Who are the Fire? Part 2 of a 2-Part Story

In the first part of this story, I examined the Carryover Minutes for the Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake in the years between 2009-2013. I then added up all of those numbers to come up with a full list of minutes compiled by every players that put on a Chicago Fire or Real Salt Lake jersey between those years. Now that these numbers have been established, let's breakdown player acquisition by four categories: SuperDraft, Trades, Miscellaneous (MLS, you magnificent bastard), and International. Players that are still currently with the Chicago Fire or Real Salt Lake are bolded throughout the charts below.

SuperDraft

The Fire's best talent has been provided almost exclusively from the SuperDraft. I will lend a great deal of credit here because Chicago has typically had middle of the 1st round draft picks and they often still come away with superior quality.

2007: Bakary Soumare (No. 2)

2008: Patrick Nyarko (No. 7)

2009: Forced to trade No. 13 overall pick to Toronto FC in Brian McBride trade

2010: Corben Bone (No. 13)

2011: Jalil Anibaba (No. 9)

2012: Austin Berry (No. 9)

2013: Traded the No. 11 overall pick to Colorado in the Jeff Larentowicz trade

Logan Pause was selected 24th overall in 2003. Chris Rolfe was selected 29th overall and Gonzalo Segares was selected 35th overall in 2005. Sean Johnson was selected 51st overall in the 2010 SuperDraft. Outside of Corben Bone, that's some good high drafting mixed in with some late round gems.

Chicago Fire Player	MINS	Acquired Method
Patrick Nyarko	10290	SuperDraft
Logan Pause	10242	SuperDraft
Gonzalo Segares	8656	SuperDraft
Sean Johnson	8076	SuperDraft
Jalil Anibaba	7536	SuperDraft
Chris Rolfe	5333	SuperDraft
Austin Berry	4230	SuperDraft
C.J. Brown	3794	SuperDraft
Baggio Husidic	2741	SuperDraft
Bakary Soumare	2534	SuperDraft
Dasan Robinson	2525	SuperDraft
Mike Banner	1961	SuperDraft
Peter Lowry	1663	SuperDraft
Steven Kinney	1143	SuperDraft
Kwame Watson-Siriboe	681	SuperDraft
Corben Bone	677	SuperDraft
Calen Carr	628	SuperDraft
Daniel Woolard	409	SuperDraft
Hunter Jumper	228	SuperDraft
Yazmid Atouba	55	SuperDraft
Davis Paul	45	SuperDraft
SuperDraft Total & Average Mins	73447	3497

The only issue here is the SuperDraft is not creating a huge advantage for Chicago over other teams. The Fire take Anibaba at No. 9 in 2011, Houston drafts Kofi Sarkodie at No. 7 and Will Bruin at No. 11 that year. The Dynamo scored late in 2008 when they selected Geoff Cameron No. 42 overall. Kansas City selected Chance Myers at No.1 and Roger Espinoza at No. 11 in 2008, Matt Besler at No. 8 and Graham Zusi at No. 23 in 2009, and C.J. Sapong at No. 10 in 2011. Bone aside, the Fire's draft record is solid but it isn't miles ahead of the competition (Chicago selected Baggio Husidic three spots before Zusi in 2009).

There's only a slight edge here. The MLS SuperDraft is designed as the most democratic player acquisition in Major League Soccer because every team is assigned a spot in the order of worst to best in the MLS regular season or MLS playoffs. Every team sees the same combine of players that are made up primarily of early 20's players that played college soccer.

The Fire are not immune to making the occasional questionable move like including the No. 11 overall pick in the 2013 draft in the trade to acquire now 30 year-old Jeff Larentowicz from the Colorado Rapids. The Rapids selected midfielder 22-year old midfielder Dillon Powers with that pick. Powers has only gone on to become the consensus Rookie of the Year.

