In what has been a frenetic week for player movement around MLS, the league has one more bit of business to take care of: Stage One of the MLS Re-Entry Draft. The Re-Entry Draft is as a close a system to free agency that single-entity MLS extends to its players. Stage One kicks off at noon on Friday, December 12.
The San Jose Earthquakes have the second pick in both Stage One and Stage Two (the concluding stage takes place next week on December 18) and can select players for as long as the multi-round draft runs. Each stage of the draft concludes when all participating teams elect to pass on making a selection.
Teams that make a selection in Stage One are required to exercise that player's 2015 contract option or, for players whose contracts run out at the end of 2014, make a bona fide contract offer. This qualification has kept the number of selections to a minimum in years past -- only 11 total players over the four years the process has been in place have been selected in Stage One and were owed their full salary amount.
Stage Two is typically more active, as teams that make a selection can negotiate a new contract with that player. In addition, as long as the team makes a reasonable (not a complete low-ball) offer to its Stage Two selection, even if that player refuses the offer, it retains the player's contract rights within MLS. Any players not picked up after Stage Two become available to any MLS team on a first-come, first-served basis.
In the four previous Re-Entry Drafts from 2010 through 2013, the Earthquakes did not make a single Stage One selection, while they collected a total of five players in Stage Two. San Jose was the most active team in 2012, selecting three players in Stage Two: Dan Gargan, Ty Harden, and Bryan Jordan. Last year, the Quakes picked up Shaun Francis and Brandon Barklage. Both Harden and Francis proved to be good pick-ups by the Quakes and were recently protected in the MLS Expansion Draft.
MLS, per the guidelines established in the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, has uses the following three criteria to determine whether a player is eligible for the Re-Entry Draft (players not eligible for the Re-Entry process were available earlier in the week in the Waiver Draft):
- Players who are at least 23 years old and have a minimum of 3 years experience in MLS whose options were not exercised by their team are available at their option salary for 2015.
- Players who are at least 25 years old with a minimum of 4 years of MLS experience who are out of contract and whose team does not wish to re-sign them at their previous salary are available for at least their 2014 salary.
- Players who are at least 30 years old with a minimum of 8 years of MLS experience who are out of contract and whose team does not wish to re-sign them are available for at least 105% of their 2014 salary.
Two players from the current Earthquakes roster were made available for the Re-Entry draft: goalkeeper Jon Busch and Atiba Harris. And while there still exists the chance that either or both player could re-sign with the Quakes, it is all but certain that both veterans have played their last games for San Jose.
2014 MLS Re-Entry Draft Eligible Players:
(Grouped by team)
Player | Team | Position | 2014 Guaranteed Compensation | Status |
Patrick Ianni | Chicago Fire | D | $150,000.00 | Declined |
Hunter Jumper | Chicago Fire | D | $48,500.00 | Declined |
Steven Kinney | Chicago Fire | D | $48,825.00 | Declined |
Sanna Nyassi | Chicago Fire | MF | $154,625.00 | Declined |
Gonzalo Segares | Chicago Fire | D | $173,333.33 | Declined |
Bakary Soumare | Chicago Fire | D | $370,000.00 | Declined |
