Re-Entry Draft: Don’t Get Excited Over First Stage

By Benjamin Massey Eight Six Forever

MLS Re-Entry Draft Stage One Today: Who Will the Whitecaps Take?
Edit, 9:30 AM: Confirmed; the Vancouver Whitecaps have passed in the first stage of the MLS Re-Entry Draft.

Nobody.

The MLS Re-Entry Draft is one of the many, many means that Major League Soccer uses to redistribute its talent. The advent of the Re-Entry Draft was one of the consequences of the league’s 2010 collective bargaining agreement with the Major League Soccer Players Union.

A quick summary of the rules may prove useful: there are two stages, one of which will take place today and the second of which takes place next Monday. In today’s Stage One, the nineteen MLS teams will have their pick of 54 MLS veterans. Any team can pick any one of those players and have them added to their roster at their previously-agreed-upon contract.

The problem is that most teams just don’t bother picking anyone in Stage One. Last year only two players, defender Aaron Hohlbein and forward Joseph Nwenga, were selected in Stage One. The other sixteen teams passed. If you want a player and he hasn’t already got a killer contract then the smart thing to do is wait until Stage Two. Players selected in Stage Two can have their contracts renegotiated, meaning that veteran who would be lovely if he weren’t making $200,000 can be brought down to a more appealing cap figure.

The Vancouver Whitecaps have the first pick in Stage One today. I would be astonished if they did anything with it.

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