DP is the Answer; Fire May Not Know How to Wield the Tool

Each sports league has their own set of quirky rules for signing different players. While it's easy to think of Major League Baseball as a sport primarily driven by the MLB Draft of high school and college players, there's a complicated international signings system. Individuals from the Dominican Republic continue to dominate these signings but other countries like Venezuela and Colombia are turning out top prospects. MLB.com's 4th Top International prospect is Italian. In the name of Mike Piazza, the end times might be near.

Italians following baseball might categorize MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball's posting system as the traditional transfer fee the soccer world employs. MLS fans following MLB might see some similarities in weird league drafts and rules (Rule 5 Draft? Trades via waivers after the trade deadline?). There are a couple of different tools that MLB front offices must use to the best of their advantage if they want to increase their odds of winning.

MLS Tools

Free agency in the offseason and midseason trades during the season provide the most immediate boost to a team's talent. Both tools come with significant risk and the use of much capital. Free agency requires a lot of money. Midseason trades require parting with a lot of talent.

MLS' equivalent to free agency or the blockbuster midseason trade is signing a Designated Player. This tool allows teams to sign almost any player in the world regardless of price as long as they have about $350,000 of room available in the salary cap.

MLS trades are allowed but it's not the same. Teams don't have boatload of prospects to cash in for a player that can provide an immediate impact. When 10 of 19 teams make the playoffs, everyone can envision their team going to MLS Cup if not this season, at least the next. In addition, prospects in soccer are a dime a dozen. The universe of good talent for MLS is vast while the universe of good talent for MLB is smaller and more controlled. That's why you have to break out good money to get a designated player; the best tool in the toolbox for immediate help.

Designated Players

The Chicago Fire signed one of the very first designated players on April 2nd, 2007 when they inked legendary Mexican international Cuahtemoc Blanco. Blanco went on to become one of the best players in the Fire's history, one of the best designated players to date, and a real catalyst for Chicago all around. The club very successfully used the designated player tool to their advantage during Blanco's tenure.

Since club owner Andrew Hauptman purchased the team in the summer of 2007, the club has not enjoyed the same success when newly using the designated player tool. This is the case despite the fact that the number of designated players allowed per team increased from one to two in 2010, and then from two to three in 2013. This lack of designated player success is not for a lack of trying either. Here are the stats for designated players in Chicago Fire history.

Seasons	Player	G	A	M	GP90	AP90	G+AP90
2007-2009	Cuauhtemoc Blanco	16	26	5083	0.28	0.46	0.74
2010	Freddie Ljungberg	2	7	1200	0.15	0.53	0.68
2010	Nery Castillo	0	0	487	0.00	0.00	0.00
2012	Fedrico Puppo	0	1	216	0.00	0.42	0.42
2012	Alvaro Fernandez	2	1	943	0.19	0.10	0.29
2012-2013	Sherjil MacDonald	4	5	1612	0.22	0.28	0.50
2013	Juan Luis Anangono	0	0	0	0.00	0.00	0.00
	Total	24	40	9541	0.23	0.38	0.60

Freddie Ljungberg enjoyed a slightly higher assists per 90 minutes rate than Blanco but the Fire couldn’t re-sign Ljungberg at the end of the season. Sherjill MacDonald is not far off from Blanco in goals per 90 minutes but the Dutchman’s drop in form has been so bad this year that head coach Frank Klopas doesn’t even include MacDonald in the Gameday 18 for some matches. Rumors abound that the team would love to ship MacDonald somewhere else.

Juan Luis Anangono is a new player so maybe he will save the day. Nothing against our new Ecuadorian target forward but evidence suggests he doesn’t stand a chance. If MacDonald does get loaned out to another team, he will keep the streak alive as 3 designated players in a row have been loaned out shortly after their acquisition: Nery Castillo, Federico Puppo, and Alvaro Fernandez.

When the Fire sign designated players, they end up being players the team suddenly can’t wait to get rid of. No wonder an editorial gracing Chicago-Fire.com said signing a great designated player is ‘really hard’.

How Hard Is It?

The editorial also noted that fans should take notice that the Fire have signed as many designated players as any team in the league (a statement later corrected that the Fire are short one and now two with the signing of Clint Dempsey). Chicago has signed almost as many designated players as the league leader, the Seattle Sounders so let's take a side by side comparison and see how designated players from both teams have performed.

