Don Garber's MLS Crew: 2017-18 MLS Offseason Thread

Titans Bastard

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Key items this offseason:
  • LAFC will begin play in 2018. They'll be playing in a brand-new stadium right next door to the LA Coliseum. It's transit-accessible and more centrally located than the Galaxy. They've hired Bob Bradley and their big signing so far is Carlos Vela who should have a big impact on and off the field since he plays for the most popular soccer team in America: El Tri.
  • MLS is on the verge of announcing two more expansion teams, which will be drawn from the quartet of Sacramento, Detroit, Cincinnati, and Nashville. In theory these are supposed to be teams #25 and #26, but Miami - which was supposed to be #24 - seems to be going nowhere fast. The league is obsessed with getting a team in Miami, so Beckham's group has an endless leash, but it is increasingly likely that they will be lapped by the next two announced markets.
  • The Columbus Crew to Austin saga drags on. The league's line is that the Crew have underperformed off the field for too long and now need to be moved. What's more likely the real story is that Precourt bought the team with an eye on Austin all along. MLS leadership is not exactly endearing itself to longtime fans over this. Austin city leadership isn't tripping over itself to figure out a potential stadium, so we'll see what happens. The Crew will be playing 2018 in Columbus, which will be ugly since Precourt has lit his relationship with Crew fans on fire and doused it with gasoline already.
  • Lots of new GarberBux, a.k.a. Targeted Allocation Money, a.k.a. TAM. This is basically extra salary cap space that can only be used on players in the $500k-$1.5m range. Every team now has the ability to spend $2.8m more per season on these upper-middle-class MLS players, which is a significant amount of money relative to current MLS payroll. Expect an influx of young South Americans of a somewhat higher caliber than normal.
  • D.C. will at LONG last be opening its own stadium. Audi Field is opening in 2018, but possibly not until midseason and AFAIK DCU may have to play at another undetermined location in the early months of the season.

Managerial changes since the end of the season:

Montreal: Rémi Garde replaced Mauro Biello (fired)
NE: Brad Friedel replaced Tom Soehn (interim)/Jay Heaps (fired)
Portland: Caleb Porter resigned, no replacement yet
SJ: Mikael Stahre replaced Chris Leitch, who went back to his TD job
Colorado: Anthony Hudson replaced Steve Cooke (interim)/Pablo Mastroeni (fired)

Vulnerable incumbents who need to avoid a bad start in 2018, IMHO, are Jim Curtin (Philly), Sigi Schmid (LAG), and Jason Kreis (Orlando). Ben Olsen (DC) and maybe Carl Robinson (Vancouver) should be vulnerable, but aren't.


Some offseason dates:

12/10 - some sort of half-day trade window is open for reasons that I forget.
12/12 - Expansion draft, which is pared down this time. LAFC will make five selections.
12/13, 12/15, 12/21 - Waiver Draft and Re-Entry Draft Rds 1 & 2. Don't ask.
1/19 - the college draft
2/20-22 - CONCACAF Champions League R16 begins.
Early March - 2018 MLS season begins



A few signings have trickled in so far, but things will really start to pick up over the next few weeks once we move past the Expansion Draft and once the college season is over.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/transactions/2018
 

OCST

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I saw Garber's interview at HT of the MLS cup. I was wrestling with the Christmas tree so I wasn't paying full attention, but the tone re: the Crew situation was weaselly, shitty, and contemptible.

Screw him.
 

Titans Bastard

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Atlanta signed Franco Escobar, a 22 year old CB/RB from Newell's Old Boys.

https://www.atlutd.com/post/2017/12/08/atlanta-united-acquires-franco-escobar-newell-s-old-boys

As the roster currently stands, he'd be the starting RB. Tyrone Mears is old and was cut loose, while Anton Walkes returned to Tottenham after his loan concluded.

At CB, the starting duo of Parkhurst and Gonzalez Pirez will probably remain unchanged, although Parkhurst is getting long in the tooth and it's conceivable someone will take his spot in 2018. Atlanta also has a 20 year old CB they took with the #2 pick in last year's draft, Miles Robinson. TBD whether he's progressed enough to play a bigger role in 2018.


