more players taken, but I think the majority will go in the second round.

When it comes to KC, it'll be interesting to see which way the team goes. There's not really a guy there that I could see coming in and starting, but there are a few players that I think could add some quality depth to the team heading into the 2012 season. Especially with much of our movement so far this offseason being in the midfield, it's possible KC could try to add depth there or in the center of defense. KC could also use another striker on the bench, but I don't see any of the forwards available as ones that would fit well in KC's system. So here's a few players that I think could potential contribute for KC.

Baggio Husidic - Chicago - M - $82,500 - Maybe more of a second stage option if you can get him to take a lower salary, but I think Husidic could be a good depth edition for KC. Drafted the same year as Matt Besler and Graham Zusi, Husidic made 50 league appearances for the Fire in his 3 years with the club. He graduated from the Generation Adidas program last year. I think he could be a good potential back up for Zusi in the midfield.

Ryan Cochrane - New England - D - $70,000 - The 28 year old defender started 22 games for the for the Revolution last year. He too may be a little more expensive than what KC wants to use in the first stage, but could prove to be decent depth in the center of defense. Of course with Daneil Cyrus, Lawrence Olum, and the possibility of Nick Cardenas and center back may not be a requirement for KC.

Jean Alexandre - Salt Lake - M - $42,000 - A more defensive minded midfielder, Alexandre pulled a Diop this past year for Salt Lake filling it at forward as well. The Haitian international could join his countryman, Peterson Joseph. His salary is definitely appealing for KC.

We'll see if KC goes for any of these, or other players.

Sassano, Thomas, Nielsen, and Bravo News

Some quick bits of news on four Kansas City players from this past season. First, with regards to the re-entry draft (more on the draft as a whole later). Kansas City has two players that have been played into the draft, Luke Sassano and Shavar Thomas. Neither one is incredibly surprising. Thomas was 100% expected after he wasn't waived, the Jamaican international made only 3 substitute appearances in MLS play this past season. Thomas, who made $160,000 last year, came to KC last year from Philadelphia via trade and helped KC to stop some of the bleeding in the middle of defense, but fell so far down the depth chart KC wasn't even dressing a back up center back, instead if Matt Besler or Aurelien Collin weren't able to go, Julio Cesar would drop from midfield to defense. Sassano, who started off on a 3 month contract, earning a contract for the rest of the season after impressing enough, finished the season making $51,600. He played in 9 games, starting 5 after coming to KC last year via trade LA in a trade of re-entry draft participants as KC sent Frankie Hejduk the other direction. Sassano scored his first goal in the team's 4-1 win over Dallas.

Last week it was announced that Jimmy Nielsen has signed a contract extension with Sporting KC. Word out of Denmark is that Nielsen will see a pay raise of about $76,000 over his $200,000 last year (1,530,000 Danish Krone equals $276,000 US). A decent pay raise for the Dane, one that he has probably earned over the past two years with his play. (H/T to The Front Men)

Finally, some Omar Bravo news, also courtesy of The Front Men originally. Bravo's agent, Ruben Perez told ESPN Deportes that Bravo is not going to be going to Mexico on loan during the offseason. There had been rumors of Tecos and Atlas both being interested in bringing in the former Mexican international on loan. But all that talk all died down a few weeks ago when Tecos said that they were going to be unable to do a deal because of KC's demands. With KC wanting Bravo back for the beginning of the 2012 season, Bravo would have only been able to play 7 games in Mexico, which wasn't worth it to Tecos. At that point you expected that Bravo wouldn't be going anywhere, but this confirms it.

More Draft News

MLS is apparently in the business this week of releasing all their information for the drafts this offseason. Earlier this week they announced the rules for the upcoming expansion draft for Montreal. Now MLS has announced the rules for two more of the offseason drafts.

