The MLS offseason continues to move at a break-neck pace, as the re-entry and waiver process is underway. This is where players that can enter each of these two MLS processes can be selected by teams that might want to take a flyer on certain players. Here’s a look at all of that, and why the Union likely won’t be making many moves to take advantage of the re-entry draft or waiver process.
Re-entry Draft & Waivers process
The re-entry process is where experienced MLS players who have not agreed to a new contract with their current club but may want to stay in the league can be selected in a draft. The same is true for the waiver process, but this is an even smaller list of younger out-of-contract players who don’t meet the minute’s requirements for re-entry or free agency. With that being said there are stages and an order to which teams can pick from these players.
Re-entry Draft stages and waiver draft order
The re-entry draft has two stages. Stage one is today, Dec. 17; stage two is next Friday, Dec. 23. In these stages, teams have an opportunity to pick from the players eligible for re-entry. The order starts with teams that finished at the bottom of the standings, with the teams that made deep playoff runs picking at the end (expansion side Charlotte FC actually have the last pick in this one.)
The same order can be seen in the waiver process as well. Here’s a list of the order that teams have to pick in the re-entry and waiver drafts:
- Cincinnati
- Toronto
- Houston
- Austin
- Dallas
- Chicago
- San Jose
- Miami
- LAFC
- Montréal
- Columbus
- D.C.
- LA
- New York
- Vancouver
- Minnesota
- Orlando
- Atlanta
- Seattle
- Nashville
- Kansas City
- Colorado
- New England
- Salt Lake
- Philadelphia
- Portland
- New York City
- Charlotte
Re-entry draft players of note available
Like in free agency, there is a long list of players who are eligible for the re-entry drafts. Looking at the list here are 10 players of note that could be picked up by other MLS teams.
- Joe Gyau – 29-years-old – Defender
- Mo Adams – 25-years-old – Midfielder
- Yamil Asad – 27-years-old – Midfilder
- Ballou Tabla – 22-years-old – Midfileder
- Nicolas Benezet – 30-years-old – Midifleder
- Alvaro Medran – 27-years-old – Midfileder
- Jesus Medina – 24-years-old – Attacker
- Fabio – 24-years-old – Attacker
- Anderson Julio – 25-years-old – Attacker
- Robert Berić – 27-years-old – Attacker
As you can see, there are some good players listed here. They could come into a new team and show that they deserve either a second chance in MLS, or that a change of scenery was necessary to get the best out of their play. While there are a lot of players available for re-entry, the same cannot be said about the waiver process.
Waiver List only has 13 players
The players that are not eligible for re-entry or free agency is a small list of genuinely in-experience players. Here’s a look at that list.
- Brooks Thompson – 19-years-old – Keeper
- Isaac Boehmer – 20-years-old – Keeper
- Luca Lewis – 20 -years-old – Keeper
- Jacob Akanyirige – 19-years-old – Defender
- Erik McCue – 20-years-old – Defender
- Caiser Gomes – 21-years-old – Defender
- Nick Slonina – 20-years-old – Defender
- Josh Penn – 21-years-old – Midfielder
- Jeizon Ramirez – 20-yers-old – Midfielder
- Will Vint – 20-years-old – Midfilder
- Jordan Bender – 20-years-old – Midfilder
- Jovanny Bolivar – 20-years-old – Attacker
- Michee Ngalina – 21-years-old – Attacker
13 players all 21-years-old or younger are available. They are looking for new starts to really breakthrough into an MLS roster. Could a team take a flyer on them and give them that shot? That’s what this process is for, and it would be interesting to see if anyone from this list gets that opportunity.
While the re-entry draft and waiver process allow for that second chance to be given to players, it’s unlikely that the Union take advantage of these very Americanized processes.
Tanner doesn’t highly value drafts
Ernst Tanner has shown in the past that he does not care for these types of drafts. He will trade away all of the Union’s MLS SuperDraft picks for allocation money, and he likely will pass when the Union has the opportunity to pick in these offseason drafts.
With the Union picking 25th out of 28 picks, they likely wouldn’t be able to pick a player of value in either draft anyways. That, and being forced to offer a contact to a player picked in these drafts will likely turn Tanner off of this type of roster-building tactic.
Tanner let slip that he’s doing some other business for the Union anyways; getting a deal done for a new striker that he says he might be able to announce soon. Let’s hope Ernst’s business in the transfer market outweighs the options in this re-entry and waiver process!
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Mandatory Credit: Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire
