Sporting Select Goalkeeper David Greczek with Final Superdraft Pick

Sporting Kansas City had one selection on the second day of the MLS Superdraft, selecting Rutgers goalkeeper, David Greczek with the 14th pick of the third round, the 58th selection overall. Greczek started all four years at Rutgers, appearing 75 times for the Scarlet Knights. Greczek spent time in the New York Red Bulls academy as well as training with New York City FC in 2015.

The 22 year old though seems to have an uphill path to make Sporting KC, with the club already having three goalkeepers under contract for 2017 in Tim Melia, Andrew Dykstra, and Adrian Zendejas. He may have a shot though at making the Swope Park Rangers, where the club has yet to sign any goalkeeper as of yet (although the expectation is that Zendejas will go on loan there for most/all of the USL season to get playing time). What it does do, is give Sporting KC another body in goal early on in preseason, which is something the club always likes to have.

Sporting Select Colton Storm with 14th Pick

Sporting KC made their lone selection of the first day of the 2017 MLS Superdraft, collecting UNC outside back, Colton Storm. Storm started all 21 games for UNC in his senior season this past year, recording three assists for the Tar Heels as they went 14-3-4. He scored two goals and had seven assists in his career.

Storm will immediately come in and have plenty of competition for not just playing time, but a spot on the roster. Reports are that he's predominately a right sided outside back, Kansas City has three players already on the roster that Peter Vermes could play there in 2015 first round pick, Saad Abdul-Salaam, recently re-acquired Igor Juliao, and Graham Zusi, who looks set to play there for the national team. Both Storm and Vermes have said that he can play on the left side of the field, where Kansas City would also appear to be fairly deep at the moment with Seth Sinovic, Jimmy Medranda, and the recently signed Tyler Pasher (who played left back in his only appearance for Sporting KC last season but can also play on the wing). What that means is that Storm looks to have a fight on his hands to make the Sporting KC roster playing a position that Kansas City currently has a number of players currently, and could be a potential signing for the Swope Park Rangers in the near future.

A Look at Sporting KC's Draft Position

MLS hosts their Superdraft tomorrow at the NSCAA convention in Los Angeles, the first two rounds of the draft will take place tomorrow with the third and fourth rounds taking place Tuesday next week via conference call. Sporting KC have two picks in the draft, one each day. Tomorrow, KC's lone pick is in the first round, the 14th overall pick. They traded their second round pick to the Houston Dynamo as part of the trade that brought Brad Davis to KC last season.

As I do every year, here are the players that have been taken each year with the 14th overall pick.

1996 - Tampa Bay - Casey Sweeney
1997 - San Jose - Jason Annichero
1998 - DC - Carey Talley
1999 - Kansas City -  John Wilson
2000 - New England - Rusty Pierce
2001 - Tampa Bay - Devin Barclay
2002 - New England - Sharlie Joseph
2003 - DC - Doug Warren
2004 - Los Angeles - Ned Grabavoy
2005 - Chivas USA - Christian Jimenez
2006 - Chicago - Jeff Curtin
2007 - Dallas - Abdus Ibrahim
2008 - Salt Lake - David Horst
2009 - Dallas - George John
2010 - New York - Austin da Luz
2011 - Chivas USA - Víctor Estupiñán
2012 - Colorado - Tony Cascio
2013 - Kansas City - Mikey Lopez
2014 - Columbus - Ben Sweat
2015 - Colorado - Axel Sjöberg
2016 - Montreal - Kyle Fisher

Twice Kansas City has had the 14th overall pick, unfortunately neither one has really worked out that well for Kansas City. Kansas City took John Wilson with the 14th pick in 1999, but Wilson didn't sign with Kansas City, instead staying in South Carolina and signing with the Charleston Battery. KC wanted him so much that they actually took him in 2000 too with the ninth pick.

KC's other time picking 14th was in 2013 when they selected Mikey Lopez. Lopez at the time looked like a good prospect, a Generation Adidas member and a fixture with the US U20 team at the time. KC's hopes were that he'd help to replace Roger Espinoza eventually at the box-to-box midfield position after the Honduran left for Wigan just a few weeks earlier. Unfortunately though Lopez's career in KC didn't turn out too well, he spent the majority of his time with Kansas City on loan to KC's affiliates Orlando City and Oklahoma City. In 2014 and 2015 Lopez was twice pushed into starting roles due to injuries, but couldn't stamp his authority on the spot. When he lost his Generation Adidas tag after the 2015 season, KC let him go where he was picked up by NYCFC where he did relatively well in 2016.

The best picks at 14 though go to a trio of players, Carey Talley in 1998 didn't have a fancy career, he's made the second most appearances in MLS without a national team cap (behind the recently retired Mike Magee), making 315 league appearances for six different teams, including a spell in Kansas City in 2003 and 2004. More recently, Axel Sjöberg has been a great addition to the Rapids since he was selected with the 14th pick in the 2015 MLS Superdraft. The Swede has made 45 appearances for Colorado over his first two seasons, and last year was named to the MLS Best XI helping Colorado to allow a league low 32 goals in 2016.

The best 14th overall pick though is an easy one, it goes to Sharlie Joseph, the New England midfielder. Making over 250 appearances for New England and close to 300 in his career, he had an outstanding career in MLS and was able to become one of the first MLS players to work their way into a Designated Player contract in 2012. Unfortunately by then, Joseph's best days were probably behind him, but at his peak he was the best two way midfielder in MLS.

While Sporting's second pick in the Superdraft isn't until Tuesday next week, here is a look at how that pick has been over time. First here are the players taken with the 58th pick since it first appeared in 2000.

58th
2000 - Dallas - Seth Marks
2001 - New York - O'neil Peart
2002 - New England - PASS
2003 - Columbus - Jake Traeger
2004 - New England - Andy Dorman
2005 - Los Angeles - Benjamin Benditson
2006 - Chicago - Floyd Franks
2007 - New York - Randi Patterson
2008 - Toronto - Xavier Balc
2009 - Chicago - Richard Jata
2010 - Chivas USA - Chris Ross
2011 - New York - Jimmy Maurer
2012 - Montreal - Aaron Schoenfeld
2013 - Toronto - Ashton Bennett
2014 - Vancouver - Mackenzie Pridham
2015 - Vancouver - Adam Montague
2016 - Colorado - Bradley Kamdem

As you'd expect this late in the draft, there's not a lot of players who have made much of a professional career. Some like Jimmy Maurer have made a career in the US minor leagues. Others, like Aaron Schoenfeld, had minimal success in the US, scoring five goals in 51 games, but he's since moved to Israel where he's had success for Hapoel Tel Aviv. The best player taken 58th overall though is probably Andy Dorman. The Englishman played seven seasons in two different stints with the New England Revolution with stops in Scotland and England in between. In MLS, Dorman made over 150 MLS appearances for the Revolution scoring 18 goals. More than the rest of the players taken at this spot combined.

