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Yesterday was a whirlwind day for Sporting Kansas City. Omar Bravo was named MLS Latino Player of the Year, Ryan Smith was traded to Chivas USA for a first and third round pick in the 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft, and the club announced their protected list for the upcoming MLS Expansion Draft.
A few thoughts on yesterday's happenings:
1. Sporting Kansas City releases their protected list for the upcoming MLS Expansion Draft.
For those that haven't already seen my projected protected list, this was my final guess: Jimmy Nielsen, Chance Myers, Aurelien Collin, Matt Besler, Seth Sinovic, Roger Espinoza, Graham Zusi, Omar Bravo, CJ Sapong, Teal Bunbury, and Kei Kamara.
Well, I was off by two, as Sporting Kansas City chose not to protect Sinovic, and Bravo. I understand the logic in leaving Bravo unprotected; the guy is 31 years old and he makes a ton of cash. However, I have to admit that I am somewhat shocked with the news that the club chose not to protect Sinovic. He had a very good year for the club, he's 24 years old, and he makes roughly $32K a year, or basically the same amount of money a year that I do.
My initial guess was that the Montreal Impact would select either Soony Saad or Michael Harrington, but now that we see the protected list for Sporting Kansas City, I have to think there's basically no way that Montreal will pass on Sinovic. Not for the quality of player he is, at his age, at that price. Shocked.... disappointed... And the guy is a home town kid!!!!
No offense to Davy Arnaud (after all,the guy is basically an institution for Kansas City soccer at this point), but I don't see how Sporting can justify protecting a 31 year old player, making $250K that probably isn't one of your best 11 players on your club at this point in time. I say there is no way Montreal would have selected Arnaud if Kansas City had left him unprotected. Not for the kind of pay Davy's getting. Why not leave him unprotected, and protect Sinovic? Someone please explain this to me...
And by that same logic, why protect Julio Cesar? Granted, he was a very good player for us in 2011, but he just turned 33, and he's making over $200K a year. I understand that Sporting KC had to protect three internationals and all, but in that case, why not protect Bravo?
I suppose I could go on for hours asking questions.. I'm just confused about the logic in not protecting Sinovic. As I mentioned before, I'm hoping someone will explain their theories on why Sporting didn't include Seth on the list.
I think Andrew Wiebe of MLSsoccer.com said it best with a tweet after the list was announced:
I will be shocked if shocked if Sinovic isn't taken. You don't leave proven, young and cheap LBs just sitting out there. Just my opinion though.
Yup... Pretty much my thoughts as well. Okay, I'm getting off of my soapbox now.
2. Omar Bravo named MLS Latino Player of the Year. Bravo had a very solid first campaign for Sporting Kansas City in 2011, appearing in 26 matches. He scored nine goals (tied for the team lead in the regular season), and added two assists for the club. I'd have to say Bravo lived up to the expectations that is given to a designated player. What will be interesting now is to see what exactly happens with Bravo in the the coming months. Roberto Macias from fmfstateofmind.com tweeted yesterday that MLS and Sporting KC are not thrilled with the idea of Bravo going out on a loan during the MLS off-season. Later in the day, Macias tweeted that he thinks Bravo will be with Sporting through the off-season.
My feeling is that Bravo will stay with the club during the off-season, but as most of you know, I've been wrong before.
3. Sporting KC trades Ryan Smith to Chivas USA for a first round, and third round pick in the 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft. I have to say I'm beyond happy about this trade. I mean, it's not like Smith was contributing in any way, shape, or form for the club for most of the 2011 season. Basically, Sporting was able to dump Smith's $140K base salary, and pick up two picks in this year's supplemental draft. I say a great deal for Sporting Kansas City.
There was talk about a month or so ago of Smith wanting to come back to play for the club. This despite leaving the club in late June for "family reasons." So much for that idea. Word was that there was no way in hell that was going to happen, and yesterday's trade proved as much.