Seasons	Player	G	A	M	GP90	AP90	G+AP90		Seasons	Player	G	A	M	GP90	AP90	G+AP90
2007-2009	Blanco	16	26	5083	0.28	0.46	0.74		2009-2010	Ljungberg	2	12	3067	0.06	0.35	0.41
2010	Ljungberg	2	7	1200	0.15	0.53	0.68		2009-2012	Montero	47	34	9450	0.45	0.32	0.77
2010	Castillo	0	0	487	0.00	0.00	0.00		2009	Nkufo	5	0	942	0.48	0.00	0.48
2012	Puppo	0	1	216	0.00	0.42	0.42		2010-2012	Fernandez	13	3	4238	0.28	0.06	0.34
2012	Fernandez	2	1	943	0.19	0.10	0.29		2011-2013	Rosales	10	30	5062	0.18	0.53	0.71
2012-2013	MacDonald	4	5	1612	0.22	0.28	0.50		2012	Tiffert	0	3	978	0.00	0.28	0.28
2013	Anagono	0	0	0	0.00	0.00	0.00		2013	Joseph	0	0	428	0.00	0.00	0.00
	Total	24	40	9541	0.23	0.38	0.60		2013	Martins	6	3	905	0.60	0.30	0.90
									2013	Dempsey	0	0	0	0.00	0.00	0.00
										Total	83	85	25070	0.30	0.31	0.60

The rates may be similar but Seattle crushes Chicago in overall production. Chicago's rates would be much lower if they had continued to play their designated players more often. Some Fire designated players have ended up being so poor, it makes you wonder how they weren't vetted more in the first place.

In the Fire's defense, Seattle didn't exactly hit a home run with Blaise Nkufo or Christian Tiffert but at least they produced some results and were played in the starting lineup. Why has Chicago paid a lot of money for a couple of players that ended up being on the bench? Shouldn't that level of talent and temperament be figured out before the player is offered a large contract?

The Rest of the League

Pitting Chicago and Seattle against each other might be a little disingenuous. After all, Seattle has a great deal of money. They have over 35,000 fans at every game. They don't pay for the stadium they play in and their operations are bankrolled by the Seattle Seahawks. I think Chicago should constantly be aiming for 35,000 fans at every game but one step at a time. Rome wasn't built in a day. In case Seattle's money is putting the team over the top, let's take a look at league totals sorted by average minutes per players.

Team	G	A	#	MINS	GP90	AP90	G+AP90	MINPP
RSL	72	61	2	18754	0.35	0.30	0.64	9,377
NE	43	36	3	25767	0.15	0.13	0.28	8,589
LAG	141	144	4	31364	0.40	0.41	0.82	7,841
SJ	70	18	2	10954	0.58	0.15	0.72	5,477
CLB	58	56	3	13378	0.39	0.38	0.77	4,459
NYRB	104	56	6	25055	0.37	0.20	0.57	4,176
PDX	13	15	3	10070	0.12	0.13	0.25	3,357
SEA	83	85	8	25070	0.30	0.31	0.60	3,134
SKC	31	21	3	9274	0.30	0.20	0.50	3,091
FCD	34	46	5	15340	0.20	0.27	0.47	3,068
MON	16	5	1	3029	0.48	0.15	0.62	3,029
DC	52	18	5	10860	0.43	0.15	0.58	2,172
TFC	21	9	5	10785	0.18	0.08	0.25	2,157
HOU	6	13	2	3496	0.15	0.33	0.49	1,748
CHV	15	1	3	5073	0.27	0.02	0.28	1,691
VAN	23	8	4	6418	0.32	0.11	0.43	1,605
CHI	24	40	6	9541	0.23	0.38	0.60	1,590
PHI	5	1	2	1738	0.26	0.05	0.31	869
COL	0	0	1	200	0.00	0.00	0.00	200

Blanco played 5,083 minutes for Chicago but the average minutes for Chicago designated players has fallen to 1,590 minutes. There's been no consistency from our designated players whatsoever. Only Philadelphia with Freddy Adu and Kleberson and the Rapids with 200 minutes from Claudio Lopez average less minutes from their designated players.

Individual Success

In the source data for the teams, some people might have qualms with how the data is put together. Here is the list of designated players I'm referring to and what seasons I'm counting their stats for.

