Trade Up or Stay Pat?

Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz

Not since the immortal Leighton O’Brien was taken with the 25th overall selection in 1999 will the Revolution have to wait as long to make their first selection at the SuperDraft, which kicks off on Thursday at 12:30pm.

Holding the 33rd pick, the Revolution are all but guaranteed to draft a player ticketed for Rochester – if he makes it past the preseason, of course.

So what should the front office do with that pick going into the draft? We got two different perspectives from New England Soccer Today writers Julian Cardillo and Brian O’Connell.

Julian: The Revolution should not trade-up for a higher draft pick. If anything, they should trade their existing pick and cash to New York City FC and try to get Patrick Mullins back. The Revolution have gone into the off-season with a solid core and the understanding that they’d be shorthanded in the SuperDraft. There are plenty of other mechanisms in place to solidify depth (mainly new pieces at right full back, center back, and forward) or add something new to the equation (like a pin-point crosser of the ball).

How about using that recently-forged agreement with Sporting CP to add one of these in-demand players on loan? Trades inside the league are a viable option, too. And we still don’t know which free agents Jay Heaps will invite to join the preseason roster. There are a variety of intriguing names–both known and unknown–that will be available to the Revolution with the right scouting. There are few Andrew Farrells, AJ Soares, and Patrick Mullins available in the draft these days anyway, especially with the rise of academy players. This isn’t the time for the Revolution to lose funds or trade away a piece of their core for an unproven player.

Brian: To me, this is a no-brainer – the Revolution have to trade up to get a higher pick. Specifically, they have to get into the top 2. For a team that has predicated its success on the draft, it’s astonishing that the front office seems content to stay at 33. And with a considerable bargaining chip at their disposal.

The value of Juan Agudelo’s MLS rights isn’t exactly climbing, so why not use it to advance their draft position? Given how shallow this year’s draft class is, it doesn’t make a ton of sense to trade it to team outside of the top 2. So why not go for the jugular and approach Orlando City – whom Agudelo trained with last summer – with that shiny chip? A chip that could net the Revolution a pro-ready, budget-friendly prospect like Cyle Larin. Obviously, nothing in MLS is that straightforward – if it was, there would be no Jermaine Jones billboard in front of Gillette. If the front office has made a strong push for one of the top two picks, and were rebuffed, then so be it. But if the thought wasn’t given serious consideration, you have to wonder whether this signals a shift in how the braintrust views the draft.

4 Comments