Union

The Union Traded All of Their Draft Picks for the Next Three Years

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Dec 9th, 2024 · 3:30 PM EST

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According to Tom Bogert:

Sources: The Colorado Rapids have acquired *all* of the Philadelphia Union’s SuperDraft picks for the next three seasons in exchange $350k GAM (+ performance based add ons).

Eight picks over three years, including three first round picks. pic.twitter.com/5ypH1Bbqm1

— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) December 9, 2024

They’ve done this before, trading and/or passing on picks. They don’t value the draft these days because they have so many kids in the academy that they believe have better first team prospects.

Counterpoint: You can’t find diamonds in the rough if you don’t go looking for them.

Keep in mind, Andre Blake, Jack Elliott, and Ray Gaddis were draft picks. Blake will be in the Ring of Honor some day and Elliott was a starter on the 2022 MLS Cup team. He platooned on the 2020 Shield-winning team and so did Gaddis, amounting to about 2,000 total minutes for the pair. Blake was the #1 overall pick and Elliott and Gaddis were pulled out of the later rounds.

The trend these days is to deprioritize the draft and focus on in-house academy development. It’s not just the Union who share this philosophy. But it doesn’t mean the college pipeline has dried up. Between 2019 and 2023, Tajon Buchanan, Alistair Johnston, and Moise Bombito were all drafted out of college, and they now play for Inter Milan, Celtic, and Nice, respectively. Throw in guys like Patrick Schulte and Roman Celentano and Dejuan Jones and you’re talking about everyday MLS starters. There’s talent coming out of college, but you’re getting these guys when they’re older, and some player-personnel executives just don’t think it’s worth the time and effort to go look for them when there’s a glut of talent already in the pipeline.