It took a year, but the Los Angeles Galaxy finally got its man Sunday, filling its biggest need in the process.
Coach Lothar Osiander, as expected, selected Danny Pena with the first pick in Major League Soccer's Supplemental Draft, giving him the defensive midfielder so clearly absent during L.A.'s run to MLS' championship game last season.Pena, a 28-year-old Culver City native who also can play in central defense, will most likely play in front of the back line, enabling Chris Armas to forego many of his defensive responsibilities and provide Mauricio Cienfuegos with the support he so sorely needed in 1996.
"(Pena) was clearly the best player in the combine ...," Osiander said. "He would've gone No.1 no matter what, so we decided to go for it."
The Galaxy got the top pick Saturday by sending Jorge Salcedo to Columbus, which had picked up the selection earlier in the day for midfielder Adrian Paz and the top pick in the college draft.
"Danny has traveled a long way through the (A League and Continental Indoor Soccer League) to get back home," Galaxy president Danny Villanueva said. "He very easily would have been one of the priorities of last year's draft, except he had to fulfill contractual obligations (with the CISL's Sacramento Knights)."
Unloading Salcedo and drafting Pena -- considered one of the best Americans not involved with MLS in '96 -- will save the Galaxy some money under the salary cap, Osiander said, and the team remains hopeful that it will be allocated Guatemalan midfielder Martin Machon.
"We have maybe 3 or 4 guys in a higher wage bracket than the guys we drafted who, unless there's a big playing difference, we may have to get rid of," he said.
Forward Jose Vasquez, who missed much of last season with injuries, might be expendable if he doesn't earn a starting job. "He's in our plans," Osiander said, "but he's one of the salaries that is difficult to justify (if he's) a bench player."
The Galaxy also picked up 21-year-old forward Brian Taylor with the ninth selection of the first round, then grabbed speedy forward John Jones, 24, and big defender Travis Rinker, 28, with its remaining choices. All three played last season in the USISL.
In the college draft, L.A. picked 6-foot-7 midfielder Shawn Boney of Southern Connecticut State and goalkeeper Kevin Hartman of UCLA after taking midfielder Steve Jolley of William & Mary in Saturday's first round.
Although the college players' impact is expected to be minimal, Osiander said Boney's size will be a welcome addition to a team that "took too many goals from restarts," including three from crosses in the 3-2 overtime loss to D.C. United in the MLS title game.
Four of the first five players taken in the Supplemental Draft were defenders, with Wade Webber (Dallas) going with the second pick, Bill Harte (New England) with the third and Ezra Hendrickson (NY/NJ) with the fifth.
Osiander just missed a shot at two players he'd coveted, midfielder Ryan Tinsley (taken by Kansas City with the seventh selection) and defender Carlos Llamosa (D.C. with the eighth).
Defender Curt Onalfo, who was waived by the Galaxy following last season, was taken by San Jose in the second round, and midfielder Sam George, who has played with the indoor Anaheim Splash, went to New England in the third round.
San Jose also acquired defender Lawrence Lozzano, a Cerritos native, from Dallas, giving the Burn two first-round selections. It took Webber and forward Dan Stebbins with the picks.