GALAXY MLS DRAFT: GALAXY BEEFS UP OFFENSE IN MLS DRAFT.

Byline: Fred J. Robledo Staff Writer

Explaining that he ran out of patience waiting for Cobi Jones to re-sign with Major League Soccer, Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid rolled the dice during Monday's Major League Soccer draft in Florida.

Schmid used his four selections in the first two rounds to draft three strikers and an attacking midfielder, sending a message that he plans on life without Jones, the U.S. national team's all-time appearance leader.

With its two choices in the first round, the Galaxy picked strikers Brian Mullan of Creighton (9th overall) and San Jose State's Isaias Bardales (11th overall).

Jones, who has been with the Galaxy since the inaugural season in 1996, might be on his way to Europe, possibly with Leicester City of England. Jones' decision not to re-sign with MLS before Monday's SuperDraft was an indication to Schmid that he did not want to return.

``Obviously we wanted Cobi to remain here,'' said Schmid. ``Because of our desire to keep Cobi, we kept working with him. We kept pushing the deadlines back.

``We got to a point where we couldn't work with him anymore. We approached the draft with the idea that Cobi was going to find an option that he was happier with than MLS. That's just a risk we have to take.''

Although chances are slim, Schmid said there is the possibility Jones could return.

``Our feeling right now is that he doesn't want to play for L.A.,'' said Schmid. ``He might want to play for L.A. two weeks from now, a month or two months from now, but with the draft coming up, we weren't in the position to hope he was going to come back and drafted accordingly. Forwards are the hardest thing to find, so we had to go heavy with front-runners.''

The San Jose Earthquakes selected North Carolina striker Chris Carrieri with the first pick in the MLS Draft.

In addition to Mullan and Bardales, the Galaxy chose forward Brian Ching (second round), formerly of the United Soccer League's Spokane Shadow, Duke's midfield playmaker Robert Russell (second round), Trinidad & Tobago's Brent Rahim (fourth round), Cal State Dominguez Hills' Alex Bengard (fifth round) and defender Mike Potempa (sixth round) from Clemson.