Sounders pick through the litter

The Seattle Sounders, MLS's 15th team, selected from the list of unprotected players and began to assemble the squad that will begin play next summer. Apparently they spent more on Ljunberg and Keller than I thought or they are planning another spending splurge soon because they went bargain hunting, selecting some head scratchers in Wednesday's expansion draft.

1. Nate Jaqua (Houston Dynamo) - 174K
2. Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake) - 108K
3. Jeff Parke (New York Red Bulls) - 59K
4. Jarrod Smith (Toronto FC) - 36K
5. Khano Smith (New England Revolution) - 46K
6. Peter Vagenas (Los Angeles Galaxy) - 144K
7. Tyson Wahl (Kansas City Wizards) - 33K
8. James Riley (San Jose Earthquakes) - 33K
9. Stephen King (Chicago Fire) - 18K
10. Brad Evans (Columbus Crew) - 33K

The last two picks are probably the smartest. King and Evans will certainly pay back an investment of $51,000. And Pacific Northwest homeboy Jacqua is a good selection. Khano Smith is underrated, as is Jeff Parke, but Seattle is going to pay too much for Sturgis. And why would you want to spend that much on old Vagenas. I mean Vagenas is stinky. He doesn't get much play. Why would you pay that much for Vagenas? Even Amish teens on rumspringer would stay away from Vagenas at that price.