Sporting Add Two More in Draft

Today MLS held the third and fourth rounds of this year's Superdraft via conference call. Sporting Kansas City had two selections in the draft, the 11th pick in both rounds, the 52nd and 72nd picks overall. With Kansas City currently has 29 players under contract for 2016, other players on the way, and only 28 available spots, one could easily assume that any player that KC took here was more likely to be a member of the Swope Park Rangers than Sporting KC.

With the 52nd pick Sporting grabbed Ryan James from Bowling Green University. The Canadian midfielder scored nine goals and had 15 assists in his college career appearing in 79 games for the Falcons, including five goals and four assists in 19 games his senior year. Based on his highlight video it appears that James mainly plays on the right hand side of midfield, which would be the right wing in KC's 4-3-3 system.

With their 72nd pick Kansas City selected Faik Hajderovic, a forward from St. Louis University. The St. Louis native played his first three years of college at Evansville before transferring for his senior year. At Evansville he played in 44 games with 10 goals and 24 assists. In his senior year at SLU, Hajderovic played in 15 games, scoring two goals and adding two assists. Hajderovic seems to have played all over the forward line based on highlights, but with his size one would expect he'd see his time out wide in KC's three man forward line.

With KC's roster size at the moment and the addition of the Rangers, either making an appearance for the first team in 2016 would be a surprise.

Sporting KC Trade First Round Pick

Sporting Kansas City had just one pick in the first two rounds of today's MLS Superdraft, the 11th overall selection, and with that pick Sporting decided to trade the pick. Kansas City ended up trading the 11th overall selection to DC United in exchange for targeted allocation money, which can be used to buy down a designated player down below the designated player threshold.

The reason for KC making the trade was because they only had one player they had targeted with that 11th pick according to Taylor Twellman. That one target was confirmed by both Robb Heineman and Twellman and that was goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell. Tarbell, a Generation Adidas goalkeeper from Clemson had played at Sporting Park in December as part of the College Cup. Heineman mentioned that the club saw Tarbell as a 10 year goalkeeper for KC. Tarbell though was taken with the eighth pick by the San Jose Earthquakes, leading to KC making the trade.

That comment is an interesting one from Sporting considering that the club just re-signed their homegrown goalkeeper, Jon Kempin to a new contract a little over a month ago. Kempin, the club's first homegrown player had been out of contract after the season and there were questions on whether he'd come back or whether he'd leave looking to get more time. And with his re-signing there has been some talk from Peter Vermes about Kempin challenging Tim Melia for the starting spot. So with the comments about Tarbell from Heineman and the team to Twellman, Kempin certainly has to be asking some questions about where his spot is in the team and where he's seen going forward.

Looking at Sporting KC's Draft Picks

We're less than two days away from the 2016 MLS Superdraft. Sporting KC has three picks, just one of them in the first two rounds, the 11th overall pick. The club also has the 52nd and 72nd picks as well. To look at what Kansas City could be getting with those picks, below is a list of players who were taken at each spot in every MLS draft so far.


11th
1996 - Scott Lamphear - NY
1997 - Ross Paule - COL
1998 - Tyrone Marshall - COL
1999 - Evan Whitfield - CHI
2000 - Sasha Victorine - LA
2001 - Isaias Bardales - LA
2002 - Daouda Kanté - DC
2003 - Brian Carroll - DC
2004 - Leonard Griffin - CHI
2005 - Scott Sealy - KC
2006 - Leandro de Oliveira - NE
2007 - Bryan Arguez - DC
2008 - Roger Espinoza - KC
2009 - Jeremy Hall - NY
2010 - David Estrada - SEA
2011 - Will Bruin - HOU
2012 - Matt Hedges - DAL
2013 - Dillon Powers - COL
2014 - Patrick Mullins - NE
2015 - Skylar Thomas - TOR



Up and down the 11th pick there has been plenty of talent through the years, from the likes of Tyrone Marshall and Sasha Victorine to more recent successes like Will Bruin, Matt Hedges and Dillion Powers, with the likes of Roger Espinoza and Scott Sealy sprinkled in between. So there is certainly the chance to find some good talent with this pick. Certainly the more recent history has been good with four of the last five (Skylar Thomas being the lone exception still being consistent contributors to their MLS club. Unlike Houston, Dallas, and Colorado when they made their selections though I don't think KC is looking for an immediate high impact guy in the team for 2016.

52nd
2000 - Ian Russell - SJ
2001 - Teofilo Cubillas Jr. - MIA
2002 - PASS - NE
2003 - Andy Rosenband - DAL
2004 - Matthew Haefner - CLB
2005 - Kevin Wilson - DAL
2006 - Anthony Noriega - KC
2007 - Eric Ebert - HOU
2008 - Tony Schmitz - DC
2009 - Jokull Elisabetarson - CHI
2010 - Ofori Sarkodie - KC
2011 - Jarad Van Schaik - RSL
2012 - Nick Blake - TOR
2013 - Christian Duke - KC
2014 - Aohdan Quinn - PHI
2015 - Anthony Manning - POR


Top to bottom there is really only one player on this list that made any real contribution at the MLS level, and that's Ian Russell who appeared over 130 times for the San Jose Earthquakes. Other than that the rest of these picks combined are full of players who didn't make much of an impact at the top level, but the selection of Christian Duke points out that the player could be useful at the USL level.

72nd
2000 - PASS - DC
2001 - Matthew Cross - KC
2005 - Drew Cavanagh - DAL
2006 - Daniel Paladini - LA
2007 - Erasmo Solorzano - CHV
2008 - PASS - TOR
2011 - Brayan Martinez - DAL
2012 - Jason Banton - SEA
2013 - Marc Cintron - NY
2014 - PASS - LA
2015 - Craig Nitti - VAN

If you thought the 52nd pick was bad, the 72nd gets worse. Again there is only one real contributor from this group, Daniel Paladini, who played close to 70 MLS games in his career. And spent just as much time in the USA's lower divisions. Like the 52nd pick, whoever KC selects here would be a prime candidate to go to the Swope Park Rangers.

Sporting KC Add Two More in Draft

Sporting KC closed out the 2015 MLS Superdraft today with two picks in the third and fourth round of the draft via conference call. In recent history the third and the fourth round hasn't brought a whole lot of sustainable talent to MLS, but it has brought some depth, and occasionally there is the break out talent that turns up.

With their third round pick, the 53rd overall, Sporting KC selected midfielder/forward, James Rogers from the University of New Mexico. The 21 year old had spent time in both the Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids academies and also represented the US at the U20 level. Rogers will likely play out wide in one of the wing positions should he end up making the team.