The LA Times had this nugget in an article about LAG and LAFC:

The Galaxy has also moved to stabilize its front office, signing president Chris Klein to a five-year contract extension. A formal announcement is expected this week.
A five year extension for a guy who presided over such a disastrous year is not a good look.


Big Revs news that apparently will be announced shortly:


I have to imagine that the Revs will be on the hook for a decent portion of Kamara's salary. Kamara is a solid player, but I never thought he was a very good fit with the rest of the team.

NYCFC trades their #3 center back Frédéric Brillant to DC for $75k in GarberBux and an int'l roster slot in 2018. NYCFC had declined his contract option, as he's no great shakes, but DC needs to rebuild their defense. Prior to this acquisition they were down to four defenders on their roster.

 

Titans Bastard

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Oh, and guess which US TV market had third highest local ratings for MLS Cup?

Columbus.

 

Titans Bastard

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Kamara to Vancouver is official. The Revs just got draft picks, but that's to be expected for this sort of salary dump.


LAFC made a big move in acquiring Walker Zimmerman in exchange for $500k of allocation money and the top spot in the allocation order (priority list for certain USMNT players and ex-MLSers who have been previously sold overseas). Zimmerman tailed off in 2017 along with every other good player on Dallas, who badly tanked in the second half of the season. Assuming he bounces back, he will be a key piece of LAFC's backline.


Winger Arturo Alvarez is heading from Chicago to Houston:


DCU trades for Timbers forward Darren Mattocks. Speedy, with poor finishing.


Minnesota acquires central midfielder Harrison Heath from Atlanta in exchange for a throw-away draft pick. Heath is the son of Minnesota's manager and hasn't played much in his MLS career in either Orlando or Atlanta.

 

SocrManiac

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I was a freshman in high school when the league started. I went all-in. I was at a few of the Revs’ MLS Cup final losses. Their complete inability to win anything made the league’s shortcomings harder to overlook. Even relatively divorced from emotional investment years later, it is incredibly depressing that their logo only appears once.
 

Titans Bastard

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Awesome...$1.65 mill at the very Max. For a player that is one of the best, young mids in the country and about ready to hit his prime years. Another example on how terribly ran this club is. Get fucked.
Comparing deals for allocation money to straight cash transfers isn't an apples-to-apples comparison. Portland is clearing Nagbe's salary and adding >$1m in salary budget space in the form of this allocation money. Per MLS rules, when a player is sold abroad, the team can only receive a max of $650k in allocation money, so even if you sold a player for $20m you could barely reinvest any of that cash into player salaries.

It's been very clear that this is an issue since KC sent Dwyer to Orlando for a ton of allocation money. It's a major disincentive to sell players abroad.

FWIW, Nagbe isn't old but he's definitely not young. He's 27 and has been in his prime years for a while.
 

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LAFC expansion draft:
1: Tyler Miller (GK, Seattle)
2: Latif Blessing (MF, SKC)
3: Marco Ureña (F, SJ)
4: Jukka Raitala (LB, CLB)
5: Raheem Edwards (F, TOR)
 

Titans Bastard

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LAFC expansion draft:
1: Tyler Miller (GK, Seattle)
2: Latif Blessing (MF, SKC)
3: Marco Ureña (F, SJ)
4: Jukka Raitala (LB, CLB)
5: Raheem Edwards (F, TOR)
Interesting choices, especially #1, 2, and 5. The word is that LAFC is considering keeping most, if not all, of their picks rather than flipping them for other players or allocation money. That would be a change from recent expansion drafts.

I still wouldn't be surprised if they trade one or two of these guys. Only Miller is American and expansion teams need to be judicious about how they use their international roster slots.
 

Titans Bastard

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It's all happening. Savarese moves from the NY Cosmos to the Timbers job, per Twellman:



Kljestan to LAFC?


Kljestan is an LA native and I'm honestly not shocked to see NYRB look into moving him. They need to reorient their offense away from Kljestan and BWP, who are both getting old.
 

