Players who left their mark
The 5 Best SuperDraft Picks in Houston Dynamo history
Jan 9, 2020, 7:52 am
Will Bruin remains the Dynamo's second all-time goalscorer in MLS play.
The MLS SuperDraft used to be a solid provider of reinforcements for the Houston Dynamo during the Dominic Kinnear era. The 2020 edition, which takes place on Thursday (11:30 a.m. CT, ESPN app/Facebook/Twitter/YouTube), will be the 15th time the Dynamo participate in what is otherwise known as the annual college draft.
The following is a list of the five SuperDraft selections that left the biggest on the field impact for the Dynamo.
5. Danny Cruz (41st overall, 2009, M)
Midfielder Danny Cruz was the club's first selection in the 2009 SuperDraft, coming at 41st overall (Round 3, pick 10) after trading away their first and second round picks. Previously a member of the United States Under-17 National Team, Cruz made six appearences off the bench in his rookie season.
He became more influential during his next two seasons, scoring in his first professional start in 2010 and helping the Dynamo return to an MLS Cup final in 2011 after scoring the goal that clinched their playoff berth. Cruz was traded to D.C. United before the start of the 2012 season.
4. Kofi Sarkodie (7th overall, 2011, D)
Sarkodie was part of the U.S. Youth National Team that finished in the Round of 16 at the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup and a member of the 2010 NCAA Champion Akron Zips before joining the Dynamo. He was part of the club's back-to-back MLS Cup final appearances in 2011 and 2012, starting in all six playoff matches of the latter.
In total, the right back played five seasons in orange before reuniting with Dominic Kinnear in 2016 at the San Jose Earthquakes.
3. Corey Ashe (26th overall, 2007, M)
Corey Ashe was a regular substitute during his rookie year, appearing in 22 matches during the regular season as part of the 2007 MLS Cup championship team. He went on to be a staple on the left side of the field, eventually making the switch in midfield to left back, for nine seasons which included MLS Cup appearances in 2011 and 2012, two MLS All-Star nods and a call-up to the 2013 U.S. Men's national team squad that won the Concacaf Gold Cup.
2. Will Bruin (11th overall, 2011, F)
Will Bruin was drafted by the Dynamo in the 2011 SuperDraft and went on to become the club's second all-time goalscorer in MLS matches. For six seasons, the "Dancing Bear" never featured in less 18 MLS starts per year and looked to be the heir-apparent to Brian Ching. He was less consistent in his later years and was traded to the Seattle before the 2017 season.
1. Geoff Cameron (42nd overall, 2008, M)
The Dynamo did not have a pick in the first two rounds of the SuperDraft after having utilized them in player trades during their MLS Cup winning 2007 season. All other teams except Chivas USA had selected at least once before them.
In comes Houston at 42nd overall, the final pick of the third round, and takes the player that arguably went on to have the most complete career from those in the 2008 SuperDraft.
Cameron was a versatile player coming out of college. A midfielder with an attacking mentality, Cameron would later become the Dynamo's solution in defense as a centerback.
He freatured in over 100 MLS regular season matches and helped the Dynamo to a 2011 MLS Cup final appearance. After call ups to the U.S. Men's National Team, he would be sold to Stoke City where he went on to play five seasons in the Premier League and feature for the U.S. in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
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No, we have not been transported back in time to 2012 and are again stuck with an atrocity of an Astros team heading for well over 100 losses. I’m pretty sure anyway, even though the Astros are in our nation’s capital for the weekend looking so far this season about as dysfunctional as the federal government often seems to be. At 6-14 this is a dung heap of a squad to this point. The Astros are two and a half games behind the A’s! The rightfully heralded back end of the bullpen has already lost four games the Astros have led after six innings. They are 5-4 in games they led after six, which is awful.
Last season the Astros were a good team, not close to a great team. The 2023 Astros finished 72-6 in games they led after six. Then there’s the offense which has some nice raw stats, but been weak with runners in scoring position (.686 OPS ranks 19th among the 30 Major League teams), weaker with runners in scoring position with two outs (.631 ranks 22nd), and demonstrated meager come from behind ability. The Astros have zero wins in games they have trailed after six (0-8). They are 0-5 in one-run games. But hey, good thing they kept the roof closed for all six games of another failed homestand. Going back to last season the gruesome ledger over the Astros last 42 home games reads 11 wins 31 losses.
As bad as things have been, those already seeking a priest to administer last rites for this season, chill! Be worried, be angry if you’d like, but chill. At least a little. The Astros are fortunate that no one is off to a great start in the American League West, the worst division in MLB over the season’s first three weeks. Obviously the Astros need to pick it up, or they will wind up dead and buried, but the plug will not be pulled on playoff chances in April. They have stunk, but it is also a fact that over the 20 game flop start, the Astros have played zero games against a team currently carrying a losing record. Furthermore, on the subject of 20 game schedule portions, the Texas Rangers had a 20 game stretch last season over which they went 4-16.
JV returns
41-year-old Justin Verlander will be no savior, but starting his regular season Friday night at the Nationals is certainly a welcome sight. We’ll see when Framber Valdez returns. This is the Astros’ second series in Washington D.C. since sweeping three games there during the 2019 World Series. Then they came home, yada, yada, yada. In the four seasons since, the Astros have been to four more American League Championship series and won it all for the second time in 2022. Since taking down the Astros to win the 2019 Fall Classic, the Nationals have posted four straight last place finishes in the National League East. The Nats are off to an 8-10 start this season.
Altuve has been a bright spot
Once before, Jose Altuve has finished April with his OPS over 1.000. 2016 was the season in which he elevated from star to superstar. Altuve awoke May 1, 2016 batting “only” .305 but with an OPS of 1.011. With nine games left this month the numbers could change markedly, but wow what a start to 2024 for him. Altuve carries a .388 batting average into the weekend with an OPS of 1.137. That’s a whopping 225 points higher than Yordan Alvarez’s second best on the team OPS of .912. Of course Altuve won’t finish batting near .388 but if wondering what’s the target number if a career best is in play, in Altuve’s AL Most Valuable Player Award-winning 2017 season he wound up batting .346 which won his third AL batting title. The under on .346 for this year is the highly likely outcome, but wouldn’t feel totally comfortable emptying out the retirement fund to bet on it.
The Abreu dilemma
Between Manager Joe Espada and General Manager Dana Brown I believe they have blown through their 2024 quota of “look at the back of his baseball card” references to pedantically expect everyone to believe that hapless Jose Abreu will be just fine. Jeff Bagwell has used that line too. Guess what fellas? Take a look at the back of Bagwell’s baseball card. He was an awesome offensive player. Until he wasn’t. Ditto Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera, and a multitude of other players greater than Abreu was at his best and better at their worst than this mess Abreu is now. At some point, washed up is washed up.
Here's a plausible Abreu scenario. He comes up with “back problems” and goes to the Injured List. That’s followed by a handful of games with Sugar Land and/or Corpus Christi. Then he rejoins the Astros. If he then resumes performing at or close to the rotting corpse level of performance he’s produced through the first 20 games, then the Astros release him. Obviously, Jim Crane prefers to not cut checks of 35 million dollars to Abreu for him to not play for the Astros. Paying him to continue to play is worse. It’s doubling down on damage.
Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.