Real Salt Lake Player	MINS	Acquired Method
Tony Beltran	9730	SuperDraft
Chris Schuler	3752	SuperDraft
Collen Warner	1532	SuperDraft
Jean Alexandre	1296	SuperDraft
Sebastian Velasquez	1187	SuperDraft
Devon Sandoval	704	SuperDraft
Kyle Reynish	685	SuperDraft
Chris Seitz	360	SuperDraft
Emiliano Bonfigli	288	SuperDraft
Jeff Attinella	309	SuperDraft
Raphael Cox	208	SuperDraft
David Horst	86	SuperDraft
John Stertzer	33	SuperDraft
Tino Nunez	18	SuperDraft
SuperDraft Total & Average Mins	20188	1442

Real Salt Lake has not had great success in the draft but they haven't had early draft picks either. The one time RSL did, they selected Tony Beltran No. 3 in the 2008 SuperDraft. Chris Schuler provided RSL with some late value at No. 39 overall in 2010. Sebastian Velasquez was No. 36 in 2012 and Devon Sandoval went No. 29th in this year's draft. Those 3 have a long way to go to being on Beltran's level but they are getting regular playing time on a team that is currently in a playoff position in MLS. Our recent second round picks Lucky Mkosana, Hunter Jumper, and Yazid Atouba can't say that about regular playing time or playoff position.

Now seems like a good time to mention that Lucky Mkosana just wrapped up a season with the USL PRO's Harrisburg City Islanders. Mkosana finished 4th in USL PRO in points and scored 10 goals in the last 8 games of the regular season.

The Chicago Fire are not A+ students here (A- sure, no lower than B+) but they are good. It will be interesting to see if they decide to take the pen out of their hands this year and trade for a veteran again.

Trades

On the topic of trades, here's where Salt Lake really has made their advantage count. I have praised the Dominic Oduro for Calen Carr swap before but that's nothing compared to the trades that netted Nick Rimando, Kyle Beckerman, and Chris Wingert for RSL.

Real Salt Lake Player	MINS	Acquired Method
Nick Rimando	12365	Trade
Kyle Beckerman	10804	Trade
Chris Wingert	10220	Trade
Luis Gil	4450	Trade
Robbie Findley	4147	Trade
Yura Movsisyan	1731	Trade
Kwame Watson-Siriboe	1548	Trade
Joao Plata	1336	Trade
Pablo Campos	834	Trade
Arturo Alvarez	724	Trade
Aaron Maund	270	Trade
Brandon McDonald	180	Trade
Justin Braun	87	Trade
Trade Total & Average Mins	48696	4058

Are the Fire turning the corner on trades? You could make that argument.

Just this year the Fire acquired Jeff Larentowicz, Joel Lindpere, Bakary Soumare, Dilly Duka, the rights of first refusal to Robbie Rogers, the No. 30 overall pick in the 2013 draft (Yazid Atouba) and Quincy Amarikwa in exchange for the No. 11 overall pick in the 2013 draft, two 2013 international roster spots, Dominic Oduro, allocation money, and a 2014 Supplemental Draft Selection. Depending on how you want to count it, the right of first refusal to Robbie Rogers netted the team Mike Magee. Soumare and Magee are not listed below because Soumare was originally acquired through the SuperDraft and Magee was a 'rights trade'. Either way, that's good business right there.

Chicago Fire Player	MINS	Acquired Method
Dominic Oduro	4427	Trade
Dan Gargan	2539	Trade
Jeff Larentowicz	1997	Trade
Yamith Cuesta	1681	Trade
Justin Mapp	1565	Trade
Joel Lindpere	1350	Trade
Dilly Duka	1216	Trade
Freddie Ljungberg	1200	Trade
Alvaro Fernandez	943	Trade
Wells Thompson	585	Trade
Jon Conway	540	Trade
Quincy Amarikwa	207	Trade
Trade Total & Average Mins	18250	1521

We need to wait and see long-term how many minutes these players put up for the team though. I thought the separate trades to acquire Yamith Cuesta and Dan Gargan were great until both players didn't stick around very long with the team. This area has potential for Chicago. Hopefully they stick with the players they acquired and continue to be active on the market.

Miscellaneous

MLS Roster Rules are an absolute muck at times. The right of first refusal for Robbie Rogers demonstrates that. There are all sorts of lotteries, drafts, and general barriers (12 subsections under ‘Player Acquisition Methods’) that prevent the cool teams from stockpiling domestic talent and former MLS players. If you could sign to live in Columbus or New York, many would choose New York. Even more will pick New York if that means they have a chance to compete for trophies instead of joining a rebuilding team.