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Nagbe to Atlanta is official:
https://www.timbers.com/post/2017/12/13/timbers-acquire-165-million-allocation-money-2018-international-spot-atlanta-united

The Portland Timbers today announced that the club has acquired $650,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) in 2018, $100,000 GAM in 2019, $300,000 in Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) in 2018 and an international spot through Dec. 31, 2018, from Atlanta United FC in exchange for midfielder Darlington Nagbe and defender Gbenga Arokoyo. Additionally, the Timbers will receive up to $600,000 in future TAM based on Nagbe’s performance with Atlanta United.
Can Gavin Wilkinson spend this money wisely to bring in someone better than Nagbe? I'm not that confident.
 

Titans Bastard

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Houston signed Honduran winger Alberth Elis permanently; he had been on loan from Monterrey. This was an important piece of business for them.


NYCFC signed 26 year old Swedish right back Anton Tinnerholm from Malmö. He's the reigning defender of the year in the Allsvenskan and, considering NYCFC jettisoned everyone else at his position, will surely start for them.



In addition to acquiring Nagbe, Atlanta also signed 20 year old Venezuelan left back Jose Hernandez. He started for Venezuela's U20s in their run to the WC final, including their quarterfinal win over the US. Atlanta has previously made Greg Garza's loan permanent, so Hernandez might be a back for a bit. Garza is a little injury prone, so I'm sure Hernandez will get minutes.

 

Titans Bastard

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LAFC adds a 19 year old Uruguayan forward from Peñarol on a DP contract:


It's a retirement league, folks.
 

Titans Bastard

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SKC traded right back Saad Abdul-Salaam to NYCFC for forward/winger Khiry Shelton.

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mls/sporting-kc/article189725454.html

It makes sense. NYCFC dumped all their right backs from 2017, so SAS will compete with other new signing Anton Tinnerholm. Meanwhile, Shelton -- if he can stay healthy -- would be a solid fit as a wing-forward in Vermes' 4-3-3.

Both teams have younger and hopefully superior options at the position they traded away - right back Jaylin Lindsey at KC and winger Jonathan Lewis at NYCFC.
 

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The Miami Beckhams' ownership shakeup has been approved by MLS owners:


I don't really know much about it, but adding major local partners is probably a good thing.
 

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LA Galaxy signed a 26 year old Norwegian CB from Rosenborg: Jørgen Skjelvik. Given the sorry state of LA's defense, he looks like a certain starter for now.

Some of the players whose contract options have been declined are finding new homes:
  • GK Jon Kempin heads from LA to Columbus
  • GK Brad Stuver heads from Columbus to NYCFC
  • LB Waylon Francis heads from Columbus to Seattle
  • FW Jack McBean heads from LA to Colorado
Vancouver signed a young forward from their now-defunct USL team, Myer Bevan. SJ signed a trio of players from their USL affiliate in Reno: CB Jimmy Ockford, DM Luis Felipe, and winger Chris Wehan. Wehan went undrafted by MLS last year, but put up big numbers in the USL.
 

Titans Bastard

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SKC signed a new DP, left midfielder Yohan Croizet. His resume at first glance isn't overwhelming - a 25 year old Frenchman who has spent most of his career for mid-tier Belgian clubs.



Houston also signed free agent GK Chris Seitz, who had been relegated to backup at FC Dallas by Jesse Gonzalez. He's the only keeper under contract with the Dynamo at the moment, so it's hard to know if he'll ultimately be the #1 or #2.
 

Titans Bastard

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The Revs announced four signings today, very exciting! Wait, it's just Bunbury, Farrell, Knighton, and Wright signing new deals.

In the first phase of the Re-Entry Draft (again, this is one of those "don't ask" things), Minnesota United added Tyrone Mears, while Colorado took Mike Grella and flipped him to Columbus. Next week's second phase is always more active, as teams have more leeway to negotiate down salaries.

Vancouver picked up former LA Galaxy keeper Brian Rowe. All three of LAG's 2017 keepers have now found new homes, where they will all be backups because none are that good.