In the fourth round, 73rd overall, Sporting again looked to address defense, taking Tony Rocha from the University of Tulsa. Rocha was a four year starter at Tulsa and helped Tulsa qualify for the NCAA tournament in 2012 and 2014. Rocha will be added to a large group of incoming outside backs it appears. But with Kevin Ellis' return not sounding extremely likely, and Igor Juliao's future still a bit up in the air, there's spots to be won backing up starters Chance Myers and Seth Sinovic.

Sporting's academy also was involved in the draft today as well as two academy graduates were taken in the draft's fourth round. Philadelphia drafted their second academy graduate in as many years when they took University of St. Louis midfielder, Raymond Lee with the 71st pick. Philadelphia apparently want to try to convert Lee to an outside back. Then with the 83rd pick, the Colorado Rapids selected Butler defender Brandon Fricke.

FC Kansas City Draft Five in NWSL Draft

FC Kansas City again went local in this year’s NWSL draft. The Blues, without a first round pick though were still able to get players they wanted.

With their first pick, the third overall and the third of the second round, FCKC grabbed forward/midfielder from Liberty, Missouri, Shea Groom. While KC didn’t necessarily need a lot of help at the forward department, Groom as a good local talent was too god for FCKC to pass up.

Four picks later, the Blues had back to back picks at 16 and 17. With the 16^th pick, FCKC drafted Groom’s college teammate at Texas A&M, Meghan Streight. Streight was an All American and a three time first team All-SEC selection during her time with the Aggies. The next pick, FCKC added to their goalkeeping depth, selecting Katelyn Rowland from UCLA. Rowland was considered the best goalkeeper in the draft, and a member of the US women’s U20 team. With Nicole Barnhart potentially missing time this summer during the women’s World Cup, Rowland could see plenty of time for the Blues.

With their third round pick, the Blues went with Colorado College midfielder, Jessie Ayers.

With their final pick, FCKC went local again, drafting Groom’s youth club teammate, Kaysie Clark from Missouri. Clark a midfielder, scored three goals and assisted on 11 this past year for the Tigers.

Sporting Address Needs in SuperDraft

With four picks in the first two rounds of today's MLS SuperDraft, Sporting KC had plenty of opportunity to address some needs for the team heading into the 2015 season. With all four of the picks KC was able to address needs on the wing, at wing back and in the defensive midfield position. They were also able to get three of the four players that they wanted in the draft, the fourth being Nick Besler who went to Portland with the fifth pick.

With their first pick, the 10th overall, Sporting selected Connor Hallisey, a left sided winger from the University of California. Hallisey should be able to contribute on the wing in Sporting's 4-3-3 system, and it'd allow Graham Zusi to play on the right hand side. Hallisey scored nine goals for Cal in his senior season and as a MAC Hermann Trophy semi-finalist. Hallisey has also spent time in the US youth system, having been capped by the US U-18 team.

With their second pick of the first round, the 12th overall, Sporting addressed their need for depth at right back, taking Akron right back Saad Abdul-Salaam. With Igor Juliao's future in KC still uncertain and Kevin Ellis un-signed, Sporting needed to move forward as if either wasn't there. Abdul-Salaam on paper looks like a good fit for KC's system. He's a big outside back that likes to get forward, a perfect combination for Peter Vermes with the way he likes to have his wingbacks get forward. With starter, Chance Myers coming off injury, Abdul-Salaam could be a candidate to get more minutes if Myers' recovery stalls.

With their third first round pick, the 20th overall, Sporting added some depth behind Seth Sinovic at left back, selecting Amadou Dia from Clemson. Dia is a midfielder/forward, but based on the Tweet Robb Heineman sent out about the pick, Sporting is going to look to turn him into an outside back. Compared to the 6'3" Abdul-Salaam, Dia is just 5'9". Like Hallisey, Dia has represented the US at the youth level, playing with the U18's and with Mikey Lopez with the U20's.

With KC's 30th pick, the team actually sent that pick to the Houston Dynamo in return for the rights to Servando Carrasco. Carrasco, the newly married husband of US women's national team forward Alex Morgan is currently out of contract, so Sporting will have to get the midfielder to agree to a new deal with SKC. Carrasco would come in and would challenge Jorge Claros and James Marcelin at the defensive midfield position for Kansas City. Over his four year MLS career with the Seattle Sounders and Houston Dynamo, Carrasco has played in 59 league games, starting 31 of them.

Overall I think Sporting did a good job of address their needs based on what I've read about each of KC's three draft picks and from what I've seen from Carrasco. The good news for the three draft picks is that Vermes isn't going to be pressuring them to be a starter right away. With Myers and Jalil Anibaba (along with the potential return of Ellis) at right back, Sinovic at left back, and Bernardo Anor, Krisztian Nemeth, and Jacob Peterson, Sporting should be able to bring them along at a slower pace. The Carrasco trade I like from the aspect that you get a player with MLS experience who can play in this league for a pick that more than likely won't pan out. For example in the 48 picks between the 30th pick last year and the end of the fourth round, just 10 of those players are still on MLS rosters today. Now Sporting just has to get a deal done to sign him.

Sporting KC Trade 30th Pick for Servando Carrasco

Sporting KC ended up not trading any of their first round picks in today's draft, but they did end up moving their fourth pick of the day, the 30th pick to the Houston Dynamo. In return, Sporting KC received the MLS rights to Servando Carrasco. Carrasco is out of contract at this time after playing last year with the Houston Dynamo. Previously he'd been with the Seattle Sounders before being traded during the 2013 season. That means that KC will have to come to a deal on a new contract for him.

Over the last four years, Carrasco has played in 59 MLS games, starting 31 of them, scoring one goal over that time.

Carrasco is probably best known in soccer circles as being the now husband of US women's national team forward Alex Morgan. We'll see if Sporting can come to terms with a contract for him.

With the 20th Pick Sporting KC Select

Amadou Dia. Another outside back for Sporting KC. He's listed as a midfielder/forward in college, but based on Robb Heineman's tweet will play defender. He's about Igor Juilao's size so the comments on the draft broadcast about his size are a little misplaced.

With the 12th Pick Sporting KC Select

Saad Abdul-Salaam. From the University of Akron. The kid is big for an outside back at 6'3" and plays mainly on the right hand side. With Chance Myers coming off his injury and the return of Kevin Ellis and Igor Juliao still in question this is a smart pick.

With the 10th Pick Sporting Select

Connor Hallisey. The winger was a Mac Hermann trophy semifinalist. He'll come in and be able to play as a wide midfielder in Peter Vermes' 4-3-3 system. His attacking mindset for KC will be good, they need more players on the wing that are able to take players on.

Draft Day

The 2015 MLS SuperDraft is upon us. Unlike last year when Sporting KC had a fairly uneventful day, not making a single selection until the very last pick of the day, Sporting will be quite busy tomorrow. Of the 42 picks scheduled to be made tomorrow, Kansas City has four of them. Three are in the first round. Kansas City will pick 10th (CJ Sapong trade), 12th (natural pick), and 20th (Teal Bunbury trade) in the first round and will add one more tomorrow with the 30th pick in round two. The rest of the draft will take place next week via conference call.

