Union lose Justin Mapp in MLS expansion draft, quickly sign a replacement
The Union have lost midfielder Justin Mapp to the Montreal Impact in today's expansion draft.
Union lose Justin Mapp in MLS expansion draft, quickly sign a replacement
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
The Union have lost midfielder Justin Mapp to the Montréal Impact in today's expansion draft.
But they quickly made up for Mapp's departure. In the waiver draft held immediately after the expansion draft, the Union acquired Tanzanian winger Nizar Khalfan from the Vancouver Whitecaps.
More on Khalfan in a moment. First, let's talk about Mapp. As I wrote Monday, he was a teammate of Impact manager Jesse Marsch with the Chicago Fire from 2003 to 2005.
Although I predicted in that post that Mapp would be the Union player to go, there was a lot of buzz out of the Montréal media that the Impact might select Freddy Adu. Marsch told the Montréal Gazette yesterday that the the club was "analyzing how Freddy would fit."
It turns out he didn't quite fit right. Perhaps that's because of his $594,884 guaranteed salary.
Union manager Peter Nowak admitted that leaving Adu unprotected was a gamble, but he played a hunch based on his close knowledge of Marsch and assistant coach Mike Sorber.
The three men played together for the Fire in the club's early years - Nowak and Marsch were roomates - and Sorber was one of Nowak's assistant coaches on the 2008 U.S. men's Olympic team.
"Knowing them, our thinking was [the Impact] would be looking for pieces," Nowak said. "The expansion draft is always tricky, because you want to add guys who are going to be a contrast to bigger pieces... Fortunately for us, the logic paid off and we have Freddy back."
Regarding Khalfan, he played a total of 1,066 minutes across 22 games this season, making nine starts. He recorded just one goal and nine assists, but his speed can cause some trouble.
Of more consequence is Khalfan's salary: $61,250 in guaranteed compensation. That's considerably less than Mapp's guaranteed compensation figure from this past season: $183,333.33. Khalfan will cost the Union an international player slot, but the money saved will help make up for that.
After acquiring Khalfan, the Union released two bench players: goalkeeper Thorne Holder and defender Juan Diego González. Holder never really amounted to anything, while González proved to be a considerable bust for his $193,462.50 guaranteed compensation.
The Colombian defender played a total of 630 minutes over seven league games for the Union. All of those minutes came in 2010. Which means the sum of his contributions this past season was: zero. All the way across his stat sheet.
I don't have Holder's salary figure because it wasn't included in the last round of numbers published by the MLS Players Union. What is certain, though, is that the Union have a pretty good amount of money to play with in the off-season.
The Impact made a total of 10 selections today, and there were some pretty big names among them. The full list:
1. F Brian Ching, Houston Dynamo
2. D Zarek Valentin, Chivas USA
3. M Justin Mapp, Philadelphia Union
4. D Bobby Burling, San Jose Earthquakes
5. D Jeb Brovsky, Vancouver Whitecaps
6. D Collen Warner, Real Salt Lake
7. F Josh Gardner, Columbus Crew
8. M Sanna Nyassi, Colorado Rapids
9. D James Riley, Seattle Sounders
10. D Seth Sinovic, Sporting Kansas City
After the draft, Montréal made a few trades. They sent Riley to Chivas USA for forward Justin Braun and midfielder Gerson Mayen, then acquired defender Tyson Wahl from Seattle for allocation money.
The most intriguing selection on the board by far is Ching. He told the Houston Chronicle that he would retire if taken in the expansion draft. We'll see if the former U.S. national team striker stays true to his word, or whether he ends up playing elsewhere in 2012.
How do you think Mapp's departure will affect the Union? Are you relieved that the Impact didn't select Adu? Have your say in the comments.
I wish the U would open up their PPL shop for holiday shopping!— Earl J- Adu is the mostoverpiad player on the roster. This will make it more difficult to sign Convey who was looking to return to Philadelphia and is looking to make around $ 500,000 also. Mapp was maikng about $200,000. Ching will not stay in Montreal.