Seasons	Team	Player	G	A	Minutes	GP90	AP90	G+AP90
2003-2012	NE	Shalrie Joseph	37	34	22866	0.15	0.13	0.28
2005-2013	LAG	Landon Donovan	95	85	17933	0.48	0.43	0.90
2007-2013	RSL	Javier Morales	25	50	11523	0.20	0.39	0.59
2009-2013	SJ	Chris Wondolowski	69	15	10177	0.61	0.13	0.74
2009-2012	SEA	Fredy Montero	47	34	9450	0.45	0.32	0.77
2009-2013	FCD	David Ferreira	22	36	8963	0.22	0.36	0.58
2007-2010	NYRB	Juan Pablo Angel	58	14	8806	0.59	0.14	0.74
2007-2010	CLB	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	33	41	8182	0.36	0.45	0.81
2007-2012	LAG	David Beckham	18	40	8066	0.20	0.45	0.65
2010-2013	RSL	Alvaro Saborio	47	11	7051	0.60	0.14	0.74
2010-2013	NYRB	Thierry Henry	38	24	7001	0.49	0.31	0.80
2007-2010	DC	Luciano Emilio	41	8	6778	0.54	0.11	0.65
2011-2013	PDX	Diego Chara	2	7	6621	0.03	0.10	0.12
2007-2009	CHI	Cuauhtemoc Blanco	16	26	5083	0.28	0.46	0.74
2011-2013	SEA	Mauro Rosales	10	30	5062	0.18	0.53	0.71
2009-2012	TFC	Julian de Guzman	2	3	4817	0.04	0.06	0.09
2008-2009	SKC	Claudio Lopez	13	15	4766	0.25	0.28	0.53
2011-2013	FCD	Fabian Castillo	10	7	4419	0.20	0.14	0.35
2010-2012	SEA	Alvaro Fernandez	13	3	4238	0.28	0.06	0.34
2011-2013	LAG	Robbie Keane	25	18	3846	0.59	0.42	1.01
2010-2012	NYRB	Rafael Marquez	1	9	3454	0.03	0.23	0.26
2009-2010	SEA	Freddie Ljungberg	2	12	3067	0.06	0.35	0.41
2012-2013	MON	Marco Di Vaio	16	5	3029	0.48	0.15	0.62
2012-2013	CLB	Federico Higuain	10	13	2970	0.30	0.39	0.70
2011-2012	TFC	Torsten Frings	2	3	2793	0.06	0.10	0.16
2011-2012	VAN	Eric Hassli	12	5	2762	0.39	0.16	0.55
2012-2013	HOU	Oscar Boniek Garcia	4	10	2700	0.13	0.33	0.47
2012-2013	NYRB	Tim Cahill	7	6	2665	0.24	0.20	0.44
2010-2011	CLB	Andres Mendoza	15	2	2226	0.61	0.08	0.69
2012-2013	CHV	Oswaldo Minda	2	0	2194	0.08	0.00	0.08
2007-2008	NYRB	Claudio Reyna	0	3	2184	0.00	0.12	0.12
2011	SKC	Omar Bravo	9	2	2150	0.38	0.08	0.46
2011-2013	TFC	Danny Koevermans	17	3	2020	0.76	0.13	0.89
2010-2012	DC	Branko Boskovic	1	7	1976	0.05	0.32	0.36
2012-2013	NE	Jerry Bengtson	3	0	1910	0.14	0.00	0.14
2012	PDX	Kris Boyd	7	1	1893	0.33	0.05	0.38
2011-2012	CHV	Juan Pablo Angel	11	0	1799	0.55	0.00	0.55
2013	SKC	Claudio Bieler	9	3	1787	0.45	0.15	0.60
2012-2013	VAN	Kenny Miller	8	1	1785	0.40	0.05	0.45
2012-2013	CHI	Sherjill MacDonald	4	5	1612	0.22	0.28	0.50
2013	PDX	Diego Valeri	4	7	1556	0.23	0.40	0.64
2011	LAG	Juan Pablo Angel	3	1	1519	0.18	0.06	0.24
2011-2012	PHI	Freddy Adu	5	1	1468	0.31	0.06	0.37
2012	VAN	Barry Robson	3	2	1421	0.19	0.13	0.32
2013	TFC	Matias Laba	1	0	1245	0.07	0.00	0.07
2010	CHI	Freddie Ljungberg	2	7	1200	0.15	0.53	0.68
2008	DC	Marcelo Gallardo	4	3	1161	0.31	0.23	0.54
2012	CHV	Shalrie Joseph	2	1	1080	0.17	0.08	0.25
2011	NE	Milton Caraglio	3	2	991	0.27	0.18	0.45
2012	SEA	Christian Tiffert	0	3	978	0.00	0.28	0.28
2012	DC	Hamdi Salihi	6	0	945	0.57	0.00	0.57
2011	NYRB	Frank Rost	0	0	945	0.00	0.00	0.00
2012	CHI	Alvaro Fernandez	2	1	943	0.19	0.10	0.29
2009	SEA	Blaise Nkufo	5	0	942	0.48	0.00	0.48
2012	FCD	Julian de Guzman	1	2	929	0.10	0.19	0.29
2013	SEA	Obafemi Martins	6	3	905	0.60	0.30	0.90
2009-2010	HOU	Luis Angel Landin	2	3	796	0.23	0.34	0.57
2010	SJ	Geovanni	1	3	777	0.12	0.35	0.46
2007	FCD	Denilson	1	0	606	0.15	0.00	0.15
2011	SKC	Jeferson	0	1	571	0.00	0.16	0.16
2010	TFC	Mista	0	1	544	0.00	0.17	0.17
2010	CHI	Nery Castillo	0	0	487	0.00	0.00	0.00
2011	VAN	Mustapha Jarju	0	0	450	0.00	0.00	0.00
2013	SEA	Joseph	0	0	428	0.00	0.00	0.00
2013	FCD	Eric Hassli	0	1	423	0.00	0.21	0.21
2013	PHI	Kleberson	0	0	270	0.00	0.00	0.00
2012	CHI	Federico Puppo	0	1	216	0.00	0.42	0.42
2010	COL	Claudio Lopez	0	0	200	0.00	0.00	0.00
2013	DC	Rafael	0	0	0	0.00	0.00	0.00

