Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Rapids Add Caleb Calvert From Chivas USA Dispersal Draft

Today the former Chivas USA players were dispersed through a draft to other MLS teams.  The draft order was set through a farce of a random draw where the playoff teams got 1 ball (or envelope in this case) and the non-playoff teams got two.  The top 5 picks still went to playoff teams.  Colorado selected eighth.

With their pick Colorado took forward Caleb Calvert.  Calvert is a young (he turns 18 on Saturday) target forward who was a Chivas USA homegrown player.  He hasn't had any first-team playing time but has played in Chivas' academy and with their reserve team.  He was the U15/16 national player of the year in 2012-13 after scoring 22 goals for the Chivas USA Development Academy team.

There's no indication if Calvert will keep his homegrown status or not.  players can keep their statuses when traded (Josh Janniere for example) so it wouldn't be surprising if he did.  The projections are that Calvert isn't expected to contribute in 2015 but 2016 is realistic.  I would assume he would spend most of next season in Charlotte getting USL playing time.  If he doesn't retain his homegrown status he might be a target for Orlando or NYCFC in the expansion draft next month, so we may need to protect him.

Overall a good pick by the Rapids.  The only downside is that its another youth project to add to a large stable of youth projects, but I still like the choice.

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