Plenty of decisions will be made by Peter Vermes and his staff tomorrow in Philadelphia. One will be whether they keep all of their picks. Robb Heineman hinted a few weeks ago that KC was likely to be involved in a trade involving at least one of their draft picks. Whether KC does that to move up and try to grab a Generation Adidas player or uses it to try to grab an established player is unknown.

The Generation Adidas class only have five players in it and with their roster exemption, one falling to 10 seems to be a bit of a stretch. Canadian Cyle Larin seems to be the consensus number one pick in the draft and from there the likes of Cristian Roldan and Romario Williams could go off the board. And just like that 3/5ths of the GA class is gone, leaving just goalkeeper (an area KC doesn't need) Alex Bono and U20 central defender Conor Donovan. There is some senior talent available as well, with the likes of Khiry Shelton and Nick Besler expected to go pretty high.

I know a lot of people will ask about Besler, Matt's younger brother and whether he'll fall to Kansas City. From reports out of the combine, Nick Besler had a very good combine and showed well for himself. It now seems that it would take Sporting trading up to be able to grab Besler. And while I think Besler would eventually come good, I think Sporting has bigger needs than at central midfield heading into the draft.

The depth of this draft though is something that has been questioned by a number of people that really follow college soccer. A lot of the more talented underclassmen who would have been Generation Adidas players stayed in school. While other top tier talent is starting to come through MLS academy teams giving those team home grown player rights.

With the talent that is there though Vermes seems to feel that the deepest areas are with forwards and in centerback. Both are areas that KC could look to add some depth to the team. When it comes to forwards, KC has Dom Dwyer, Claudio Bieler, and Krisztian Nemeth to play in the middle and Graham Zusi, Jacob Peterson, Bernardo Anor, and Nemeth to play on the wings. KC could stand to pick up a winger that could fight for time if Sporting won't be bringing in another starter to play on the wing opposite from Zusi. Especially with the departures of CJ Sapong and Soony Saad, it could once again be a winger by committee opposite Zusi.

As for center back, Kansas City learned the hard way last year the need for depth there due to injuries and fatigue. Currently the team has four center backs under contract with Matt Besler, Ike Opara, Jalil Anibaba, and Erik Palmer-Brown. They have a contract offer to Kevin Elllis who filled in as an emergency center back last year as well. Getting another center back early may not be a bad idea, but for me there are more pressing needs for Kansas City although questions can be asked of Opara's long term health.

For me, I agree with Matt Doyle on KC's more pressing needs. Specifically I feel that KC needs to get some left back depth for Seth Sinovic. No player has played as many games over the last two years as Sinovic has. And while he's a work horse he needs a break occasionally. Based on comments from people that follow the game closer there are a couple left backs that could be available for Sporting to choose from. Either Otis Earle or Andy Thoma seem to be considered high quality left backs that could make the jump. From the reading I've done on the two, Earle seems the more likely of the two to really fit into Vermes' scheme with the 4-3-3.

As for the second area, left wing, I feel that's an area that KC needs to address, but unless the right talent is there, it's an area that I think KC could fill elsewhere. I've seen the names like Miguel Aguilar, Conor Hallisey, and Andy Craven.

For me though, a bigger area of need than left wing would be right back. Kansas City still doesn't have Ellis under contract, and the questions on whether Igor Juliao will return remain. Without those two, KC is down to Chance Myers, who is coming off a major injury, and Anibaba, who could be called upon to play center back depending on Opara's health. Unfortunately from the stuff I've been reading there's not a lot of available right backs in the early rounds. The best may be converted center back, and former FC Dallas home grown player, Boyd Okwuonu. Dallas actually had their home grown claim on Okwuonu turned down because he's from Oklahoma, a state that is Sporting KC's territory according to MLS.

From there I think you could look at grabbing a center back like Tim Parker, but I think the other three areas above are much more of a need area at this moment for Kansas City to look to take care of.

For those curious, here are three links to mock drafts of people that pay more attention to college soccer than I. MLS Soccer, Soccer by Ives, and Top Drawer Soccer.

A Look at Vermes Drafting History

Since taking over the KC Wizards Technical Director role in 2006, Peter Vermes has developed a reputation for his player scouting and his ability to find quality players to bring in. Part of that has been his ability to find talent in the draft, with players like Dom Dwyer, CJ Sapong, Matt Besler, and Graham Zusi on his resume; it's certainly hard to argue with much of that. What I'm doing here is I'm taking a look at the draft classes for Sporting KC since Vermes took over as technical director in 2006. Obviously the 2007, 2008, and 2009 drafts also have to give credit to Curt Onalfo as well as the head coach of the team at that time, but Vermes had plenty of say in those discussions as well. Along with the picks themselves I'll look at the trades Vermes has made involving the picks in question because I think those are important to look at when compared to the draft.

2007
Michael Harrington - 1(3)
Edson Elcock - 3(29)
Kurt Morsink - 4(42)
Aaron Hohlbein - Sup 1(3)
Michael Todd - Sup 2(16)
Chris Konopka - Sup 3(29)
Eric Frimpong - Sup 3(30)
AJ Godbolt - Sup 3(32)
Michael Kraus - Sup 4(48)
Willy Guadarrama - Sup 4(52)

Not a bad class here, headlined by Michael Harrington at the third overall pick, he made almost 150 league appearances for Sporting KC during his time with the club. The Wizards traded their second round pick in the draft, the 16th overall selection to the LA Galaxy for Kevin Hartman. And after the team parted ways with Bo Oshoniyi and lost Will Hesmer in the expansion draft, they needed a new goalkeeper and got one of the best in league history. KC's third round pick Edson Elcock stuck around with the club for a year, but never played in a competitive game, just making reserve appearances. In the fourth round, KC was able to get another contributor, Kurt Morsink who made over 40 appearances for the club during his time with the Wizards, before being traded to DC to join back up with Curt Onalfo.

The Supplemental draft saw Kansas City add just two contributors in their seven picks. Aaron Hohlbein selected in the first round appeared in over 40 league games in central defense. Michael Todd, who the Wizards took in the second round of the draft didn't make the roster, and only ever played in the PDL after KC drafted him. In the third round of the draft, KC ended up with three picks in four in the middle of the draft. With their natural pick, the Wizards grabbed their third string goalkeeper, Chris Konopka. He made a couple reserve appearances, but that was it. He ended up heading to Ireland for a few years before returning to MLS and has been with Philadelphia and Toronto. KC got the next pick, the 30th from Salt Lake as part of a trade for Diego Walsh. KC picked Eric Frimpong. The Ghanaian never made it to KC, he was charged with sexual assault, imprisoned, and eventually deported from the United States. After a Chivas USA pick, KC was back on the board selecting AJ Godbolt. Like Elcock and Konopka, Godbolt just made reserve appearances for KC. Finally in the fourth round the Wizards selected Michael Kraus with a pick they received from FC Dallas for the rights to English forward, Alex Smith. Kraus was the only supplemental pick beside Hohlbein to make a league appearance, playing 11 times for KC. KC also acquired the last pick in the draft from the Houston Dynamo and used it to select Willy Guadarrama, who played with the reserves but never with the first team.

