Inter Miami CF have traded for former New York Red Bulls left-back Patrick Seagrist.

Seagrist, a 22-year-old left-footed defender, makes his way to South Florida through trade, as Inter Miami has agreed to send a 3rd round 2021 MLS SuperDraft pick to New York. Depending on performance, Miami could also send over $50,000 in General Allocation Money.

He was drafted 1oth overall in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft by the Red Bulls, which now means Inter Miami roster three top-ten picks from last year’s draft (Robbie Robinson 1st overall, Dylan Nealis 3rd overall).

As a rookie, Seagrist made just three appearances for the Red Bulls. Two of those came in the season’s first two matches in March, but after quarantine and before the MLS is Back Tournament, he lost the starting role and didn’t see the field again until August. With that said, there isn’t much Seagrist footage to look at in MLS, but his time at Marquette University shows more than enough to prove why he was a highly-touted prospect.

Seagrist was named to the All-BIG EAST First teams in both 2018 and 2019. In his senior year, 2019, Seagrist led the BIG EAST in assists as a left-back and was only one of two players for the Golden Eagles to start in every game. Needless to say, he was a very influential player on the collegiate level, just like his new teammate and defender Dylan Nealis was for Georgetown.

After Inter Miami traded away Ben Sweat to Austin FC for $100k in GAM, it was known the club would be in the market for a left-back. Not only did Miami lose Ben Sweat, but it was recently announced that Mikey Ambrose too would be leaving the club as he signed a contract with Atlanta United. Both Sweat and Ambrose, other than maybe Shea, were the only two players to play left-back in the 2020 season.

The Fit

Seagrist is a true, left-footed left-back who shows brilliant soccer IQ at a young age. His college tape shows a player who loves to get forward and provide service all across the pitch. A lot of what he does going forward relies on his left foot; whether it’d be an over the top pass or cross, it was mostly on the left foot from the left side, and this would be a perfect parallel to Lewis Morgan’s services on the right. He showed innate ability to find runs from attackers in any pocket of space or across the field, thus leading to why he was the top assist man in his conference.

His soccer IQ also helps his side when going forward, and this doesn’t solely pertain to what he does on the ball. At Marquette, Seagrist was in a system where it was in the instruction that he make overlapping runs and dart forward to help out on the wings. Inter Miami saw a lot of this in Ben Sweat’s better performances on the season, and Seagrist can mimic that.

As a defender, Seagrist has to become a little more polished. He stands at 6ft tall but is quite skinny, weighing in at about 170lbs (data from Marquette’s website). The physicality in MLS could stand to be a problem for Seagrist. His ability to read the game and position himself well does provide an advantage when it comes to interceptions and closing down space. The main worry here is in 1 on 1 scenarios if he’s beaten off the ball. Although Seagrist does have a bit of pace for running up and down the pitch, getting beaten by MLS veterans and or other physical, rapid wingers is a lot to try and recover from.

One positive in his defending, however, is his ability to win and redirect headers. Standing 6ft tall, Seagrist can use his height and decent jumping ability to his advantage by winning headers from long balls or clearances from the opposition. He did so on the collegiate level.

At 22, there’s no need to rush to have him as a starter. His situation is a lot like Dylan Nealis’, except Nealis NEEDED to play after Powell proved he wasn’t the guy. Both Nealis and Seagrist as defenders are about on the same level, but the newly acquired left-back has much more upside in attacking play.

Trade Grade: B+

Seagrist, depending on who Inter Miami can bring in, likely won’t be a full-time starter, but look for him to make some appearances in the side, especially if Alonso uses wing-backs from time to time this year. That role probably suits him best.

But a low risk, high upside trade for the Herons is a good way to start their offseason heading into 2021. After the departure of their only two left-backs, to bring in a younger one whos a true left-footed player with a ton of potential is a quality transaction.