From TheCrew.com: "All three players are not eligible for the MLS Re-entry Process and will be placed on the MLS Waiver wire, with the MLS Waiver Draft taking place at 3:30 p.m. ET this afternoon."
A COUPLE THINGS on that STATEMENT
1. Grossman was the only player picked from the 43 dropped for today's "Waiver Draft". Real Salt Lake nabbed him, wisely.
2. The Re-entry Process" is a tricky animal as MLS over-engineers
NICHOLAS HOLLAND "Cole" GROSSMAN
I've written a lot about Cole here at Helltown over the course of the 2012 season, with emphasis since the end of the Crew season when doing player evaluations. The reason for this is because his metrics were notably good in the short time he played.
Real Salt Lake was smart to pick him up.
For me? He's a $44k a year player who was put into impossible positions when called upon this year. He started against Seattle, DC United, Sporting KC, LA, and Houston and never lost a match with 8 goals for and only 4 against. If you didn't notice; Those are the best teams in the league.
His counterpart, Milovan Mirosevic? He didn't win a single game against a team ranked 1-9 on the table when starting. NOT A SINGLE ONE. 0 Wins, 4 Draws, 5 Losses. 10 Goals For, 16 Against. A main contributer to the club missing the 2012 playoffs was Mirosevic's presence on the pitch when playing better competition.
Let's take a second to break down some of the incompetence that Grossman mentions in his Facebook post today.
Below is a record of the Crew's results when Mirosevic was a starter against better competition:
Round 4: NY. LOSS
Round 6: HOU. DRAW
Round 10: SJ DRAW
Round 20: DC. LOSS
Round 21: LA. DRAW
You would think that during this part of the season the club would have noticed a trend. Why? Because by week 22 Grossman had 3 wins in 5 starts vs top teams to Mirosevics 0 in 5.
The team didn't take notice and started Mirosevic in critical late year matches. He ended up starting in 4, losing 3.
Round 28: NY. LOSS
Round 30: CHI. LOSS
Round 32: SKC. DRAW
Round 33: DC. LOSS
At one of the most important positions on a Robert Warzycha coached team (Defensive Mid-Fielder)... Why would Mirosevic, a player who clearly struggled against better players early on, get time late in the year against quality clubs?
I'm sorry, but it doesn't take a Duke University graduate to figure this one out. A trend is a trend. It should have been sorted. The Crew reacted quickly with Olman Vargas by pulling him early in the season (didn't start after week 10, no wins against top half talent), why not Mirosevic?
GROSSMAN IN A BETTER SITUATION
RSL is ranked 3rd in over all record over the last 4 years. While it's true that Columbus is 4th in that time, RSL still clocks in at 4th over the last two years. Columbus has tumbled to 9th.
Grossman is going to a better run MLS franchise. The fact that they picked a player like him is a testament to how they measure performance and why they are consistently better than Columbus and the other 15 clubs in the league below them.
AFFINITY DIAGRAM TIME
I ventured in to the ever increasing dark forest that is Facebook and found that common fans are upset about Vukovic getting dropped. Longer written posts reason out in favor of keeping Cole and there is general indifference to Vargas.
PLAYER VALUE
I rate every player. I also keep track of every player's salary. If I take the 10 players above and below an individual on my rating scale I can summize general value (or "HB Market Value" if I may. If you will).
Nemanja Vukovic: $125,500
HB Market Value: $75,000
Difference: -($50,500)
Olman Vargas: $175,000
HB Market Value: $93,300
Difference: -($81,700)
Cole Grossman: $44,100
HB Market Value: $65,000
Difference: +$20,9000
Both Vukovic and Vargas are overpaid. Cole is underpaid by a significant percentage. By picking him up in the MLS Waiver Draft RSL is getting a value.
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The Columbus Crew let go of $344,600 today.
The total HB Market Value of these players: $233,300.
Aggregate salary dropped today, by club.
$756,255 : NYR : 9
$463,790 : PHI : 3
$413,256 : SKC : 4
$344,600 : CREW : 3
$292,514 : FCD : 5
$208,502 : COL : 2
$185,600 : TFC : 4
$155,000 : VAN : 3
$149,372 : NER : 4
$111,500 : POR : 3
$103,333 : SJE : 1
$35,750 : RSL : 1
$33,750 : MON : 1
RSL picked up Cole's $44,100 salary, so call it even for them.
Of the 43 dropped today I recommend the following players (other than Cole):
B. Brettschneider: $33,756
HB Market Value: 105,950
Difference: +$72,194
C. Rodriguez: $64,383
HB Market Value: $90,750
Difference: +$26,367
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