You can complain all you want about the rules but they are what they are. Here we can see Real Salt Lake has been very aggressive in obtaining players stuck in the cracks of MLS acquisition. Some of this has been luck (a lottery for Nat Borchers) but most of it has been talent evaluation and taking a chance on a player they identified and then cultivated.

Real Salt Lake Players	MINS	Acquired Method
Nat Borchers	12219	Allocation Lottery
Will Johnson	8635	Rights Trade
Ned Grabavoy	8125	Waivers
Andy Williams	4612	Expansion Draft
Clint Mathis	1926	Rights Trade
Yordany Alvarez	1666	Lower League
Paulo Junior	1381	Lower League
Jonny Steele	1179	Unsigned Trialist
Abdoulie Mansally	1033	Unsigned Trialist
Lovel Palmer	940	Re-Entry Draft
Carlos Salcedo	721	Homegrown
Khari Stephenson	718	Unsigned Trialist
Rauwshan McKenzie	404	Waivers
Josh Saunders	231	Unsigned Trialist
Artur Aghasyan	98	Lower League
Cole Grossman	77	Waivers
Cody Arnoux	69	Allocation Lottery
Blake Wagner	63	Waivers
Chris Agorsor	10	Waivers
Misc. Total & Average Mins	44107	2321

Chicago has had more mixed success with less opportunities taken. Brian McBride and Mike Magee wanted to come back to Chicago where they were raised. The Fire successfully plucked Daniel Paladini from a lower domestic soccer league. Cory Gibbs and Jon Busch were successfully taken a chance on even if they ended their time with the Fire in equally tragic if not totally identical ways.

Chicago Fire Player	MINS	Acquired Method
Brian McBride	3567	Rights Trade
Daniel Paladini	2967	Lower League
Jon Busch	2700	Waived
Cory Gibbs	2473	Re-Entry Draft
Tim Ward	2220	Waived
Andrew Dykstra	1530	Unsigned Trialist
Brandon Prideaux	1414	Waived
Mike Magee	1054	Rights Trade
Michael Videira	617	Lower League
Maicon Santos	379	Re-Entry Draft
Stefan Dimitrov	191	Unsigned Trialist
Shaun Francis	90	Lower League
Gabriel Ferrari	17	Unsigned Trialist
Misc. Total & Average Mins	19129	1594

I’m willing to give the Fire a passing grade here except for the fact that Chicago has had a wide open roster at times. You saw the minutes above. Real Salt Lake’s lineup has been remarkably stable for the past 5 years. Chicago has had temporarily stable lineups but the roster turnover has been gigantic. If anything you would expect it to be Chicago taking more chances on these kind of waivers/re-entry draft/ lower league/ type moves considering they have more open spots to give players minutes.

When we move to the last and final category, players acquired internationally, we see Chicago has most likely been giving minutes to these kind of players instead.

International

Chicago Fire Player	MINS	Acquired Method
Marco Pappa	8214	International
Wilman Conde	3633	International
Pavel Pardo	3343	International
John Thorrington	1971	International
Sebastian Grazzini	1883	International
Arne Friedrich	1832	International
Diego Chaves	1699	International
Alex	1663	International
Sherjill MacDonald	1612	International
Krzysztof Krol	1565	International
Cuauhtemoc Blanco	1452	International
Bratislav Ristic	1105	International
Josip Mikulic	1038	International
Collins John	901	International
Orr Barouch	848	International
Paolo Tornaghi	810	International
Gaston Puerari	808	International
Cristian Nazarit	624	International
Deris Umanzor	502	International
Nery Castillo	487	International
Rafael Robayo	439	International
Federico Puppo	216	International
Arevalo Rios	180	International
Juan Luis Anangono	161	International
Julio Martinez	108	International
Guillermo Franco	43	International
Marko Maric	19	International
International Total & Average Min	37156	1376

There have been several missteps in this category. Since 2009, the Chicago Fire have given minutes to 27 players that were signed off the international market. The most successful ones still with the team are Alex and Paolo Tornaghi. Both Alex and Tornaghi are currently backups. Marco Pappa, Wilman Conde, and Pavel Pardo are the only 3 Fire players here that have logged over 2,000 minutes with the club since 2009. Pappa and Conde were both acquired before the 2009 season. I would like to get excited about Arevalo Rios and Juan Luis Anangono but given the team's track record, it seems like it is better for one's mental health to expect the worse and then get really, really excited if they perform. Also don't get too attached if that does happen because it looks like the players won't be around for too long.