Real Salt Lake signed CB/RB Taylor Peay from their USL team. They also signed 20 year old RB Aaron Herrera to a homegrown deal. Herrera is a former US U20 who played three years at New Mexico. He struggled at the U20 level, but could still be a solid pro.

San Jose made an interesting and kind of mysterious academy signing. I've never heard of this kid before today.

 

Senator Donut

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I don’t usually get upset about the international break during the MLS Playoffs, but I found this out recently and I think it could be a good model for MLS.

Both Liga MX and MLS have their fall tournaments across six match days. (MLS has an extra round, but the final is only one leg.) The MLS Cup Playoffs started October 25. The Apertura 2017 Liga MX Liguilla started in November 22. MLS Cup was played on December 9 and the Mexican final was decided just a day later. MLS ought to emulate this format. It would have the added benefit of playing fewer early March games too.
 

ThePrideofShiner

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The break during the playoffs is brutal because it seemingly kills all momentum. What is wrong with early March games? Weather?

In my mind, it'd be better if somehow the MLS season could end before mid-December, but I might be skewing that way because of the last two title games being played outdoors in Toronto.
 

Senator Donut

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Yes, early March weather is awful in a large portion of MLS cities. Some matches have been fairly miserable experiences, but I don’t mind it much for playoff games. December is less than ideal (to put it mildly) but two weekends after Thanksgiving is an open spot on the sports calendar after college football, but before the bowls.
 

Titans Bastard

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LA Galaxy traded $250k in allocation money to San Jose for David Bingham's rights. Given the fee they paid, I'd expect Bingham to sign on the dotted line soon enough. Bingham did well enough in past years to earn three USMNT caps, but he was bad in 2017 and eventually lost his job to Andrew Tarbell. If he bounces back, he'll be a fairly solid signing.

Toronto signed U17 NT winger Ayo Akinola to a homegrown contract. He has impressive power and pace, but technically he's just okay and I've never been overly impressed with his decision making. If he continues to develop I think he could be a pretty solid player, but I'm not as high on him as I am on others in his U17 cohort.
 

Titans Bastard

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CONCACAF Champions League Draw:

Club América (MEX) vs. Deportivo Saprissa (CRC)
FC Dallas vs. Tauro (PAN)
Colorado Rapids vs. Toronto FC
Herediano (CRC) vs. Tigres (MEX)
Motagua (HON) vs. Tijuana (MEX)
Olimpia (HON) vs. New York Red Bulls
Santa Tecla (ESA) vs. Seattle Sounders
Cibao (DOM) vs. Chivas (MEX)


There's some sort of new CONCACAF Club Index used for seedings. I haven't looked into how it works, but understandably the Mexican clubs were the top four seeds and MLS clubs filled the next five slots. Colorado was the one unseeded MLS club, which makes sense because Colorado sucks.

Toronto will be the best bet from MLS to go far, but CCL is unpredictable and the first couple of rounds are basically preseason. Also, if they beat Colorado in what should be a very cold home-and-home in February, they'll play Tigres which is the Liga MX club I'd most want to avoid.

Tijuana and Chivas weren't that good in the 2017 Apertura, so there could be some potential for NYRB and/or Seattle to make the semifinals at least. It's hard to rate the chances of NYRB and Dallas because both look set for some significant re-tooling this winter. Dallas needs to shake things up after a disastrous second half of 2017 and there are rumors that NYRB will be dealing Kljestan.

The last MLS team to reach the final was a Montreal team that wasn't actually that good, so go figure.
 

Senator Donut

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The Revs has signed Syria and Östersund left back Gabriel Somi. It looks like he started 12 of 30 matches in the Allsvenskan this year for a team that was good enough to qualify for Europa a year ago (and make it out of the group stage this year). It looks like the Revs beat out Hearts if British rumors are to be believed. Knowing nothing else about him, I'm glad to have him at left back instead of the corpse of former MLS All-Star Chris Tierney.

 

Senator Donut

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Season openers matches are announced:
Going back to my March scheduling complaint, the Revs will have opened 22 of their 23 seasons on the road when they travel to Philadelphia on March 3. I'm not looking forward to the home opener on March 10.
 