Overall a decent class held up mainly by Harrington and the trade for Hartman. With the number of picks that KC had and where the team was at the time, the fact that they only got real meaningful minutes from only three of the 10 players is disappointing though.

2008
Chance Myers - 1(1)
Roger Espinoza - 1(11)
Yomby William - 2(23)
Jonathan Leathers - 2(25)
Matt Marquess - 3(39)
Rauwshan McKenzie - 4(53)
Pat Healy - Sup 1(11)
Vicente Arze - Sup 2(25)
Tom Gray - Sup 3(39)
Andrew Kartunen - Sup 4(53)

One of Kansas City's better drafts, but when you get two first round picks, and two Generation Adidas players that pan out it's really hard to ever argue with the draft. It took Chance Myers a few years to come good but he's turned into a solid right back for Kansas City. The Wizards had acquired the pick in a trade with the expansion San Jose Earthquakes for Nick Garcia, who never really was the same player after leaving KC. Then with the 11th pick, Kansas City grabbed Roger Espinoza who has played in 113 league games, represented his country in two World Cups, an Olympics, and has returned from Europe to Sporting. Overall a successful first round. In the second round, the Wizards had two picks, first selecting Yomby William with a pick they acquired from Chivas USA for Alex Zotinca. William appeared in a few reserve games but was eventually waived as the team signed Kevin Souter from their open tryouts. With their natural second round pick (that they'd traded to LA as part of the Hartman deal but got back in exchange for Shavar Thomas) the Wizards selected Jonathan Leathers. Leathers appeared in 33 league games over three seasons with KC before being taken by Vancouver in the expansion draft. The third and fourth round of the superdraft saw KC draft two players that made a handful of league appearances for KC, Matt Marquess and Rauwshan McKenzie. Both spent two years in KC, but McKenzie has gone on to play small parts for Salt Lake, Chivas, and Portland since leaving KC. While Marquess is out of the game professionally.

The supplemental draft for KC brought them nothing. Pat Healy and Tom Gray came into preseason camp but both were let go early on in preseason. Both have played some in the minor leagues in the US, Healy still plays for the Baltimore Blast in the MASL. Vicente Arze signed with the Vancouver Whitecaps (their minor league incarnation before their MLS expansion) before the draft took place and never came into camp with KC. He's spent time all over the world playing including Bolivia, Belgium, Iran, and the Ukraine. Kratunen came into the team late, after he'd finished school, trained with Kansas City and became a league keeper for one season.

2009
Matt Besler - 1(8)
Doug DeMartin - 2(22)
Graham Zusi - 2(23)
Neal Kitson - 3(42)
Akeem Priestley - 4(50)

This draft has arguably turned into the best draft in team history with the performance of two of their first three picks. Selecting home town Besler with the eighth pick has turned out well as he's played 150 league games for KC and is now the team's captain. Zusi isn't far behind him, having played 147 games in league play and is easily on his way to having the second most assists in team history. The pick right before Zusi, the Wizards acquired from Colorado in exchange for Jose Burciaga. KC selected Doug DeMartin who didn't make the team but ended up spending a season with the Timbers USL team before leaving the game professionally. In the third round, the Wizards traded their natural pick to the New England Revolution in return for Adam Cristman. The forward though suffered with injuries during his lone season in KC before following Onalfo to DC the next year. KC did get back into the third round though with a pick from Salt Lake that they acquired as part of the deal that sent Yura Movsisyan to Salt Lake. With that KC selected Neal Kitson, which on the surface looked like a nice pick up, but an injury that he concealed was found during his physical and he was let go. KC's final pick, Priestley, was selected with a pick KC acquired from Dallas for an international roster spot for the 2008 season. The Jamaican international played in Azerbaijan and in the US lower divisions. KC traded their natural selection to Colorado as part of the deal that brought Herculez Gomez to KC.

2010
Teal Bunbury - 1(4)
Korede Aiyegbusi - 2(20)
Nick Cardenas - 3(36)
Mauro Fuzetti - 3(41)
Ofori Sarkodie - 4(52)

Here Kansas City got a lot out of their first round pick, Bunbury played over 100 games in all competitions for KC and scored 24 goals during his time in KC. The rest of the draft though didn't give much. Korede Aiyegbusi played in eight league games over his three seasons in KC before moving abroad and playing in the lower divisions in Finland, Switzerland, and Germany. The other three picks, Nick Cardenas, Mauro Fuzetti (acquired with a pick from New England for an international roster spot), and Ofori Sarkodie did not make the team with none of the three really making it professionally in the game.

2011
CJ Sapong    1(10)
JT Murray    2(32)
Konrad Warzycha    3(46)
Sam Scales    Sup 1(10)
Mike Jones    Sup 2(28)
Michel Mravec    Sup 3(46)

Once again, KC got a good pick up in the first round of the draft, selecting Sapong with the 10th pick. He'd go on to score five his rookie year in league play and add five assists on his way to winning rookie of the year. He finished his KC career with 27 goals in all competitions in over 140 games before his trade to Philadelphia. KC's second round pick, the 28th overall had been traded to Philadelphia in exchange for Shavar Thomas in 2010 as Vermes tried to fill in holes in his defense. KC did get a pick though as part of the trade that sent Luis Gil to Salt Lake, KC selected JT Murray who never played a game with KC but spent time in the USL. With their last Superdraft pick, Sporting took Konrad Warzycha. After missing a season with an injury, Warzycha made a couple appearances for KC in 2012, but was gone after the season. He hung on with Columbus for a season but has since not played professionally.

In the Supplemental draft KC did not get much either. Sam Scales, their first round pick did not make the team. Second round pick, Mike Jones made the roster, but did not play in any games for the team. He didn't even get a game in Chicago when KC was so short on defenders that Roger Espinoza played center back. Jones went on to play one league game for New York before playing in the Danish lower divisions. Final pick, Michel Mravec didn't make the team but has spent time in different European leagues and also part of the 22 players that walked out on the Seattle Impact.

