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Now that the dust has finally begun to settle after another busy day in MLS, fans can go back to focusing on one very important thing: drafting their MLS Fantasy team for 2014. One move that has the league a little shaken up is Teal Bunbury being traded from Sporting Kansas City to the New England Revolution. This move has given Bunbury an entirely different look as a fantasy player, in more than one way.
Since officially joining the Revolution preseason training sessions down in Tucson, Arizona, the team will get a very good look at what Bunbury is capable of doing within the squad. The Revolution currently play a 4-3-3 formation and with rising star Diego Fagundez already locking up one of those three attacking positions, that leaves six players fighting over two starting spots. Now that Bunbury has officially thrown his hat into the mix of available players for Coach Jay Heaps, it is going to be very interesting to see how well Bunbury plays with the team over the next two weeks of preseason.
Because this signing does affect who will be starting at the forward position, you have to ask yourself if drafting Bunbury is a smart option or not. Having only been in the league for five seasons, Bunbury is still incredibly young and fresh. Although he did not score a goal last season, he still provided good attacking play whenever he made appearances for Sporting KC. One negative against Bunbury is that in 2012 he suffered a leg injury that kept him out for most of the season. Thankfully, he has recovered fully and is looking better than ever.
Bunbury really controls his own destiny in terms of winning a starting spot for New England. He certainly knows how to score goals and is incredibly quick on and off the ball. In 2013, the Revolution struggled to find consistent play out of more than one or two of their attacking players. Forwards like Jerry Bengtson, Charlie Davies, Dimitry Imbongo and Saer Sene will all be looking to prove themselves this preseason. Bengtson is one player in particular that has been a tremendous letdown since joining the Revs back in 2012. Rookie Patrick Mullins will also try to make a case for a starting spot this season, especially with all of the inconsistent players currently on the roster.
MLS is full of consistent attacking forwards like Robbie Keane, Mike Magee, Thierry Henry and Chris Wondolowski. Obviously taking Bunbury right away would be a mistake, but he is certainly a player that must be considered as one of the top 15 forwards in the league.
Overall, Bunbury should have no problem winning a starting position up top with Fagundez and either Mullins or Imbongo. New England does have several kinks to work out in regards to their starting forwards, but Bunbury is a no-brainer to start in 2014. MLS Fantasy owners should feel no hesitation in picking him up.
Baxter Colburn is a MLS writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Baxstar20, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