First the second year re-entry draft rules have been announced. Three types of players are going to be available for the draft:

1. Players 23 and older with at least three years of MLS experience whose options were not exercised by their clubs.

2. Players at least 25 years old with at least four years of MLS experience who were not signed and whose clubs did not offer them a contract at their previous salary.

3. Players at least 30 years old with a minimum of eight years of MLS experience who do not have a contract and whose club does not want to sign them.

The first stage of the draft will take place on 12/5. Like last year, teams will then have a week to agree to a deal with the player that they draft at their current contract or raise. If players aren't selected in that stage, or teams don't agree to terms, they go into the second stage on 12/12.

The other draft is the MLS Superdraft. This one is the one to pay attention to if you're a Sporting KC fan in KC. That's because the Superdraft is going to be held in Kansas City on January 12th as part of the NSCAA convention. The Superdraft does lose a round this year, instead of being 3 the Superdraft will be 2 rounds. The draft will begin at 11am with the first round on ESPN. The whole draft though will continue to remain 6 rounds as there is a 4 round Supplemental draft on January 17th. Like previous years I will be live blogging the draft again and with it in KC I will be hoping to provide it from the draft itself.

Re-Entry Draft Busy Day for KC

Lots of coming and going today for KC when it came to today's Re-Entry draft. With the first pick of round 2, DC United selected Josh Wolff and shortly after announced that they'd agreed to a new 1 year contract with a club option year for the 2012 season. With the next pick, another long tenured KC player left the team, as Chivas USA selected Jimmy Conrad, returning Conrad to California where I think most people expected him to go after he retired to take his turn in following his spouse around as his wife has during his playing career. My "tribute posts" to both players will likely be out tomorrow.

With their first pick in the draft, KC grabbed Frankie Hejduk from Columbus. When the pick was made it certainly brought some interesting thoughts on the contract situation of Michael Harrington. With Harrington out of contract it seemed like KC was either looking for depth to back him up or a replace should Harrington not re-sign with the club. He would have been an interesting addition, but wasn't exactly my favorite pick as I'd been unimpressed with his performance this year. And with him turning 37 during the 2011 season, while he'd continue to show is crazy fitness level, his skill level is certainly deteriorating. Him as a veteran sub would be ok, but the pick worried me about Harrington's contract status.

Hejduk, though, was only a SKC Wizard for a few hours before his rights were traded away. KC made a trade with the LA Galaxy sending the rights for Hejduk to LA in return for the rights to Luke Sassano. Sassano spent the 2010 season with New York. Sassano made 3 appearances for New York, 2 starts in the 2010 season. KC now holds Sassano's rights and will have the ability to sign him. In the 2010 season, Sassano made $40,000 this past season, so signing him is extremely unlikely to break the bank. And while it's disappointing to see Conrad and Wolff go they create over $400,000 in cap space for KC with those two no longer on KC's books. If Sassano's signed he could certainly see plenty of time next season with Stephane Auvray, Craig Rocastle, and Shavar Thomas all potentially missing games as part of the Gold Cup this summer. And with Sassano being able to play midfield and defense he could certainly step in to any of those positions.

The final interesting player news of the day came from team's press release regarding the Sassano trade. The team announced that the following players are currently on the roster for 2011: Korede Aiyegbusi, Davy Arnaud, Stephane Auvray, Matt Besler, Omar Bravo, Teal Bunbury, Sunil Chhetri, Birahim Diop, Roger Espinoza, Jack Jewsbury, Kei Kamara, Nick Kounenakis, Eric Kronberg, Chance Myers, Jimmy Nielsen, Craig Rocastle, Ryan Smith, Shavar Thomas and Graham Zusi. What this means is that the only player still out of contract at this time is Michael Harrington (and Sassano obviously). There's also no Zoltan Hercegfalvi on there as well meaning it looks like his time in KC may be done too. Jon Kempin isn't listed either, but that likely is because of his home grown status and doesn't mean KC's already given up on their first home grown signing. Certainly more moves are on the way, including the "young DP" rumors that are continuing to be talked about and the Aurelien Collin rumors.

