Why FC Dallas keep winning in the MLS SuperDraft

In the complex world of MLS roster-budget accounting, $300,000 in GAM (General Allocation Money) is a healthy chunk of change.

Any club can put an amount like that to good use, be it funding a pay raise for a key contributor, acquiring an international roster slot(s), or occasionally even trading for a starting-caliber player from elsewhere in the league. So it raised a few eyebrows a year ago when FC Dallas sent Inter Miami CF that amount of GAM to acquire the Herons’ top first-round selection in the MLS SuperDraft, the No. 3 overall pick.

A draft pick? Isn’t the SuperDraft less relevant in modern MLS, particularly for clubs with a strong academy system like FCD’s? That’s what many consider to be established conventional wisdom, at least.

Dallas look at things differently, though. And their move looks pretty clever in retrospect.

The club used that pick to acquire striker Logan Farrington, who contributed 4g/8a in just 1,210 MLS minutes in his rookie season, tied for the team lead in assists and second in goal contributions despite making only 10 starts. He was so good, in fact, that FCD are now fielding trade offers, according to multiple reports, for incumbent starter and Designated Player Jesús Ferreira.

The club’s decision-makers say they had no doubts about the Oregon State product’s quality when they swung that deal.

“Yes, yes. For sure. For sure. We were very convinced with Logan, very convinced,” explained FCD director of scouting Leonardo Baldo in a conversation with MLSsoccer.com this week. “Last year we ended up, to the final day, trying to figure out, how are we going to go high picks to make sure that we have the players that we like”

“So we were like discussing all the week – I remember calling Toronto, calling Colorado, calling Miami, to make sure that we could have these top, high picks to have the players we wanted. Logan was one of them, and we committed with, I think, 300K GAM exactly because we were convinced.”

That’s just one of many contributions Dallas have gained from draft picks.

Key center back Nkosi Tafari, who’s started 84 league matches over the past…