Real Salt Lake Player	MINS	Acquired Method
Javier Morales	9028	International
Jamison Olave	8314	International
Fabian Espindola	7414	International
Alvaro Saborio	7297	International
Robbie Russell	5959	International
Olmes Garcia	754	International
Nelson Gonzalez	504	International
Terakazu Tanaka	325	International
Rachid El Khalifi	178	International
Luis Miguel Escalada	126	International
David Viana	27	International
Ian Joy	7	International
International Total & Average Min	39933	3328

Real Salt Lake hasn't always got it right but they have found players that are legendary in the organization. Javier Morales, Jamison Olave, Fabian Espindola, Alvaro Saborio, and Robbie Russell are the exact kind of players you want to unearth on the international market. Perhaps the best summary of Real Salt Lake's international moves and the Chicago Fire's international moves is in the cases of Cristian Nazarit and Olmes Garcia.

Cristian Nazarit signed with the Chicago Fire on May 4, 2011. He was 20 years old, 6'1, 170 pounds, a forward, and was previously playing in Colombia with Independiente Santa Fe. He was signed on a free transfer. Nazarit went on to score 2 goals and have no assists in 624 minutes of regular season play. After working his way into fitness, the Colombian started in 4 of his first 5 games before making 2 other starts and 5 substitution appearances. Nazarit did not play in the Fire's last 9 games of 2011. In the press release for his signing, the front office staff provided a quote:

"Cristian brings a wealth of talent and experience to the Chicago Fire," said Fire Technical Director Frank Klopas. "The Colombian target forward has pace, strikes the ball well and is able to play with his back to goal. His size and offensive abilities make him a positive addition to our team."

The press release for Nazarit's signing also mentioned that Marko Maric had been placed on the disabled list after he suffered what would be a season-ending injury in the April 14 match against the Portland Timbers. Maric came into that game as a substitute and only played 19 minutes before having to be substituted out himself. Nazarit was released on December 7, 2011. The press release for Nazarit's departure also announced the release of forward Gabriel Ferrari who played 17 minutes across 3 regular season games for the Fire.

Olmes Garcia signed with Real Salt Lake on February 21, 2013. He is 20 years old, 6'0, 175 pounds, a forward, and was playing in Colombia with Deportes Quindio. He signed a 5-year contract with Real Salt Lake after the Utah-based club paid a transfer fee to Deportes Quindio. Garcia has 5 goals and 4 assists in 754 minutes so far this year. The Colombian forward has started 3 of the last 6 games while appearing in 20 games and starting in 7 overall in 2013. In the press release for his signing, the front office staff provided a quote:

"Garcia is a talented player who is a significant part of our long-term plan," Real Salt Lake General Manager Garth Lagerwey said. "He's fast, has good size and is skilled, but he'll need some time to get used to our system and to Utah. We'll be patient with him as we help him adjust to a new country, a new team, a new language, a new culture and new tactics."

It looks like the press release for Garcia's departure will not be coming for quite some time.

In case you are suddenly curious, Juan Luis Anangono is a 24 year-old, 6'1, 175 pounds forward that has started 2 of his first 3 games for the Chicago Fire...

Overall

With this kind of overview, I have to wonder why the Fire don't trade all of their international slots for SuperDraft picks. While Real Salt Lake is carefully checking all of their groceries in an attempt to create a perfect dinner, the Fire seem to know a lot about the meat for the meal while indeterminately putting out their arm and scooping produce into bags without taking a good look at the product they will have to eat later.

Bad produce will make your dinner taste inferior no matter the top quality of your meat. At professional restaurants, they make changes to the staff when the product being served is bad or people stop eating there after too many bad meals.