Major League Soccer: Drafts, Drafts, and More Drafts. What’s the deal?

If there’s one thing we know about Major League Soccer it is that they love drafts. In the past few weeks three drafts have taken place with the most important draft, the SuperDraft taking place in January. The amount of drafts and rules can get a big confusing. Here is a list of all of the current MLS drafts and what they mean for your team:

Dispersal Draft:

This draft was a special draft that took place this year. Chivas USA ceasing operations following the 2014 season, the player on the team were placed in a draft to distribute players who were in contract with the club. The draft was available to all teams but many players were not selcted. Out of the full Chivas USA roster, only seven players were selected. Is it interesting to note however, that Chivas USA star and Designated player, Cubo Torres was not available for selection.

Expansion Draft:

The expansion draft is a special draft that occurs only when new teams are addeed to the league. Next year MLS is growing with the addition of New York City FC and Orlando City FC. Of course, this mean that there will be a draft. The rules of this draft are pretty straight forward. All current teams will be able to “protect” 11 current players on their roster. Homegrown players and Generation Adidias players are protected automatically without having to be listed in the 11 list. If an unprotected player is selected by the team, the club can move a different unprotected player to its roster. If two players are chosen from one team, the team is finished with the draft and cannot lose anymore players.

Re-Entry Draft:

This draft is for players who are out of contract or have had their options declined from thier current club. The Re-Entry Draft takes place in two stages. For the first stage,players participating in this draft who are at least 23 must have at least three years experience in MLS, players who are 25 must have a mininum of four years experience in MLS and players who are 30 years old must have a minimun of eight years in MLS. This draft is availble for all clubs to participate in.  Players who are not selected in the first stage will move on to the second stage. In this stage, clubs that select players will negotioate a new salary with them. If a player is left after both stages, the players become availible to any MLS club. Typically, the teams  with the first or second pick will select a player while the other teams pass.

SuperDraft:

This is the holy grail of all drafts. This draft is the common draft the occurs every year. In this draft, clubs have the oppurtunity to select players who are graduating from college. The draft is composed of three rounds and the order of selection is determined by the clubs’ playoff and regular season positions. The winner of the MLS Cup gets the last pick and the second place team gets the second to last pick. If there are expansion teams, they automatically get the first pick. Since there are two teams entering the league in 2015, a coin toss will determine who goes first. There is also plenty of barganing room for teams to trade picks for players.

The 2015 MLS SuperDraft will take place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in conjuction with the NSCAA convention on January 15, 2015. Tickets to the NSCAA convention can be purchased here. Soccer greats such as Pele, Sir Alex Ferguson and Landon Donovan are expected to be in attendance.

Image courtesy of Major League Soccer