Carlos Borja | Chivas USA | D | $52,313.00 | Declined |
Marvin Chavez | Chivas USA | MF | $200,000.00 | Out of Contract |
Oswaldo Minda | Chivas USA | MF | $168,750.00 | Declined |
Martin Rivero | Chivas USA | MF | $50,004.00 | Declined |
Nathan Sturgis | Chivas USA | D | $120,333.33 | Declined |
Daniel Paladini | Columbus Crew | MF | $76,666.67 | Declined |
David Armstrong | Colorado Rapids | MF | $36,504.00 | Declined |
Edson Buddle | Colorado Rapids | F | $325,000.00 | Declined |
Kamani Hill | Colorado Rapids | MF | $48,825.00 | Declined |
Dimitry Imbongo | Colorado Rapids | F | $122,375.00 | Declined |
Marvell Wynne | Colorado Rapids | D | $285,000.00 | Declined |
Jair Benitez | FC Dallas | D | $97,875.00 | Declined |
Adam Moffat | FC Dallas | MF | $176,608.33 | Declined |
Hendry Thomas | FC Dallas | MF | $180,000.00 | Declined |
Nana Attakora | DC United | D | $65,575.52 | Declined |
Alex Caskey | DC United | MF | $48,825.00 | Declined |
Jeff Parke | DC United | D | $235,500.00 | Declined |
Conor Shanosky | DC United | D | $36,500.00 | Declined |
Omar Cummings | Houston Dynamo | F | $264,000.00 | Declined |
Brian Ownby | Houston Dynamo | MF | $48,825.00 | Declined |
Rafael Garcia | LA Galaxy | MF | $48,825.00 | Declined |
Chandler Hoffman | LA Galaxy | F | $48,500.00 | Declined |
Brian Perk | LA Galaxy | GK | $63,125.00 | Declined |
James Riley | LA Galaxy | D | $80,000.00 | Declined |
Mamadou "Futty" Danso | Montreal Impact | D | $87,500.00 | Out of Contract |
Matteo Ferrari | Montreal Impact | D | $355,475.00 | Declined |
Troy Perkins | Montreal Impact | GK | $271,833.33 | Out of Contract |
Andre Akpan | New England Revolution | F | $51,333.33 | Declined |
Shalrie Joseph | New England Revolution | MF | $294,000.00 | Declined |
Stephen McCarthy | New England Revolution | D | $132,582.00 | Out of Contract |
Bobby Convey | New York Red Bulls | MF | $147,500.00 | Declined |
Kosuke Kimura | New York Red Bulls | D | $105,000.00 | Declined |
Corben Bone | Philadelphia Union | MF | $51,325.00 | Declined |
Fred Carreiro | Philadelphia Union | MF | $65,460.00 | Out of Contract |
Brian Carroll | Philadelphia Union | MF | $185,220.00 | Out of Contract |
Kalif Alhassan | Portland Timbers | MF | $120,000.00 | Declined |
Rauwshan KcKenzie | Portland Timbers | D | $48,825.00 | Out of Contract |
Danny O’Rourke | Portland Timbers | D | $55,008.00 | Out of Contract |
Rich Balchan | Real Salt Lake | D | $48,500.00 | Declined |
Robbie Findley | Real Salt Lake | F | $245,000.00 | Declined |
Aaron Maund | Real Salt Lake | D | $40,250.00 | Declined |
Tristan Bowen | Seattle Sounders | F | $70,000.00 | Declined |
Joshua Ford | Seattle Sounders | GK | $50,239.94 | Declined |
Marcus Hahnemann | Seattle Sounders | GK | $65,000.00 | Declined |
Jon Busch | San Jose Earthquakes | GK | $184,533.33 | Out of Contract |
Atiba Harris | San Jose Earthquakes | MF | $189,775.00 | Out of Contract |
Joshua Gardner | Sporting KC | MF | $70,000.00 | Declined |
Andy Gruenebaum | Sporting KC | GK | $85,000.00 | Declined |
Eric Kronberg | Sporting KC | GK | $120,000.00 | Declined |
Dwayne DeRosario | Toronto FC | F | $173,000.00 | Declined |
Jeremy Hall | Toronto FC | D | $115,000.00 | Declined |
Ryan Richter | Toronto FC | D | $48,500.00 | Declined |
Andrew Weideman | Toronto FC | F | $70,500.00 | Declined |
Carlyle Mitchell | Vancouver Whitecaps | D | $50,075.00 | Out of Contract |
Both Brian Mullan of the Colorado Rapids and Mauro Rosales of the Vancouver Whitecaps elected to remove themselves from eligibility in the Re-Entry Draft and are free to negotiate new contract terms with their current clubs.