2012
Dom Dwyer - 1(16)
Cyprian Hedrick - 2(30)
Shawn Singh - Sup 1(16)
Pablo Punyed - Sup 2(35)
Stefan Antonijevic - Sup 3(43)
Kyle Miller - Sup 3(54)

Two years later, Sporting getting Dwyer with the 16th pick seems like highway robbery he's been everything that Sporting has really needed at the forward position. In the second round, Sporting had picked up a pick from Dallas in exchange for Kevin Hartman in a deal that helped bring about the Re-Entry Draft. Hedrick spent a season with KC before being let go. Since he's spent time in the USL with Arizona and OKC. KC's natural second round pick went to Philadelphia to finish off the Shavar Thomas trade.

The Supplemental draft saw KC at one time have the fifth pick after a trade with Chivas USA that sent Ryan Smith to California. KC sent the pick back to Chivas for Paulo Nagamura. With their natural pick, Sporting selected Shawn Singh who made the team for a short time before KC picked Seth Sinovic up off waivers. With their second round pick, KC selected Pablo Punyed who didn't make the team but has since found a spot in Iceland and has gotten caps for the El Salvador national team. In the third round, KC had picked up a selection from Chivas as part of the Smith trade that they used on Antonijevic. The defender didn't make the team but has had a successful run in the NASL. With their natural selection, Sporting selected Miller, who had played in KC's academy but did not qualify as a home grown player. KC's fourth round pick was sent to San Jose in return for the rights to Michael Thomas (who had been a second round pick in 2010).

2013
Mikey Lopez - 1(14)
Christian Duke - Sup 1(14)
Mitchell Cardenas - Sup 2(33)
Brian Fekete - Sup 3(52)
Mike Reidy - Sup 4(71)

Sporting wasn't busy in the 2014 Superdraft. They selected Lopez with their lone pick. A move that had made sense at the time with his GA status, he's so far not been able to really crack KC's team. In the second round, KC had traded their natural selection, the 33rd pick to San Jose in return for Ike Opara. They had also at a time held the 32nd pick from New York after trading Stephane Auvray. But KC sent that to Montreal for Josh Gardner.

The supplemental draft held little for Sporting. Christian Duke made the team and hung around for two years without making a first team appearance before being waived. None of the other three made the roster. Cardenas has played in the lower divisions in Mexico while Fekete and Reidy played in the USL.

2014
Adnan Gabeljic - 2(38)
Peter Schmetz - 3(41)
Alex Martinez - 3(57)
Reinaldo Brenes - 4(76)

The 2014 draft is best known for KC trading their first round pick to the New England Revolution in return for Benny Feilhaber. The rest of the draft didn't leave much for Sporting fans to get excited about. Gabeljic stayed through preseason but didn't earn a contract. He eventually signed with OKC for a short period of time before being waived; he's now with the St. Louis Ambush. KC had acquired a third round pick from Toronto for Bobby Convey, using the pick on Schmetz who like Gabeljic didn't make the team. With their natural pick, KC fans thought early on that they'd found a nice pick up in Martinez. He made 10 appearances for the club in league play early in the season, but was abruptly waived by the club. Since he's played for the Orange County Blues and has signed with the Carolina Railhawks. With their last pick, Sporting took Brenes, another forward who didn't make it through camp.

So what do the prior 2,500 words tell us about Vermes drafting ability in MLS? From looking at the selections, Vermes is quite good with his first round selections. Even his trade of KC's 2014 first round pick turned out quite well with Feilhaber helping lead Kansas City to MLS Cup. The only one you could kind of question is Lopez, but if you look at the rest of the draft taken after him, and the fact that Lopez was a Generation Adidas player and there's really not a player you can really throw in ahead of him without a bit of an argument. He has done a good job of not missing on the talent when it's in front of him in the first round.

One disappointing aspect of the picks from Vermes aspect is his lack, especially lately, of getting anything out of his later round picks. Over the last five drafts, since KC was able to grab Zusi in the second round in 2009, just three of the 22 players selected in the second round or later have made an appearance for KC. Those three have made a combined 19 league appearances and average just 27 minutes per appearance. That's a really poor track record that KC has been unable to find a "diamond in the rough" in the late rounds that could develop into a player for the future.

With that in mind we should probably be glad that KC has as many first round picks as they have in the rest of the draft then.

A Historic Look at Sporting KC's Draft Position

The MLS Superdraft is less than a week away, and Sporting KC will be quite busy on Thursday. Sporting has six picks in the four round draft, including three in the first round, and four in the first 30 picks. Unfortunately from reading some reports from people that pay more attention to college soccer than I do, this doesn't appear to be the deepest draft, and appears to be weaker than most drafts in the recent past. Many of the top Generation Adidas talent has returned to school, and other talent for college teams have been claimed by team's because of homegrown player claims.

The other thing is that while Sporting KC have three first round picks, Robb Heineman has suggested that the team is unlikely to take all three of those picks, instead looking to trade at least one of them. So if Sporting can, it'd seem the team is going to attempt to move at least one of their picks.

So with all that in mind, I'm going to take a look at each of KC's picks throughout the history of the league as I've done in year's past.

10th pick
1996 - Mac Cozier - CLB
1997 - Danny Care - DC
1998 - Matt  Jordan - DAL
1999 - Tony Soto - LA
2000 - Alan Woods - COL
2001 - Duncan Oughton - CLB
2002 - Billy Sleeth - CHI
2003 - Shavar Thomas - DAL
2004 - Steve Cronin - SJ
2005 - Jack Stewart - CHI
2006 - Calen Carr - CHI
2007 - Andrew Boyens - TOR
2008 - Pat Phelan - TOR
2009 - Kevin Alston - NE
2010 - Blair Gavin - CHV
2011 - CJ Sapong - KC
2012 - Ethan Finlay - CLB
2013 -Eriq Zavaleta - SEA
2014 - Nick Hagglund - TOR

No real super stars in this selection, but some solid picks that have had solid MLS careers. Shavar Thomas has played over 100 MLS games (he was a solid contributor during his first tenure with the Kansas City Wizards. Calen Carr, Andrew Boyens, Pat Phelan, and Kevin Alston have had decent professional careers. Then there's CJ Sapong who won rookie of the year in 2011. And last year's pick, Nick Hagglund was a consistent contributor for Toronto FC in 2014. So while Sporting KC may not get a great player here, they should be able to find someone who can contribute to the team.

12th pick

1996 - Miles Joseph - NY
1997 - Scott Coufal - NE
1998 - Wade Barrett - SJ
1999 - Paul Broome - DAL
2000 - Bobby Convey - DC
2001 - Jose Burciaga - KC
2002 - Lee Morrison - DAL
2003 - Eddie Gaven - NY
2004 - Chris Wingert - CLB
2005 - Tim Ward - NY
2006 - Nathan Sturgis - LA
2007 - Amaechi Igwe - NE
2008 - Dominic Cervi - CHI
2009 - Jean Alexandre - RSL
2010 - Bright Dike - CLB
2011 - Rich Balchan - CLB
2012 - Aaron Maund - TOR
2013 - John Stertzer - RSL
2014 - Marlon Hairston - COL

Only two picks later, Sporting is back on the clock. And like the 10th pick there is talent here. In fact I'd say there's better talent historically selected here than at the 10th pick. Specifically with the likes of Eddie Gaven taken here. And besides him you have solid pros like Bobby Convey (forget his time here for a second and look at hi time with DC, Reading, and the US national team. Also the likes of Jose Burciaga, Chris Wingert, and Nathan Sturgis, who have all carved out decent pro careers. Last year's pick, Marlon Hairston was a consistent contributor for the Colorado Rapids in 2014.

