MLS Fantasy Boss A Fantasy MLS Community
WOW! We’ve had a lot of great content over the past several weeks. I wanted to give people time to catch-up and just post something fun today. However, I did not want to stray too far from our fantasy focus. I settled on staff picks. I’ve asked each regular member of the MLSFB and MLSFI team to submit their picks for the following: Eastern Conference Champion, Western Conference Champion, Supporter’s Shield, and MLS Cup Champion.
If provided, I included a short explanation. When not provided, I just made something up 😉
2017 Staff Picks
| East Champ | West Champ | Supporter's Shield | MLS Cup Champ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reid | Toronto | LA Galaxy | LA Galaxy | Toronto |
| Andrew | Toronto | Seattle | Toronto | Dallas |
| Blayne | Montreal | LA Galaxy | LA Galaxy | Sporting Kansas CIty |
| Guy | Toronto | Dallas | Dallas | Portland |
| Jason | Toronto | Dallas | Toronto | Dallas |
| Mike | Toronto | LA Galaxy | LA Galaxy | LA Galaxy |
| Tyler | Toronto | Seattle | Seattle | Seattle |
Reid: I think it’s finally going to be Toronto’s year. They did not made many changes during the off season and I don’t think they need to. If all the right players stay healthy I think they have a great change to finally get the cup. As for LA, I think they will benefit from some other teams not clicking. Dallas will be without Diaz for a bit, Dempsey could be a monkey wrench to the successful system at Seattle, and Portland has a bit of age on them. That leaves LA and the changes they have made seem promising. I expect them to start slow, as usual, and then pull everything together at the end of the season.
Andrew: Andrew is a big fan of Giovinco’s value and not keen on many of the Eastern teams, so no surprise with the Toronto pick. I’m sure he has some good reasons for picking Seattle in the West, but I can’t help but feel there is a little bit of home team love here. In the end, it looks like he feels that the Dallas system is in a good position to win it all, as long as all the wright players stay healthy.
Blayne: Blayne writes articles about Montreal, so he may have some inside scoop here. I can’t fault him though. The Impact have a lot of good players and can’t fault him for thinking they have more success in 2017. LA Galaxy in the West… Good man! The Sporting Kansas City pick really jumped out to me as a wildcard. We’ll chalk this one up to more home team love.
Guy: Yeah. Homer picks. But Portland will bounce back this year. I think Dallas gets all the points but will inevitably break their fans hearts in the playoffs again. This means that Portland will once again take it all.
Jason: Jason is a simple man with simple pleasures, mostly being his baby and YURA, YURA, YURA! Big credit him for not being a homer and going with RSL. Toronto and Dallas seems safe picks and well backed by past performance…… YURA, YURA, YURA!
Mike: At first glance you might think Mike is a LA fanboy, but nope, he roots for NYCFC. He, Blayne, and I agree that LA will do well, but Mike seems to a bit more confident in a strong regular season than I.
Tyler: Tyler wrote a book when it came to his motivations. Can’t be surprised though, he does enjoy making Bold Predictions.
- Eastern Conference Champs: Toronto FC
- Ah this is the hard pick for me. I’d pick the Sounders if I could. I have to go with Toronto though. They didn’t reach the MLS Cup last year by accident and they’ll be in another one very soon, as soon as this year. If Giovinco stays healthy and their defensive depth holds, I see this being TFC. However, I really believe Atlanta could make a huge push for this and wow the entire league. I will guarantee neither NYCFC nor NY Red Bulls will be the Champs. The one other team that’ll make the push is the Fire in my humble opinion. It’s their year.
- Western Conference Champs: Seattle Sounders
- Well this one goes without saying. I have the Sounders winning the Shield, which means they have to take the Western Conference. I think this is actually one of the easier predictions. Normally a team like LA or Dallas would be challenging the Sounders in a strong Western Conference, but there’s just so much unknown with a lot of these teams. RSL are looking really good. Colorado has added some new pieces to their attack ahead of a very very stingy defense. While I’m a Sounders fan this is the first year I feel it’s actually the safest to pick the Sounders to go all the way. But we saw what happened to the Timbers after their MLS Cup (don’t worry, the Sounders aren’t cut from the same cloth as the Timbers).
- Supporter’s Shield: Seattle Sounders
- There’s a lot of inconsistency in the league right now. LA is reshaping itself, FC Dallas has a lot of new parts, Minnesota and Atlanta are both brand new, NY Red Bulls appear to be turning over a new leaf. I don’t know how any of these are going to play out. It’s possible Atlanta surprises everyone. Toronto could get it together and test the Sounders for the shield. Maybe Chicago is about to blow everyone’s mind with how they’ve been looking. But at the end of the day the Sounders have the depth this year and have shown they’re capable of getting the shield in the past.
- MLS Cup Champ: Seattle Sounders
- We saw how effective Lodeiro was at the end of the season and that was without Dempsey. Having the squad back together and an effective back up for Alonso means no dip in form. If this squad stays healthy they’re going for 2 in a row.