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Going back to my March scheduling complaint, the Revs will have opened 22 of their 23 seasons on the road when they travel to Philadelphia on March 3. I'm not looking forward to the home opener on March 10.
Not like Philly is a warm weather city. Barring a lot of news out of the team (and there's been none) that's going to be a half empty stadium at best and miserable weather for that game.

How bad are things for the Union? I told the team I wanted to hold my season tickets for next year but essentially not give them any money until months after the renewal deadline. "Sign some players and I'll talk about renewing in January, as long as you hold my seats". And they went for it.
 

Titans Bastard

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Not like Philly is a warm weather city. Barring a lot of news out of the team (and there's been none) that's going to be a half empty stadium at best and miserable weather for that game.

How bad are things for the Union? I told the team I wanted to hold my season tickets for next year but essentially not give them any money until months after the renewal deadline. "Sign some players and I'll talk about renewing in January, as long as you hold my seats". And they went for it.
Today, they re-signed Ilsinho, Herbers, and Fabinho. Don't pull a muscle reaching for your wallet!

The fact that a disproportionate number of the underperforming owners are in big markets is a problem that MLS will have to deal with over the next decade. Philadelphia is the the seventh largest metro in the country, but Sugarman runs it like a small market. Boston (#10) and DC (#6) are also small-time operations. Houston (#5) and Dallas (#4) don't act like huge market teams, either. Chicago seems to be snapping out of it, but they've badly underperformed too.
 

Titans Bastard

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Nashville is official. Name, colors, logo, and their first season are TBD. The punniest suggestion on the internet is Tenn SC.

Elsewhere:
  • RSL signed Brooks Lennon permanently on a free from Liverpool. The winger was on loan last year, he was due to be out of contract this summer, and he wasn't exactly in Liverpool's plans. RSL has been a youth-friendly club lately and a number of their youngsters have been developing well. I like this move for him.
  • SJ signed Magnus Eriksson, a 27 year old Swede who co-led his domestic league in scoring last year for Djurgården. Given his age and his track record as mostly a Scandinavian league player, he seems like a mediocre DP signing at first glance. We'll see how much SJ's new Swedish manager goes to that well.
 

Titans Bastard

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Sacramento Republic's CEO published a letter detailing the future of their bid. It's clear that what is holding them back is the that their ownership group is not deep-pocketed enough. They announced that Meg Whitman was on board a few weeks ago, but it now seems clear that for whatever reason she's dropped out. MLS announced that Nashville's expansion partner will not be chosen until next year sometime, so Sacramento has time to get it together.

  • Colorado's new Kiwi manager is going around the league collecting Kiwis. This time the Rapids traded some allocation money to Vancouver for left back Deklan Wynne.
  • A few players on MLS2 teams got the bump up from a USL to MLS contract today. NYRB promoted French midfielder Florian Valot and Philadelphia signed Jamaican forward Cory Burke.
  • Deportivo Saprissa always seems to pop up every transfer window. Today, Minnesota shipped winger Johan Venegas to them on a year-long loan. (Venegas scored against the US in the 4-0 smackdown in Costa Rica.
  • Saprissa Item #2: Meanwhile, D.C. United announced the signing of 24 year old attacking midfielder Ulises Segura from Saprissa. DCU is amassing quite a collection of young & interesting midfielders.
  • Saprissa Item #3: Although the Timbers haven't said anything yet, Portland is expected to sign 24 year old CB Julio Cascante. Saprissa has already announced his departure.
  • The second phase of the re-entry draft was today. DC chose the enigma known as Gonzalo Veron from NYRB. LAG picked up Servando Carrasco from Orlando. LAFC chose Callum Mallace from Seattle. All are as yet unsigned.
  • The initial list for the MLS draft combine is out. One local flavor: big center forward Mac Steeves (Providence College / Needham).
 

Titans Bastard

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Vancouver signed CB Doneil Henry, who recently terminated his contract at West Ham. The move from Toronto to the EPL didn't work out for him.

FC Dallas signed a new left back, 24 year old Bulgarian Anton Nedyalkov from CSKA Sofia.

