Ismael Tajouri-Shradi [Forward]

The solutions are simple, either raise the compensation rate to match the actual average league market value of the players selected, or eliminate the draft and just give new clubs even more bonus GAM than we already do. I expect the $50k GAM compensation amount is the same as our draft before 2015, when the overall player budget was much lower, there was a lot less GAM around, and TAM didn't exist. Today, $50k buys you one-fifth of an international player slot.

I think keeping the draft with higher compensation makes more sense. Letting expansion clubs acquire a limited number of 2nd and 3rd tier players automatically has merit. But imposing the cost semi-randomly on <20% of the clubs in the league makes no sense.
 
The draft is just quirky and annoying. I hate that we basically handed Clt 400k that we could have had.
The solution?
Is there one?
Lets say CLT was not allowed to trade a player, or had to forfeit any gains from any trades, would that be fair to the player? He would effectively have zero transfer value to the team. What if they sign another player that pushes him to the bench, or a young player finds amazing form, now instead of trading the player to a perhaps better situation, the team has no incentive to deal him. Not fair to the player.

I'm not sure that a solution exists that is not flawed. Perhaps scrap the expansion draft and replace it with a combination of extra superdraft picks, first dibs on any waived players, extra TGAM, or other measures.

I hate the way this went down as very few other teams in the league are starting put with an effective 350k penalty.
Every team that has a player selected is "hit" with an "effective penalty". That is how the expansion draft always works.

What the team that selects that player decides to do with them is up to them.

Let's put it this way. When Ben Sweat was selected by Miami in the Expansion Draft, everyone cheered here. There goes a player who doesn't really perform all that well for us. His "value" on Transfermarkt was just slightly less than Shradi's. Why weren't we upset then? Just because Miami decided that Sweat was better on their roster rather than GAM?

I get it if people think the expansion draft is useless or they should give the team extra GAM/TAM (which they already do). I just don't understand the feeling that NYCFC got screwed here not because Isi got selected, but because he got traded.
 
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I get it if people think the expansion draft is useless or they should give the team extra GAM/TAM (which they already do). I just don't understand the feeling that NYCFC got screwed here not because Isi got selected, but because he got traded.
I think the arbitrage element with the dollar differential here just makes it obvious what this cost us. It is false to assume we could or would have traded him for the same amount. A lot of what happens in Expansion trades is that clubs act on opportunities that suggest themselves because of the availability list. I'm not convinced there is 100% or even >50% certainty we could or would have sold Isi's contract for $400k to LAFC or anyone else if this didn't happen. But it did happen so it looks like we were cheated of $350k. Even though that's not certain, it's the best evidence we have and I think reason to raise the compensation amounts.
 
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Glass houses, throwing stones, etc.

"On December 12, Lovitz was selected by New York City FC in the 2014 MLS Expansion Draft. However, hours later Toronto announced that they had re-acquired Lovitz from New York in exchange for allocation money. "

"On December 10, 2014, Zizzo was the ninth pick of New York City FC in the 2014 MLS Expansion Draft. The following day he was traded to local rivals New York Red Bulls in a deal agreed prior to the draft, with Red Bulls goalkeeper Ryan Meara going the other way on a one-year loan. "
I never said it was right when we did it either.

How long should the team that selects them wait until they could trade them?
Every team that has a player selected is "hit" with an "effective penalty". That is how the expansion draft always works.

What the team that selects that player decides to do with them is up to them.

Let's put it this way. When Ben Sweat was selected by Miami in the Expansion Draft, everyone cheered here. There goes a player who doesn't really perform all that well for us. His "value" on Transfermarkt was just slightly less than Shradi's. Why weren't we upset then? Just because Miami decided that Sweat was better on their roster rather than GAM?

I get it if people think the expansion draft is useless or they should give the team extra GAM/TAM (which they already do). I just don't understand the feeling that NYCFC got screwed here not because Isi got selected, but because he got traded.


Maybe until the next transfer window? (i.e. the summer) The goal, to me, is to help the team fill out a roster. So yes, the player would have 0 transfer value for the first half a year of his contract, but then after that they could do what they want. That way they actually select players they want to field, for at least a bit of time.

The fact that teams use the roster filling mechanism to not fill their roster and instead get money is what I think is the problem here.
 
Maybe until the next transfer window? (i.e. the summer) The goal, to me, is to help the team fill out a roster. So yes, the player would have 0 transfer value for the first half a year of his contract, but then after that they could do what they want.
Good luck with the players union on that. That'd be effectively building in a no-trade clause into a player's contract without their consent whatsoever.
 
Shradi played 161 total minutes in 2022, and none after he was traded to New England. Arena says his career might be over.


Very sad if so. He was always injured for us, but it was usually a play 4, out for 3, play 2 sort of thing.
On the other hand, getting $50k for him, in retrospect, was a bonus.