20th pick
1996 - Ricci Greenwood - CLB
1997 - Tom Presthus - DC
1998 - Tom Hardy - KC
1999 - Tom Poltl - COL
2000 - Keyeno Thomas - COL
2001 - Eddie Robinson - SJ
2002 - Jeff Matteo - CLB
2003 - Ricky Lewis - LA
2004 - Sumed Ibrahim - CHI
2005 - Marcus Storey - CLB
2006 - Brian Plotkin - CHI
2007 - Josh Tudela - LA
2008 - George Josten - CLB
2009 - Baggio Husidić - CHI
2010 - Olukorede Aiyegbusi - KC
2011 - Michael Tetteh - SEA
2012 - Callum Mallace - MTL
2013 - Ryan Hollingshead - DAL
2014 - Thomas McNamara - CHV

This location has more misses than hits, but a few players that have been contributors for a year or two, including former KC player, Korede Aiyegbusi and Baggio Husidic, who returned to MLS last year and was a consistent performer for LA as they won MLS Cup. The class of this pick is probably Eddie Robinson who had a good long career with the San Jose Earthquakes and Houston Dynamo over the years. Unfortunately then you have he likes of Tom Hardy, Ricky Lewis, and Michael Tetteh. Last year's number 20 pick, Thomas McNamara looked to be a solid pick up for Chivas USA before he tore his ACL and missed the rest of the season.

30th pick
1996 - Todd Miller - CLB
1997 - Brandon Leib - DC
1998 - Joe Franchino - LA
1999 - Andrew Parrish - DAL
2000 - Kerry Zavagnin - KC
2001 - Kevin Adams - CLB
2002 - Sam Forko - NY
2003 - Tim Glowienka - NY
2004 - Lindon Pecorelli - SJ
2005 - Victor Arbelaez - SJ
2006 - Ray Burse - DAL
2007 - Steven Curfman - RSL
2008 - Mike Zaher - TOR
2009 - Paul Gerstenberger - CLB
2010 - Steven Beitashour - SJ
2011 - Tyler Lassiter - NY
2012 - Cyprian Hedrick - KC
2013 - Yazid Atouba - CHI
2014 - Mamadou Diouf - VAN

Reall, this pick comes down to just three players, Joe Franchino and Kerry Zavagnin both had solid MLS careers, and both made appearances for the national team. The third is a more recent pick, Steve Beitashour, who has turned out to be a good MLS player and went to the World Cup with Iran. The rest of the 30th pick has really not done much at the MLS level. So expecting much out of this is a stretch.

53rd pick
2000 - Pablo Gentile - MIA
2001 - Eric Pogue - NE
2002 - PASS - DC
2003 - Kevin Friedland - KC
2004 - Alan Gordon - LA
2005 - Brett Rodriguez - SJ
2006 - Joe Vide - NY
2007 - Jarrod Smith- TOR
2008 - Rauwshan McKenzie - KC
2009 - Henry Kalungi - COL
2010 - Joseph Nane - TOR
2011 - Scott Gordon - DAL
2012 - Karl Woszczynski - CHI
2013 - Adam Jahn - SJ
2014 - Joey Dillon - RSL

This pick actually has a few players that have been able to hang around MLS. The biggest of these names is probably Alan Gordon, who continues to play in MLS and has scored over 40 goals in MLS play over the course of his career. Rauwshan McKenzie and Joseph Nane have hung around MLS for a few years as well. And Adam Jahn had a successful rookie year with San Jose before being loaned to Sacramento in 2014. Overall though I wouldn't expect a lot from this pick long term.

73rd pick
2005 - Noah Palmer - RSL
2006 - Lawson Vaughn - CHV
2007 - Osei Telesford - CHI
2008 - Tino Nuñez - RSL
2011 - Joe Anderson - VAN
2012 - Pablo Punyed - KC
2013 - Kevin Olali - SEA
2014 - Nikita Kotlov - POR

Very little available from Sporting KC's last pick. Lawson Vaughn had a successful career, but pretty much the rest of the names are forgettable. Pablo Punyed was back with Sporting in preseason this past year, and had a very successful campaign in Iceland, winning the title and winning a few rounds in the Europa League before falling to Inter Milan.

So historically, Sporting KC won't get a game changer in the draft, but they should be able to get some talent that can contribute to the team in year won, depending on which of their six draft picks they keep. The possibility of bringing the Besler brothers together is certainly something fun to think about.

Sporting KC Add Three More in Draft

Sporting KC added three more players fighting for roster spots today in the third and fourth round of the MLS Superdraft. KC picked up players in defense, midfield, and up top, all with an international feel as all three players were born outside of the United States.

With their first pick, the third of the round and 41st overall, Sporting KC selected Peter Schmetz, a center back from the University of California-Santa Barbara. The German is big, 6'6" and according to reports is able to use that size in the air. A lot of the scouting report though talks about his lack of pace.He does appear to be a little injury prone as he has struggled with injuries the last two years, playing just eight games in 2012 and missing the final five games of the 2013 season with a knee injury.

With their second pick of the third round, the 57th overall pick, KC selected Alex Martinez from North Carolina State. The midfielder from Uruguay is the brother of Enzo Martinez, a former midfielder for Real Salt Lake, and Generation Adidas signing who was waived earlier this offseason. Scouts seem to like his 1v1 abilities, but some question his defensive efforts.

With their fourth round pick Sporting selected forward Reinaldo Brenes from Akron. The Costa Rican was the leading scorer for the Zips the last two years. He's appeared for the Costa Rican U17 and U18 teams as well. According to the breakdown on MLS, he'll fit in well with Peter Vermes' team, as there are apparently no "light" training sessions for him.

KC has the international spots that would allow them to accommodate any of the players, but don't have all the roster spots required for it. As Vermes put it, “It’s going to be hard for anyone to make our team at this point.”

All of these guys would be expected to be depth signings but all three will now be headed to Kansas City for preseason, which begins on Friday.

FCKC Draft Four Locals in NWSL Draft

FC Kansas City had themselves another solid NWSL draw today in Philadelphia. With a grand total of six picks, FCKC took four local players, two of which have played with the US team at the youth level.

In the first round, FC Kansas City picked Florida State defender, Kassey Kallman. Kallman was a Hermann Trophy Semifinalist she was also a member of the US U20 team that won the World Cup in 2012.

