Backpass: New League, Who Dis?
MLS Next Pro and Colorado Rapids 2 launched this week. We have questions.
With a logo only a mother could love and a font package that, somehow, found three different ways to write the number ‘2’, MLS Next Pro launched this week. I was saucy about it, as you’d expect.
In the process of making fun of the awkward first steps of the rebooted MLS Reserve League, and in worrying about what this means for NISA, USL1, and USL Championship, I completely forgot to consider perhaps the most important implication of MLS Next Pro - what it would mean for the Colorado Rapids and the other teams that take part in it.
Until today, it hadn’t occurred to me that the new league would necessitate that the MLS roster rules which had existed up until now must be completely revised. In 2021, MLS rules stipulated that you could only have 30 players on your roster, plus a certain number on long-term injured reserve or out on loan. Of those players, 20 needed to be ‘Senior Roster’ players while another 10 were assigned to the ‘Supplemental Roster’, each of those roster categories having its own rules for player origin and salary. The new league scrambles that all completely.
An MLS team that joins MLS Next Pro must field a full team comprised of (per the Rapids press release) “Rapids Academy players on amateur contracts, players signed directly to Rapids 2 and players on loan from the Rapids First Team.” That means that the new league could allow an MLS team to have the current full roster of 30 players, plus *another* 30 players on their ‘2’ team. Or they could use the creation of the ‘2’ league to slim down those rosters a bit, to 28 players, or perhaps even fewer.1 And they may not even designate two separate rosters, but rather have one long, fluid list of ‘senior players’ ‘supplemental players’, ‘reserve players’, and ‘academy players’ - each with their own rules. They could allow full and constant fluidity of eligibility - any player on this hypothetical 60 man roster can play for the the senior Rapids on any given day. Or they could have two discrete teams with short term loans allowed, and a cap on a maximum number of games for a player before being ‘re-assigned’ to a different classification and a different pay scale.
For players, there’s a obvious pro and a potential con. The pro of MLS Next Pro (pun not intended) is that it’ll require more soccer players. American soccer just added a whole league of teams - suddenly there’s more jobs for players. That’s good, especially if you’re a very good ACC or PAC-12 soccer player. Just a year ago, that guy might’ve gotten picked in the second or third round of the SuperDraft and subsequently cut. This year, they’ve probably got a job.
The potential con is - the addition of a whole slew of inexpensive players to round out your roster might artificially suppress the salaries for those mid-rate 200 to 500K guys. If you’re a GM, you might say to yourself “Why spend $500K on some Euro guy that might not pan out when I can get 5 NCAA guys onto Rapids2 at $50K a pop and let them fight to the death for a shot at one senior team spot?” The Players Union may need to be on their toes for this, although to be honest, they’re already gonna be on their toes anyhow. The league’s TV deal is currently in renegotiation, and a big fat juicy contract will mean the players will want a bigger cut of the profits.2
This is all very exciting and very interesting to me - I’m especially interested in the Rapids grabbing more NCAA and Academy kids and getting them into the mix to develop into full-fledged pros. I love seeing a kid nobody rated turn into contributer: give me all the Kwadwo Poku and Dom Badji under-dog heart-wrenching movie-of-the-week stories.
At the very least of this will keep new Rapids2 GM and friend of HTHL Brian Crookham very, very busy. I hope he already did his literal Christmas shopping for his family, because he now has to go on a soccer player shopping spree of epic proportions.
An MLS Out-Of-Contract Best XI
Including young homegrowns that were out on loan last year, the Rapids currently have 30 players on their 30 man roster.3 That is including the six players on the team that were disclosed as ‘in discussion’ with the Rapids front office for a 2022 contract.
The Rapids, of course, still have to build an entire new team (Rapids 2), though, so they have plenty of roster spots to fill out. They’ll do some of it with the 2022 MLS SuperDraft, which this year is three rounds long. They’ll also do it by scooping up some fringe USL talent. And a good chunk of the guys they’ll get will be MLS castoffs.
This week every team in the league except Portland and NYCFC released their, uh, released list - the out-of-contract guys that will be in search of a new team in the coming weeks (or possibly a renegotiated deal with their old team.) There are various MLS hoops and mechanisms for these players to hook up with new teams in the days to come - the Waiver Draft, the Re-entry Draft [stages 1 and 2], and free agency. Suffice it to say the details of these various weird procedures interests only the hardiest of MLS roster nerds.
There’s a lot of chum and churn here - guys who the Rapids or some other team might add to the back of the roster to fill in for maybe 200 minutes and are your paradigmatic ‘replacement level players’. And a lot of ‘going to USL’ or ‘going back to Central America’ guys. But there’s some interesting names here too. So with no further ado, I present my ‘All-Star Team of Guys other folks no longer want for various reasons’.