So there looks like there could be plenty of interesting information coming out in the next few weeks, including this tweet from Robb Heineman earlier today.

Conrad and Wolff in Re-Entry Draft Round 2

If Jimmy Conrad and Josh Wolff's time in KC wasn't over when they were placed into the first stage of the re-entry draft, it certainly appears that it's now over as both Conrad and Wolff opted to stay in the draft and not renegotiate their contract with SKC. Today the list of players that will be available for Wednesday's stage 2 of the re-entry draft was released. Of the original 35 players, 32 will be entering stage 2. Joseph Ngwenya and Aaron Hohlbein were selected in stage 1, and Jovan Kirovski has opted out of the second round, instead choosing to try to renegotiate with the LA Galaxy. I just can't really see either one of these two players being in the new SKC Wizards blue next season at the stadium, which is definitely disappointing from a personal stand point.

It's the end of two very long careers in KC, both are in the top 10 in games played for the Wizards, Conrad is one of only a handful of players to have played over 200 games for the Wizards while Wolff is one of the top 3 scorers in team history. I understand from a professional standpoint why the players are moving on, but it is a bit disappointing. As for the Wizards selecting anyone Wednesday in the draft, no one really strikes me as a must have if they are available for us at the 8 spot, but we'll see if Peter Vermes and KC value any of the available players.

Hohlbein Selected in First Stage of Re-Entry Draft

The first stage of the re-entry draft was today. The draft took a grand total of 5 minutes as all but two teams passed in the first round and those two passed in the second round. With the first pick, DC United selected Joseph Ngwenya of the Houston Dynamo. Heading into the draft a lot of speculation surrounded whether or not DC would use the first pick on Jimmy Conrad to help solidify their back line. Instead DC went for a cheaper option, and one to help their forward line that scored an MLS worst 21 goals last season.

The only other selection was by the Columbus Crew who picked up Sporting KC defender, Aaron Hohlbein. While everyone seemed to be predicting that Conrad would be the Wizards player selected, Hohlbein in the end made the most sense for most clubs, as he makes the league minimum $40,000 while also being fairly experienced making 43 appearances for KC in league play. Hohlbein's KC career looks to end with just under 3,500 minutes in league play (3,496), in 41 starts in those 43 appearances. He also scored two goals in the 2009 season for KC. In all competitions Hohlbein played in 48 games, 46 starts, and 3,945 minutes played. For the Crew he fills a much needed backup role in the center back position as they currently have Chad Marshall and Andy Iro to start but need to replace Eric Brunner who was taken in the expansion draft.

Now the teams have a chance to renegotiate with players not selected. This means that KC has a chance to renegotiate with Conrad and Josh Wolff. Overall I still thing it's unlikely that either one is going to be back next season playing in the new stadium in a SKC jersey. But we'll have to see over the next few days as the team has the ability to renegotiate through Monday.

Conrad and Hohlbein Join Wolff in ReEntry Draft

Today the full list of players that will be available for Wednesday's Re-Entry Draft. Along with Josh Wolff, whose contract option was not picked up, Jimmy Conrad and Aaron Hohlbein will be available in the draft as well. Conrad and Hohlbein are both out of contract, for the draft it means that both players can accept or reject a "bona fide" offer by the team that drafts them. If they reject it, the drafting team holds the player's MLS rights. As for Wolff, any team that drafts him will be taking on his current contract. The full list contains a number of former SKC players available for selection including Preston Burpo, Nick Garcia, Claudio Lopez, Khari Stephenson, Carey Talley, and Alex Zotinca. The draft will take place place at 1pm Wednesday. Players not selected will have until next Monday to negotiate a new contract with their old club. If they do not, the second stage of the draft will be Wednesday the 15th.

Looking at the list, no player really strikes me as currently being worth taking with the 8th spot and making a bona fide offer to.