Say what you like, but for my money the most compelling question of the next few weeks is what the devil Bob Bradley is gonna do with that number one draft pick. I know what you’re thinking, but - really - let’s be honest. Chivas USA has many needs. Many, many needs. But a rookie defender, even one named Marvell Wynne, isn’t one of them.

I don’t care how magnificent your reputation is (Steve Shak). I don’t care how much promise you have (Steve Shak). I don’t care whether they say you’re the next great American soccer player (Steve Shak). I don’t care how well you played in college or on the youth national teams (Steve Shak). You can never be 100% sure that those highly regarded rookies will actually pan out in Major League Soccer (Steve Shak). My perspective on this might have something to do with that fact that I remember the sad, old tale of a certain highly touted defender taken with the first pick in the SuperDraft. Despite his reputation and purported potential he was never able to make the leap. It was only a matter of time before he ended up in the A-League. Tahj Jakins was a true disappointment.

Draft picks are gambles. Perhaps the gambles aren’t as big as they used to be, but they remain gambles - particularly if you’re looking for someone who can step on the field and hang tough in MLS right now. There are many teams (for instance, most of the ones that made the playoffs last year) that can comfortably take that gamble. If they get lucky, then great. If it’s a bust, then it’s not big deal. But there are some other teams (for instance, all the ones that failed to make the playoffs last year) who really shouldn’t be gambling too much. They’d be better off with an old reliable veteran – in other words, with a sure thing.

The question is whether that punk Bob Bradley is feeling lucky. Well, is he? If he is, then, by all means, take the gamble and use that pick to acquire Marvell Wynne. It might work out. But it might not. If it doesn’t then he’d have pissed away a valuable asset with which he could have improved his club. Perhaps the wise thing to do is to trade that pick to a team that can better afford the gamble. I would venture to guess there are approximately eleven Major League Soccer outfits better equipped to afford the risk than Chivas USA.

Well, at least ten. (Oh, Ellinger, how could you have been so naive? Really, did you make any good decisions last year?)

I am familiar with the wily ways of Bob Bradley and I fully expect him to make a trade. That’s what he did after taking charge of the Fire back in 1998, and that’s what he did when he orchestrated one of the biggest trades in Major League Soccer history soon after he signed on with the MetroStars in 2002. Excepting the 1998 trade with Los Angeles, in both instances Bradley looked to stock his new team with players familiar to him. In 1998 he acquired Jesse Marsch from DC United, the club at which Bradley had previously been an assistant coach. In 2002 he acquired Jaime Moreno, Eddie Pope, and Richie Williams, all of whom were also players at DC United when Bradley was an assistant there.

Who is Bradley going to go after this time? Well, he did bring a number of players into the league when he was the coach of the Chicago Fire. Some of those players are still in the Windy City, others are scattered here and there around the league. I’d be pretty surprised if Bradley doesn’t have his eye on at least one or two of them.