Spencer Richey (GK)
The former FC Cincinnati and Seattle Sounders stopper conceded zero goals on an xG of 0.53 goals in his limited 196 minutes of usage for Seattle. He’s probably good enough to start in MLS for some teams - and he’s definitely good enough to be a back up for almost all of them.
Kelvin Leerdam (D)
Leerdam had 1885 minutes for Inter Miami and produced a -0.64 Overall G+. He’s always been a helpful asset at fullback for his teams. Age is never on the side of fullbacks, and Leerdam is 31 years old. But sometimes they can move inside to CB and be effective.
Donny Toia (D)
Here’s the complete list of former Chivas USA players still lacing them up in MLS: Tim Melia, Eriq Zabaleta (maybe), Cubo Torres (maybe), Donny Toia (maybe). Toia has always looked like a fully capable defensive option at fullback, if not the most incisive wide attacking guy.
Harrison Afful (D)
A huge piece of Columbus’ success the past few years, Afful is just like Toia and Leerdam in terms of being an ‘aging player at a position that values speed’ - only more so, since he’s 35 years old. Maybe Afful’s legs are about pass the expiration date. But had 1998 minutes in 2021 and produced a near-average rate of -0.24 Overall G+ while earning $335,000. Maybe he can still burn. At the right price, some team ought to find out.
Mustafa Kizza (D)
I’m breaking from the pattern here: Kizza is young (22 years old), and a left back (the other guys above play right back). I saw him play a few times this year and was really impressed - he’s incredibly fast. His Goals Added number imply his offensive contributions (+0.07 Passing G+, +0.10 Shooting G+) are decent, but he’s a liability on defense (-0.30 Interrupting G+). Make him a winger maybe?
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Ozzie Alonso (M)
Seattle let him go, assuming he was too old. Then Minnesota picked him up, and he was quite good for them the past two years. Anyone want to make a bet that he’s got one more good year in him?
Jonathan Dos Santos (M)
Dos Santos is a solid two-way midfielder. He’s a great passer and ball carrier, although he might need a good defender behind him to ensure he can run the offense without giving too much up on the counterattack. The real challenge is his salary - he’s the most expensive player available, having earned $2 million in 2021. I think there will be teams willing to pay him near that amount, although his -0.28 Overall G+ implies he probably should be making more like $300K.
Ilie Sanchez (M)
A critical piece of the SKC machinery these past few years - he won the US Open Cup with them in 2017 - the Barcelona La Masia product seems like a possible addition for a lot of MLS teams.
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Will Bruin (F)
Who wouldn’t want the Dancing Bear? Bruin’s never going to be the sexiest pick at striker, but somehow the gawky white dude of somewhat average striker height (6’2”) and below average speed just. scores. goals. He’s bulged the net 74 times in 286 MLS matches, and he’s still just 32 years old. He also ended 2021 in early November with arthroscopic knee surgery, so there’s that.
Ayo Akinola (F)
Akinyola had 3 goals to start 2021 for Toronto FC, then tore his ACL in a Canada NT match to miss the rest of the year. He’s 21 years old, he scored 9 goals in 2020 - many of them electric - and his last contract was for just $157,513. I don’t know what the hell TFC is thinking letting this guy walk - I think there’s a decent chance they’re bringing him back, but just haven’t said that out loud yet.
Douglas Martinez (F)
Martinez had 16 goals in 2019 for Real Monarchs, RSL’s USL affiliate. I watched him a bunch of times, especially in the USL Championship playoffs (Real won the Cup) and I always thought he was exciting, fast, and dangerous. With RSL in 2020 he had 906 minutes, 2 goals. This year, RSL barely let him off the bench for 75 total minutes - and loaned him out twice, once to the Monarchs, and once to San Diego. He scored 2 goals for each of them. He’s just 24 years old, and I think he’s has a lot to offer.
Honorable Mention:
Kyle Morton (GK)
Scott Caldwell (M)
Kellyn Rowe (M)
Tommy Williamson (F)
Victor Ulloa (M)
In 2016, MLS had a 28-man roster. In 1996, the full roster had just 18 players. I don’t think the MLS roster this year will get smaller than 24 - and will probably be more like 20-20-10; 20 Senior, 20 Supplemental/Reserve, 10 Academy (who might also be available to play on the U18-16-14 teams as appropriate).
As they should. Nobody pays to see the owners. In the Rapids case, that’s especially good since Josh and Stan Kroenke never turn up at games anyhow.
Roster spreadsheet nerds, unite.