Don't Get Too Attached: A Partisan's Look at the MLS SuperDraft

The 2012 MLS SuperDraft will kick off at 12p today, but fans' enthusiasm for their teams' new draft picks should be tempered by some historical context that shows it is unlikely that the players they're cheering for this afternoon in a Kansas City convention center will be the same guys they'll be cheering for 3-5 years from now in their home stadiums.

Below is a graphic that represents the draftee retainment of each of the twelve MLS teams that participated in all three of the MLS SuperDrafts between 2007 and 2009. The number attached to each of the teams represents the percentage of the players drafted by each respective team who remain on their active roster 3-5 years after orginally being drafted by that team.

(Editor's Note: Click on image to enlarge.)

Finally, another note on why fans should not grow too attached to the players their teams will be drafting: Just 25% of the players drafted during the 2009 edition of the SuperDraft are still on the rosters of the teams that initially drafted them, only 16% of the draft picks from the 2008 SuperDraft are still with their original team, and only 12% of draftees from the 2007 SuperDraft remain on the active rosters of the team that drafted them.

- John C.L. Morgan