MLS Mock Expansion Draft 2011, First Round: Montreal Impact Select Paolo Cardozo (Los Angeles Galaxy)

With their first pick in the 2011 MLS Expansion Draft, the (fake) Montreal Impact select:

Kevin's explanation: When I saw that Chad Barrett was protected but Paolo Cardozo was not, I was simply stunned. Cardozo is no world beater, but he's a very good prospect and was always a danger to get picked from the expansion draft. Cardozo is just 22 years old made starts as a striker, central midfielder and right midfielder, and was unlucky to score no goals this season.

Even if he doesn't pan out as a guy who is good enough to be first choice for a playoff team, he's low-risk. At a salary of $42,000, he's a no-brainer. Why a cash-strapped team like the Galaxy would leave a quality young player making the league minimum unprotected is hard to figure out. Especially when they used one of those protected slots on Chad Barrett. WHY?

Analysis from Drew Epperley: Starting off with potentially a MLS Cup winner here, I like it. Cardozo isn't a big name guy by any stretch - the 22-year old made plenty of starts for the Galaxy this year - a lot late in the year. Like Kevin mentions, he is cheap at $42,000 a year and would be one of those low-risk/high-reward kind of picks for Jesse Marsch.