So as it stands its Farfan and 0 depth at outside Left Mid.
The Union just got worse.— mrletsbereal - Hopefully LA will take Adu, now that Beckham is leaving.
LA will money to burn. That frees up money to sign Convey to replace Mapp at left Mid. Thats where he wants to play anyhow.
Convey was not thrilled playing in the back. This should be the Unions next move. Make it happen. Id take Barett if the Convey deal cant be made. At least we upgrade the forward position.— mrletsbereal - Convey isn't coming to Philly as long as Nowak is manager. They don't get along. He'd most likely play left back if he came anyway, but it's moot because Convey isn't coming.— day3493
- Penny Wise Pound Foolish
After reading Nowaks latest commnets on the loss of Mapp , it sounds like he was rationalizing not proecting Mapp because of his " high salary ". Say What!
I think the Adu signing was ill advised. Adu did very little to improve the team last year. His signing appeared to be a knee jerk reaction to losing Ruiz. He also cost the team nearly $ 600,000. I repeat $600,000.
Talk about a wasted high salary mostly bench player!
Nowak is counting on Farfan and Daniel way too much. Both are unproven as starters at outside left mid.
Shouldn't the goal of the club was to put the best possible team out there.
The Union knew they were letting Gonzalez go. That was 193,000 savings right there Accounting Department. It would have easily paid for Mapps new salary increae a year from now.
News Flash! FREDY ADU DOES NOT PRODUCE. FREEDY ADU HAS NOT GOTTEN MUCH BETTER SINCE AGE 14. That is why he has bounced all over the place. BAD INVESWTMENT UNION FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT. Nowak sounds like he was told what to say by ownership, who I am beginning to dislike more and more.
What Nowak implied was "We are going to put the best team out there at the lowest cost." I think you are kind of contradiciting yourself there buddy. Did you forget about Adus $600,000 salary????
Who is running this team the Accounting Department?
The Union are never going to win a championship with that philosophy.
The Union made the same mistake last year not keeping Moreno. Losing Mapp is a step backwards for the team that they could have avoided.
— mrletsbereal 
Mapp gone is good. He was a severely limited player who provided moments of brilliance. Gonzalea gonbe is better because he was paid too much and never played. We are moving in a better direction and should now pickup depth on the backline.- I'm going to hold off on condemning the FO for allowing Mapp to leave until we see how things play out with Daniel's visa issues and what Nizar Khalfan has to offer. My understanding of Khalfan is that he's very fast, is a good passer and when he does let it go, has a rocket shot (just check out his goal against RSL). No, he's not much defensively, but he could be a good fit with Nowak, and Caps fans were sad to see him go.
It's also very early in the offseason, and there's plenty of time to make moves. For all we know, creating cap space and opening up an International slot opens the door for a more accomplished player when the transfer window opens. We also have the Re-Entry draft in a couple weeks. It's way too early to look at this team as a finished product for 2012.— HazmatCorntail 
Good luck Justin!— Osager- Good riddance ... Mapp is a one dimensional player. He can't go to his right, doesn't defend well, and typically holds the ball a bit too long. If this opens a spot for Torres in the starting 11, we are a better team.— alz3k3
- Torres is is a nice little player. He does not have the speed to play outside mid. Unfortunately he does not have the strength ,size or skill to start at inside inside mid. He is a nice offensive spark off the bench. When he was given a starting job he was not cosistent and often looked lost. He also holds the ball to long and forces play between defenders and loses the ball. He needs to make better decisions in the final third. He is not ready to start until he gets stronger and amkes better decisions with the ball.
Bottom line is the Union need to now spend money and get a quality outside left midfielder. Mapp was picked by Montreal over dozens of other available unprotected mids. Why do you think they did this????
Check the stats for assissist per minutes played , hen compare Torress and Mapp. You will change your mind.— mrletsbereal
Reach Jonathan at jtannenwald@phillynews.com or 215-854-2330.
