2019 Roster Discussion

What Position Should NYCFC Target For Its Splash Signing?

  • Striker

    Votes: 52 89.7%
  • Midfielder

    Votes: 3 5.2%
  • Defender

    Votes: 3 5.2%

  • Total voters
    58
Yeah he's pretty underrated around here because of "DP."

In reality, he's a 21-year-old who cost $200,000 against the cap and had 6 goals and 7 assists in 21 starts (7 more appearances off the bench). That's objectively quite good.

There may be a handful of better contributors as DPs around the league (there are also much worse), but there's few examples of a more efficient use of a DP spot.

He was also unplayable in the first ATL game and invisible in the second. It would be pretty hard to find a DP on a playoff team that made less of an impact when it mattered.
 
He was also unplayable in the first ATL game and invisible in the second. It would be pretty hard to find a DP on a playoff team that made less of an impact when it mattered.
Add to it that his G/A tally came in only a handful of matches, with a few multi-point games, leaving the majority of tilts with a goose egg.
 
You can’t separate the DP from his status.

I feel like nobody who responded read or understood my post. I did evaluate Medina in the context of having a DP tag. But because people expect nothing but out-of-our-league talent from that spot, they fail to see that good production from that spot with upside plus 350k in cap savings is also a good use of that spot, and Medina isn't a bad player.
 
I feel like nobody who responded read or understood my post. I did evaluate Medina in the context of having a DP tag. But because people expect nothing but out-of-our-league talent from that spot, they fail to see that good production from that spot with upside plus 350k in cap savings is also a good use of that spot, and Medina isn't a bad player.

We should expect out of our league talent from the DP spot.

Give me BWP and his $500k cap hit over Medina.
 
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I'm not saying that we shouldn't expect great things out of our DP. But cherry-picking one of the greatest MLS goal-scorers of all time as the counter-example is a bit of a reach IMO.

Not going to go through the exercise but there are 30 better DPs in MLS than Medina.
 
Not going to go through the exercise but there are 30 better DPs in MLS than Medina.

I realize you're being hyperbolic, but look at this list. Medina might actually be in the top half of DP's league-wide. There's a lot of guys who were not very good last year in this list, and a lot of guys who certainly didn't produce as much as Medina did.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/glossary/designated-player

Medina wasn't great last year. He was fine, he was a serviceable, middle of the road MLS DP. But to act as if he was one of the worst DP's in the league is a stretch, especially when he's basically taking up half a normal DP salary charge.
 
I realize you're being hyperbolic, but look at this list. Medina might actually be in the top half of DP's league-wide. There's a lot of guys who were not very good last year in this list, and a lot of guys who certainly didn't produce as much as Medina did.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/glossary/designated-player

Medina wasn't great last year. He was fine, he was a serviceable, middle of the road MLS DP. But to act as if he was one of the worst DP's in the league is a stretch, especially when he's basically taking up half a normal DP salary charge.


Top half would be about 30.
 
cherry-picking one of the greatest MLS goal-scorers of all time as the counter-example is a bit of a reach IMO.

I agree with this. I think a better question is how does Medina compare with other teams' 3rd best DP?

And I'm not saying we should shoot for our 3rd DP to be only as good as other teams' 3rd DPs. But there is some unpredictability to scouting even if you are paying a ton. Would we rather the cost and output of Barco last year?

And if Barco is also a cherry picked example I'm happy to compare Medina to a list of all other teams' 3rd best DPs.
 
I like Medina, but honestly I don't see that many really disappointing names in the list. Both Colman, Dielna, Taider, Bradley maybe, Brek Shea, Angelo Rodriguez, Melano, Gio DS. That's about it.
 
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And also it's difficult to evaluate somebody potential, i.e. Vako, in a team as bad a San Jose. Most DPs in good teams looked good.
 
I like Medina, but honestly I don't see that many really disappointing names in the list. Both Colman, Dielna, Taider, Bradley maybe, Brek Shea, Angelo Rodriguez, Melano, Gio DS. That's about it.
Hmmm, from this list, I actually thought Taider was quite good.

OTOH, you have Barco, Bedoya, Gashi, and Howard as well. There are many others who I think either the jury is still out on (which you could argue Barco who I just named), or I don't know enough about (pretty much the FC Dallas DPs
 
Medina wasn't great last year. He was fine, he was a serviceable, middle of the road MLS DP. But to act as if he was one of the worst DP's in the league is a stretch, especially when he's basically taking up half a normal DP salary charge.

You know... I completely forgot that Medina is actually a YDP designation. Had I kept that in the front of my mind last season, I may view him differently now. Besides that, I still think he needs an entirely different level of physicality to truly flourish in this league.
 
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Hmmm, from this list, I actually thought Taider was quite good.

OTOH, you have Barco, Bedoya, Gashi, and Howard as well. There are many others who I think either the jury is still out on (which you could argue Barco who I just named), or I don't know enough about (pretty much the FC Dallas DPs

I think both sides of this argument about Medina are valid and where you fall has nothing to do with viewing him as a young DP or how he stacks up against other DPs in the league it's all about expectations. If you see CFG as an entity that should be spending on the same level as the top flight teams in the league then Medina was a cheap high risk disappointment, not because of what he's done but because more resources should have been spent to get a lower risk player that had proven themselves in a higher caliber league than the Paraguay 1st division. As someone said Medina wasn't even a star in Paraguay he was a prospect in a very low tier league. If you view NYCFC as a typical MLS club then Medina is a cap savvy YDP that's been reasonable for what he costs and what he contributes.

I know there will be arguments that CFG can't just burn money because that's bad business but in defense of those with higher expectations CFG created those expectations with the endless PR about building a winner and their commitment to this project when they launched the team.
 
I think both sides of this argument about Medina are valid and where you fall has nothing to do with viewing him as a young DP or how he stacks up against other DPs in the league it's all about expectations. If you see CFG as an entity that should be spending on the same level as the top flight teams in the league then Medina was a cheap high risk disappointment, not because of what he's done but because more resources should have been spent to get a lower risk player that had proven themselves in a higher caliber league than the Paraguay 1st division. As someone said Medina wasn't even a star in Paraguay he was a prospect in a very low tier league. If you view NYCFC as a typical MLS club then Medina is a cap savvy YDP that's been reasonable for what he costs and what he contributes.

I know there will be arguments that CFG can't just burn money because that's bad business but in defense of those with higher expectations CFG created those expectations with the endless PR about building a winner and their commitment to this project when they launched the team.
I think I agree with most of this other than Medina being a cheap option. The rumored transfer fee was $4m, which especially before this year was still pretty high in terms of MLS standards. Yes, it was not what Atlanta spent on Barco or Almiron, but a $4m transfer fee for DP#3 I would not consider as cheap.
 
but a $4m transfer fee for DP#3 I would not consider as cheap.
Your overall point is fair, but I don't think it makes sense to measure the fee assuming he was DP #3. When signing a new player, you don't aim to make him your third best at that slot. To be fair it would be hard to supplant Villa, but still, you don't aim for third best either.