If the rumors floating around are true I would be excited to see Kitchen fall to DCU, even if he isn’t a striker.

Salgado is the first pick. United now has a shot at Kitchen or Nagbe. Huzzah!

Or it should be - Portland just took Nagbe.

Who’da thunk it? This was the guy I was willing to trade up to the first spot in the draft to get, and we got him for nothing at #3. And we still have Clyde to hold down the midfield, giving the team time to bring Kitchen along without throwing him right into the fire.

I’m currently daydreaming about him or Shanosky playing a Busquets-type role for future DCU teams… http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/09/20/atletico-madrid-1-2-barcelona-busquets-takes-modern-centre-half-role-a-little-further/

Couldn’t make it to the draft, but I’ve been monitoring it from my desk.

- Vancouver’s selection of Salgado is a godsend for Portland and DC. Granted, Salgado might turn into a superstar, but so might Nagbe and Kitchen.

- Taking Kitchen at #3, with Salgado and Nagbe gone, was a no-brainer for DC. It’s notable that Kitchen has gotten more “future national team” talk than anyone else in the draft. Kitchen could contend for a starting job now (that Simms trade rumor might even come back to life), and is a potential future captain for the team. As much as we talked about picking Bruin, it always involved Kitchen being off the board. This is a steal, even as early as it happened.

- MLS and ESPN both made some pretty big errors in covering the draft. Twellman’s mic was left on for him to accidentally say Lenhart was the Crew player traded to San Jose. MLS, meanwhile, can’t get ESPN out of the way to start their own live coverage and has apparently abandoned updating their draft tracker (something that happens every year).

- Valentin to Chivas is a good pick. He should start over Trujillo. It also points to Fraser taking a “keep it simple” approach to building his team. His outside backs will defend first, second, and third before they start trying to bomb forward.

- Houston’s 1st round haul is 2 good players, but do they make sense for today’s Dynamo? Bruin joins Ching and Weaver as yet another big target forward, with Weaver (who kind of sucks, frankly) being expendable. Sarkodie makes less sense, since they just signed Freeman to be their right back and Hainault will be a solid left back. Maybe they see Sarkodie as a right midfielder? Or perhaps Hainault will partner Boswell in central defense? It’s not like Freeman and Hainault are nearing retirement.

- Chicago had to love getting Anibaba. Potential day 1 starter with their central defensive situation (oft-injured Gibbs and unknown Croatian Mikulic are the presumptive starters).

- Columbus reached for Balchan at #12, especially since the best “Swiss Army knife” type player (Bobby Warshaw) was still available. When was the last time the Crew made a truly good decision?

- RSL should have taken Estupinan instead of trading the pick to Chivas. They’re going to need striker help, unless Alvarez plays there exclusively. Even if he does, he and Paulo Jr are hardly a compatible forward pair (with both being like 5’7" or shorter).

- Dallas should be thrilled about getting Warshaw. He can fill in so many places, and Hyndman has shown a knack for getting young defensive players to develop quickly.

- Philly and New England did well in the 2nd round by getting Farfan and McCarthy. McCarthy especially could become a starter fairly quickly, as Joseph’s partners for the Revs are pretty unremarkable.

- DC and Philly fans sound loud. NY showed up well the last time the draft was in Baltimore, but they’ve been drowned out a bit (at least on the audio from ESPN and MLS).

- Speaking of NY, picking Rooney seems to fit well. Big name, club that wants to be flashy…it fits off the field anyway. Rooney might find it hard to crack the team, with the line to be Marquez’s partner to include Tchani, the new signing Jan Gunnar Solli, Ballouchy, Lindpere if he pinches in, and the forgotten Ubiparipovic. Someone should trade for Ubi, he’s solid.

- Omphroy to TFC might be a conversion project (to left back, where they have no one). Good player, but maybe not the best place for him.

- Seattle nabbed Carrasco, who should try to become Alonso’s understudy. Good player.

- Grossman to Columbus happened later than people thought, but it makes sense with their thin central midfield. Still, they should temper expectations of him as a starter. He’ll be more of a bench/Open Cup player.

- Plata could fall to DCU at 31. NY’s on the clock now, and if they skip him he’s there. We have the foreign spots available…

Korb can play left back or right back. People talked about him as “the other Akron player,” but that’s still very good company to keep. Smart player, and he was going soon too.

I’m a little surprised that nobody has taken a chance on the little guy yet. It might be worth it to trade a late pick in next year’s draft (or a suppie) and some allocation $ to grab him or another attacker; we’re getting late enough in the draft that some teams will trade their picks pretty cheap.

- Murray to Sporting. He could challenge Espinoza, who I wouldn’t trust if I was a KC fan. However, that’s more about Espinoza’s shakiness than Murray’s ability. He can get forward well, I’ll say that.

- Ampaipitakwong finally goes, with San Jose bringing him in. I don’t see Yallop liking him; he’s always preferred physical central midfielders. This seems a little odd.

- Jimenez to LA is a good pick for the Bruce. He was one I thought we might consider, though obviously midfield is our most crowded spot. Don’t be shocked if he gets decent minutes, especially from July onward (half-season adjustment period).

400+ tweets to read, 99% of them draft-related.

Ugh! I hate that so many Terps immediately go to DC’s rivals and I have to hate them. Still, hate them I must.

Plata’s off the board, headed for TFC. Good pick for them, they need some skill.

All I know is Chris Pontius better be working his way back to full health. We’re gonna need him up top.