What The Heart Wants

Talking Shop

The birthday party came back to the Mandalay Bay after several hours of bar-hopping along the Strip, with most of the group getting inebriated. Somehow, Diana and Ali stayed fairly sober, having nursed their drinks rather than pounding them. Once everyone was in the suite, they sat down and started talking shop a bit.

Diana: Anyone worried about Monday?

Shelina: A little. I think Jim will protect me, but you never know until the list is sent in. I haven't been through this process before, so I don't know if I should be uptight or calm with what might happen.

Diana: Ali and I went through it after the 2013 season when Houston entered and after 2015 when Orlando was added. Those were single teams entering and clubs were able to protect a certain number of subsidized players as part of their lists. With two coming in this time, the rules indicate that teams can protect nine players, but there are no limits to which ones they are.

Ali: When Orlando entered, they came to our club and worked out a deal where our management wouldn't protect Ashlyn in exchange for future considerations. I don't remember what we got out of it, but it was better than what had been done in MLS in the past, where players could just be re-allocated to expansion teams with no compensation to their previous team.

Diana: With Vancouver coming in and having the first pick, I am sure they have already talked with Portland about leaving Sincy unprotected.

Carm: If that's the case, and I don't doubt that it isn't, that would give us in essence the first two selections in the draft. I think Erica and I will have a bit of fun figuring out who we might want once we see the protected lists.

Steph: I'm pretty sure that Jim is going to protect at least one of the younger keepers and I'll be exposed.

Ali: I don't know what my situation will be. Ashlyn doesn't think Orlando will choose to protect me, and I don't necessarily blame them. Which of the two expansion teams would be looking to pick up a 33-year-old defender who can no longer play outside back and is a liability on the inside against the better teams?

Stephy Mac: If I can put in a couple of cents here. Ali, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. So you're on the wrong side of 30 and the legs don't keep up with the 22, 23 year olds coming into the league. Your positioning is still great and you are still capable of commanding a defense through intelligent deployment of your personnel. In Chicago, we moved Julie out of the back into a center mid role and it jump-started both our offense AND our defense. She was a threat going forward but still had the bulldog determination to shut down the opposition's playmaker. Maybe that would be a possible shift for you if speed has become an issue.

Kristie: Sam has been playing that position for several years now, laying back more as a 6 than playing box-to-box. This year, she started getting forward more and is up for MVP because of it.

Steph: Jim played you there a lot last year and it seemed to helped us deal with having two relatively-inexperienced center backs in front of me and behind you. No offense, Shelina.

Shelina: None taken. I know what you mean. Megan and I were fairly raw at the professional level, even though I had been through a World Cup by the time I came to Washington.

Ali: That's an interesting thought. Speed isn't so much an issue at defensive midfield, with being in good position to slow down or turn over the other team mattering more.

Carm pondered this idea and stuck it in the back of her mind, as she would LOVE to have Erica bring Ali back to Pennsylvania if possible.

Diana: I pushed to get sent west after last season in order to be closer to Sincy, Rhi, and KK for business reasons, plus I thought it might help me figure out if Christine was interested in me beyond the sidekick role I play to her on the national team. After a year out here without playing and nothing changing with her, I think I'd like to go back east. I'm crossing my fingers that Seattle protects me to start, so that I don't possibly end up in Vancouver, and then will deal me to an Eastern Conference team.

Erin: You know that each of the expansion teams will receive one allocation from among the league's national team players on November 17th, right?

Diana: I wasn't aware of that. How will it work?

Erin: From what Andrea told me, each team will designate one of their national team players for potential selection following the draft. Once business is re-opened on November 13th, the expansion teams are able to make moves regarding their ten drafted players for a period of three days, after which the league and the two teams' general managers will look at the list of internationals and determine which players make the most sense for each of the teams. Most likely, it will be done to provide a local presence in case the team was unable to secure a player of that sort either in the draft or through post-draft movement.

Janine: Do you know how players on loan are handled?

Carm: They are treated like every other player on a team's roster. Either listed as one of the nine on the protected list or exposed to the draft.

Kristie: Being sent to Chicago was great, but them moving me a week later to Houston stunk. I would like to go somewhere where I can be a significant contributor but not expected to be the engine of the team like it seemed Washington wanted from me.

Stephy Mac: When she got traded to the Red Stars, I thought that we'd finally be able to start talking about settling down and taking the next step as a couple, but now it's on the back burner again until we can get close enough geographically to make something like that work.

Steph: When Marie-Eve and I were together, we played on the same team. Now with Georgia all over the world with Olympic training and competition, it gets lonely. Sure, I live with Shelina and we have our special arrangement, but it's nothing like having both halves of your heart in the same place.

After a bit more of shooting the bull, people began leaving the party to head back to their rooms. Ali and Carm left together, where they went to her room and talked for a bit about her current problems with Ashlyn and what interest the Hearts might have if she were to be unprotected.

When the last guest had departed, Shelina went back to her room briefly before returning to the suite and spending the night with her sidegirl to celebrate her birthday in a more intimate way.