You know, beyond the alliterative explosion of the headline and the tasty schadenfreude, there is one further reason that United fans should take interest in the fortunes of the hapless Rapids. United fans? Interested in the Rapids?
Why, you ask?
Well, oft-forgotten amidst the Argentine playmaker transfusion that saw United bid adieu to Christian Gomez and welcome Marcelo Gallardo, were the terms of the deal itself. Sure, we acquired Colorado's DP spot and subsequently used it to give Emiligol a financial pat on the back for his efforts, but we also managed to wrangle the Rapids' first round draft pick for next season.
Still waiting for the reason why Colorado should keep Clavijo?
It's simple. I figure that the longer they hang onto him, the further down the table they slide. And the further they slide, the higher they rise in the draft order. Or rather, the higher United rises in the draft order. If the season ended today, the Rapids would finish second from bottom, putting them just behind the new Seattle franchise and the Quakes in the draft.
Of course, I'll temper my delight at having (potentially) the third pick in the draft by noting that we never really have much success with our early-round draft picks. But #3 has value beyond what we might pick up. I'm sure we could leverage that pick for trade value if we don't use it ourselves.
So anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there to the masses. What do you think? Will Colorado continue to allow Clavijo to spread the suck? Will United actually get some value from the draft? Or do you think the FO is already shopping the pick for foreign player slots and allocation money?
Interesting topic. It's true that United rarely gets much quality out of their first round draft picks, but its also quite rare that we would have a pick so high because, well, DC tends to finish near the top of the table every year. As much as we all wish the best for Gomez, I agree with the sentiment that its ok to root against the Rapids for the timebeing. But if we could trade Dyachenko and Colorado's pick for Chris Seitz, I'd still do it in a heartbeat.
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