*Recent signings like Clint Dempsey and Juan Luis Anangono are not on this list

Shalrie Joseph, Chris Wondolowski, Alvaro Saborio, Javier Morales, and others' stats might seem unfair since they didn't become designated players until after they signed with their MLS team. However, those teams developed that player to a designated player level. Even if you want to take those players out of consideration, you still have 5 Fire designated players that don't even crack the top half of the minutes played list. Chicago has not developed any players into DPs while other teams have.

The Fire want to tell us it's really hard but here's a list of players signed since 2011 that I would like to see in Fire red. I'm limiting this list to one player per team and players that were brought in as designated players.

Seasons	Team	Player	G	A	Minutes	GP90	AP90	G+AP90
2012-2013	CLB	Federico Higuain	10	13	2970	0.30	0.39	0.70
2011-2013	FCD	Fabian Castillo	10	7	4419	0.20	0.14	0.35
2012-2013	HOU	Oscar Boniek Garcia	4	10	2700	0.13	0.33	0.47
2011-2013	LAG	Robbie Keane	25	18	3846	0.59	0.42	1.01
2012-2013	MON	Marco Di Vaio	16	5	3029	0.48	0.15	0.62
2012-2013	NYRB	Tim Cahill	7	6	2665	0.24	0.20	0.44
2013	PDX	Diego Valeri	4	7	1556	0.23	0.40	0.64
2013	SEA	Obafemi Martins	6	3	905	0.60	0.30	0.90
2013	SKC	Claudio Bieler	9	3	1787	0.45	0.15	0.60
2011-2013	TFC	Danny Koevermans	17	3	2020	0.76	0.13	0.89
2012-2013	VAN	Kenny Miller	8	1	1785	0.40	0.05	0.45

If you took any of those 11 players, I believe they would start for Chicago right away. That's 11 quality designated players signed just since 2011 and the only one that is getting ‘Keane-like' money is Robbie Keane. A couple of these players make less than $750,000.

DP the Answer

The teams remaining after that list of 11 are Chivas USA, Colorado, D.C., New England, Philadelphia, Salt Lake, and San Jose. Salt Lake didn't sign a DP off the foreign market in the last 3 seasons but they did make two of their current players DPs; Saborio and Morales. Salt Lake only trails Montreal in PPG at this point in the season. Philadelphia is the only other team in this group that would qualify for the playoffs based on current PPG right now and they are clinging.

Of the 11 with the DPs I would like to have on the Fire, only Columbus, FC Dallas, and Toronto would miss the playoffs right now based on current PPG. It appears if the question is 'To DP or not DP', the answer is surely 'To DP'.

The Right Use of Tools

The odd thing about the 'To DP or not DP' editorial is that's the question. It seems like a better group of questions would be:

Why the heck do you keep signing designated players when your track record is so poor?

Why does it seem like the same people in the front office are signing the same kind of designated players again and again?

Should I bother to get excited about a MLS team that can't effectively use MLS' most effective (and only?) way to acquire the best players in the world?

Why are we paying a seven-figure transfer fee for a player like Juan Luis Anangono when we could be paying a six-figure salary to dozens of other more effective players that would help a team that is primarily made of players closer to 30 than they are to 20?

Is the answer to the last question that MLS is paying transfer fees for multiple moves these days and the Fire are getting the label of designated player without spending the total amount of money?

Perhaps the biggest question of them all comes in response to the last line of the editorial.

"Yes, that is a big challenge, but it's one that the fans of the Fire deserve to have met."

At what point will someone in the Fire organization take responsibility for the repeated failure of meeting that challenge and when will we see change?

Right now I view the Fire as a baseball team that is unable to sign big free agents so they sign mediocre ones to tell the fans they are trying. The Pittsburgh Pirates did that for years when Dave Littlefield ran the show between 2001 to 2007. Finally enough was enough and Littlefield was fired. The new general manger Neil Huntington has used different tools to build the Pirates back to the top of the league. Maybe the Fire need a Neil Hungtington but a perspective on using the strengths of the organization would be a nice start.

I'm sick of our designated player tool being blunt and our DPs being the Lowe'st while Home Depot gets all the hardware.