LAFC signed left back Jordan Harvey, who was a free agent last with Vancouver.
 

Titans Bastard

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Orlando signed attacking midfielder Jose Villarreal and left back Mohamed El-Munir. Villarreal was mostly productive for LA over the years, but never seemed to get a real chance and was finally discarded. At 24, he still has a chance to be a good pickup for another team. I like the signing. El-Munir is a 25 year old Libyan with experience in his home country, Belarus, and Serbia. He looks a little dubious.

San Jose finalized a permanent transfer for forward Danny Hoeven. He was on loan from Groningen last season.
 

Titans Bastard

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Östersunds FK have announced the departure of left back Gabriel Somi, who is heading to the Revs. No official word from New England, but this looks like it's done.

http://www.ostersundsfk.se/2017/12/somi-lamnar-ofk-for-usa/

Somi is a 26 year old who has been a rotational starter in the Swedish league. Reinforcements at left back are badly needed, but he doesn't look like he'll be anything special. We'll see.
 

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NYCFC signed Jesus Medina to a DP contract. This is an intriguing signing, a 20 year old winger from Libertad who recently made his debut for Paraguay.
 

Titans Bastard

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Carlisle reports that NYRB will send Sacha Kljestan and $150k in TAM to Orlando in exchange for Tommy Redding and Carlos Rivas. Kljestan is getting older and NYRB cannot rely on Kljestan and BWP to power their offense forever. He's expensive, so if NYRB can use the cleared cap space wisely, this could work out well.

The move has its benefits for the Red Bulls, both in terms of youth and finances. One source indicated that Kljestan was expected to make in excess of $1 million this season, so that will free up around $500,000 in cap space this year.
Redding is a decent CB prospect. He doesn't get much hype because there happened to be a ton of good CB prospects born in 1997 and three of them are generally rated above him (CCV, EPB, Glad, not necessarily in that order). However, NYRB needs help at CB and they are in a small group of MLS clubs that is actually demonstrating some youth development chops.

Rivas is a very frustrating player. Good luck, NYRB.



Dallas signed Swiss center back Reto Ziegler. He has 35 caps for Switzerland, but he's 31 now and hasn't played for them in a few years. His club resume is that of an epic journeyman. For now he looks like Walker Zimmerman's replacement, but they have more players to sign and Ziegler could get pushed to the bench depending on what happens.


Portland made their annual dive into Deportivo Saprissa's roster and made the signing of Costa Rican center back Julio Cascante official. He's 24 and has a solitary B-team cap for the Ticos.

https://www.timbers.com/post/2018/01/02/timbers-acquire-central-defender-julio-cascante
 

Titans Bastard

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Orlando has signed Dom Dwyer to a new three year contract. This extension is eyebrow-raising in light of the transfer rumors surrounding Cyle Larin.

RSL signed forward Alfredo Ortuño, a 26 year old Spaniard who scored 17 goals for Cádiz in the Segunda last season. Eh. Movsisyan has been a bust since returning from Europe and they're looking for a new solution at CF. We'll see if this guy is the guy.


Some homegrown signings lately:
  • New England signed 17 year old attacking midfielder Isaac Angking. He has been scoring goals for the U19s and has had the reputation of one of the best prospects in the Revs' academy, for whatever that's worth. Angking was on the fringes of the U17 national team last cycle. He joins Michael Parkhurst as, AFAIK, the only two current professionals from Rhode Island.
  • FC Dallas signed 18 year old central midfielder Brandon Servania, who is coming off a well-regarded freshman season at Wake Forest. This is a positive example of the NCAA's (very limited) utility. He went from Dallas' U19 team to spending four months at Wake Forest to the pros without any real breaks. He wouldn't have played for Dallas last season and the ACC is a better challenge than the U19 DA league. If he stayed in college even one more year longer, though, he probably would have stagnated.
  • NYRB signed 21 year old center back Kevin Politz. He's another Wake Forest player who just won ACC Defender of the Year in his senior season. Signing old academy players after four years of college soccer is basically a free draft pick. Politz has a decent enough resume to provide hope that he'll be a decent MLS player.