San Jose Earthquakes win MLS rights to forward Marcus Tracy

The San Jose Earthquakes announced earlier today that the club has won the rights to former Aalborg BK forward Marcus Tracy. The allocation of Tracy was made through a weighted lottery conducted Thursday morning in which the Earthquakes had a 4.6% chance of winning his rights.

Apparently, "Goonies never say die" also applies to MLS allocation lotteries.

San Jose was one of eight teams vying for the contract of the former Wake Forest product, with the New England Revolution the presumed favorites with a 33.2% chance of winning. The odds of winning for each team was determined by the team’s performances over its last 34 regular season matches, with an additional factor being whether the team qualified for the 2011 MLS postseason.

The Earthquakes won the previous MLS weighted lottery in which they participated, back in January of 2011. A late addition to the Generation Adidas signings that year, goalkeeper David Bingham was made available via lottery, and San Jose won his services with an 8.8% chance. Tracy, the 2008 MAC Hermann trophy winner, joins fellow Demon Deacons Sam Cronin and Ike Opara on the Earthquakes roster.

"We liked what we saw of Marcus when he finished his career at Wake Forest," said Earthquakes head coach Frank Yallop in a club statement. "He’s an athletically gifted striker and is dangerous in the air. We look forward to bringing him in."

Declining to enter the 2009 MLS Superdraft following his senior season at Wake Forest, Tracy went overseas to pursue a professional career. He signed a 3-year contract with Danish Superliga side Aalborg BK that was not renewed earlier this year. Tracy has struggled with knee tendonitis since leaving college, and was judged fit enough this summer to be signed by MLS. As per league policy, terms and conditions of his contract have not been disclosed.

Tracy joins an Earthquakes team that is already well stocked at forward, so the MLS newcomer will not be required to make an immediate impact on the team. More likely, he will have a chance to integrate in with his new teammates for the remainder of this season with an eye toward making a contribution in 2013. If at any time Tracy is considered superfluous to the roster, his contact can always be traded within MLS.

The list of weighted lottery allocations in MLS history is not studded with familiar names, but a few do stand out. Robbie Rogers to Columbus in 2007 and Luis Gil to Real Salt Lake in 2010 highlight a pair of players that have gone on to be successful. But the list also contains players like Danny Szetela to Columbus in 2004 and Pablo Campos to San Jose in 2009, with the second name very familiar to Earthquakes fans as a player to not make much of an impact in MLS.

Historical list of MLS weighted lottery allocations

2000 — Mario Longo, CLB
2001 — Paul Grafer, SJ
2001 — Gus Kartes, COL
2001 — Hamisi Amani-Dove, DAL
2002 — Nelson Akwari, NY
2002 — D.J. Countess, NY
2002 — Winston Griffiths, DAL
2003 — Joey DiGiamarino, NY
2004 — Danny Szetela, CLB
2005 — Alex Yi, DAL
2006 — David Arvizu, NY
2007 — Robbie Rogers, CLB
2007 — Israel Sesay, LA
2008 — Bruno Guarda, COL
2009 — Paulo Campos, SJ
2009 — Kyle Davies, RSL
2010 — Luis Gil, KC
2010 — Sal Zizzo, CHV
2011 — David Bingham, SJ
2011 — Cody Arnoux, RSL
2011 — Chris Agorsor, PHI
2011 — Korey Veeder, CLB
2011 — Sonny Saad, KC
2012 — Lee Nguyen, VAN
2012 — Kamani Hill, COL