Loyalty By The Numbers

I just did some quick math in response to a BigSoccer thread -- yes, I've ended my hiatus, but I'm still avoiding it when possible -- and the results were pretty astonishing.

Of the current Chicago Fire roster, 18 players were either drafted by the Fire or signed as undrafted invitees to spring training camp. Five more -- all internationals, and this includes Blanco -- were new acquisitions for the league. Two players remain from the expansion draft, and one was signed after being released by his old club.

That leaves exactly two players acquired via trade -- Justin Mapp and Diego Gutierrez.

Of all the possible criticisms of former head coach Dave Sarachan, this is one of very few that actually resonates for me. That Sarachan believed "his guys" could get the job done might speak volumes about Dave being a stand-up guy, but it wasn't always in the best interest of the team. And yes, I've called Sarachan the "SuperDraft SuperGenius" in the past, and our depth during the Open Cup run last year was pretty impressive, but to cling to the belief that there were no players anywhere in the league that might have improved either our roster or our starting eleven was -- and still is -- delusional.

This isn't to say it's all Dave's fault for sticking to his players. Given all the anecdotal evidence of the Fire's front office severely overvaluing its product on the sponsorship front -- it seems they ask for too much, stick unrealistically to their guns, and then end up having to scramble for a much less valuable deal when they realize their bluff has been called, as was the case with the stadium naming rights -- it wouldn't surprise me if that same quality plagued negotiations on the roster side.

Which puts the team in a decidedly weird position today. If Dave was the bottleneck, now you have a head coach who admittedly doesn't know much about the league and its players, so making trades is problematic. If the problem was a front office that never met a deal it liked, then nothing has changed. The net result is that it's likely going to be awfully hard for the Fire to upgrade its roster if Osorio decides he doesn't have the horses he needs to get the job done, at least until the offseason.