In the second round, FCKC went local and grabbed another player who spent time with the US youth national teams. Morgan Marlborough, a forward from Lee’s Summit attended Santa Clara and was selected with the 12th pick. At the 16th spot, the Blues grabbed a midfielder from defending champion, UCLA. Jenna Richmond is another player who was on the US U20 team that won the 2012 World Cup.

FCKC had the first two picks of the third round and went local with both of them. With the 19th pick, the Blues grabbed Frances Silva a forward from West Virginia, originally from Overland Park. The Hermann Trophy Semifinalist helped West Virginia win the Big 12 title at Swope Park this past season. With the 20th pick KC grabbed their third member of the US U20 World Cup winning squad, Mandy Laddish from Notre Dame via Lee’s Summit. The midfielder also played a big role in the Fightin’ Irish’s championship run a few


In the fourth round, FCKC stayed local and grabbed the sister of current Blues’ defender, Katie Kelly, Maegan Kelly. The younger Kelly also went to Marquette where she played midfield and forward scoring 10 goals and adding 8 assists her senior year.

I don’t know a ton about the women’s college game unfortunately, but from what I’ve read KC had themselves another successful draft. Vlatko Andonovski had made mention of his want to get more depth this year, feeling that had been the team’s downfall in 2013. This draft on paper looks like that will definitely provide it for the Blues.

Sporting KC Select Adnan Gabeljic in 2nd Round of MLS Superdraft

Peter Vermes likes his fowards, that's for certain. For the third time in the last four years, Sporting KC has used a first or second round pick on a forward. This year, Sporting KC selected Adnan Gabeljic out of the University of St. Louis.

The St. Louis native appeared in 69 games over his four year career for the Billikens, starting just nine. He scored 14 goals and added seven assists. He's got decent size being 6'3" and 200 pounds, which could help KC to have a bit more size in the middle of the foward line.

He will have some work cut out for him though with the number of forwards KC already has. Especially at the center forward position where KC already has the likes of Claudio Bieler, Teal Bunbury, and Dom Dwyer. But preseason begins in a little over a week so he'll get a chance to prove himself.

UPDATE

Gabeljic trained with Sporting KC recently, which would certainly give some reason as to why Sporting would have chosen the forward. And he has one thing that Peter Vermes loves, he's an athlete. During the combine he finished second in his 30 meter sprint and had the 10th best vertical jump. And we know how Vermes loves athleticism. 

A Look at Sporting KC's Draft Position

The MLS Superdraft is this week. It's not going to be an incredibly busy day for Sporting KC, especially in the early going. KC's first pick isn't until the last pick of the second round, the 38th pick overall. The team traded their first round pick, 19th overall, to New England in the trade that brought Benny Feilhaber to Kansas City. KC still has four picks though in the draft: the 38th pick, the 41st acquired from Toronto FC in the Bobby Convey trade, the 57th, and 76th. With those four picks, here's a historic look at the players that have been selected there.

38th pick

2000 - Adam Eyre - New England
2001 - Greg Simmonds - Miami
2002 - Cory Gibbs - Los Angeles
2003 - Matt Crawford - Colorado
2004 - Denny Clanton - Chicago
2005 - Esteban Arias - Chivas
2006 - Duke Hashimoto - Columbus
2007 - Bryan Byrne - New England
2008 - Dwight Barnett - Chicago
2009 - Chris Salvaggione - New England
2010 - Jason Yeisley - Dallas
2011 - Billy Cortes - New York
2012 - Kenny Walker - Los Angeles
2013 - Greg Cochrane - Los Angeles

From looking at this list, Cory Gibbs stands out, but this is actually the second time he was drafted. Both times he ended up not playing for the team that drafted him. Instead he remained in Europe and returned to MLS at a different time. Of the players that actually played for the team that drafted him, was Matt Crawford in 2003. He played 52 league games for Colorado over a four year period. For the most part there's not much in the pick. Just three of the last six players drafted in this spot have made their team's roster. And of those three, only Greg Cochrane drafted last year by LA has played more than 45 league minutes.

41st pick

2000 - Michael Burke - DC
2001 - Ryan Trout - Colorado
2002 - Derek Potteiger - New England
2003 - John Swann - DC
2004 - Adom Crew - Columbus
2005 - Antou Jallow - San Jose
2006 - Blake Camp - New York
2007 - Aaron Chandler - Columbus
2008 - Matt Britner - New England
2009 - Danny Cruz - Houston
2010 - Mauro Fuzetti - KC
2011 - Levi Houapeu - Philadelphia
2012 - Dawyne Smith - NEw England
2013 - David Meves - Portland

This pick is all about Danny Cruz. He's played 111 games in five seasons with three teams. Other than that, this is a fairly forgettable pick. Other than Cruz, the remaining 13 picks have spent a grand total of 6 seasons with MLS teams. Only one of the last four, Levi Houapeu, even made an MLS roster, and he never appeared in a game for Philly.

57th pick
2000 - Dominic Schell - Columbus
2001 - Alex Bengard - Los Angeles
2002 - Brian Lavin - KC
2003 - PASS - NEw England
2004 - Chris Aloisi - Los Angeles
2005 - Bill Gaudette - Columbus
2006 - Jordan Harvey - Colorado
2007 - Steve Purdy - Los Angeles
2008 - Adam Smarte - San Jose
2009 - Mfana Futhi Bhembe - Real Salt Lake
2010 - Adam Welch - New England
2011 - Dan Keat - Los Angeles
2012 - Bryan Gaul - Los Angeles
2013 - Paul Islas - Chivas

This pick actually had some decent talent selected in it, with a number of players have some respectable MLS careers. It's led by Jordan Harvey who has appeared over 150 times in league play for the likes of Colorado, Philadelphia, and Vancouver. You also have Steve Purdy, although his case is similar to Gibbs above where he was drafted by a team but went abroad and did not return until later with a different team. More recently, LA has gotten at least some value out of their two picks, with Keat and Gaul combining for 20 appearances, 9 starts and just over 1000 minutes. They're the only two players from the last five years to make a roster from this pick.

76th pick
2005 - Chris Schwarze - Dallas
2006 - Corey Farabi - KC
2007 - Raul Batista - Chivas
2008 - Cory Elenio - Columbus
2011 - Ernesto Carranza - Chivas
2012 - Rafael Garcia - Los Angeles
2013 - Jose Gomez - Toronto

Not much in this pick, Elenio and Garcia each spent two seasons in the league, Garcia having the better go of it, appearing 10 times for the Galaxy, starting 1 game. The rest of the picks did not make any roster.

So there is the chance with these picks to pick up some talent, but don't expect a world beater to be selected. Sporting may be able to find a steal, but more likely than not, most of the guys KC takes here won't see the field, or possibly won't even make the roster.