Rip City Crystal Ball: MLS in 2020

This post is the first of the Rip City Crystal Ball series.  Throughout the next few weeks we at Rip City will be doing our best Shawn Spencer (Psychic detective) and divining what MLS will look like in 2020.  With all of the recent success of not only MLS but of soccer in the United States the future looks bright but for many the development of MLS is painstakingly slow. Have no fear though because this series will give you a sneak peak into the glorious future of MLS.  This week we look at the always exciting and hot topic of expansion.  Where will MLS stop?  Which cities will get the final spots?

MLS Expansion Draft: The picks are in (Updated)

Expansion teams Portland and Vancouver are finally starting to take shape.  Each team picked ten players in the MLS expansion draft today, significantly altering the rosters in MLS.  Several MLS teams took gambles with some of their more important and more expensive players by leaving them unprotected. Those that did were rewarded as no DPs were selected. However, several rising stars in the league did get snatched up by the Portland and Vancouver. See picks and grades after the jump.

MLS Expansion Draft

The release of the lists of protected players came out last night and Portland and Vancouver will be pouring over the list of players who didn't get protected in preparation for the draft tomorrow.  Both teams will be looking to find several starters for their teams and there are plenty of quality players to choose from.  The draft will start 1pm tomorrow.  Portland will pick first and then the teams will alternate for ten rounds. There is quite an extensive list of rules and guidelines that can be found here...Expansion draft rules.  MLS teams often try and work the system in expansion drafts.  They take risks and gamble on what they think the expansion teams will need.  It will be interesting to see if any of the big names that were left unprotected get snatched up because traditionally their high salaries are deterrents for expansion teams. However, Ljunberg, Geovanni, and Blaise Nkufo sure look tantalizing to me on those lists.  Those aren't the only players on the lists of available players worth drafting. The full list can be found here...http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/mls-releases-unprotected-list-expansion-draft

Expansion: Where? How big?

In Don Garber's state of the league address yesterday one of the biggest topics were the rumors surrounding what city will be awarded the 20th MLS team.  For some time now it has been clear that the MLS wants that team to be from New York.  With the resurgence of the the New York Cosmos brand it is starting to look like that is where MLS will be headed next.  The Cosmos have come out with new merchandise from Umbro and have announced Pele as their honorary president.  Also, MLS has been in talks with the Wilpon family who own the Mets for some time now.  Garber also mentioned that he envisioned the league would grow beyond 20 teams.  Several cities have been interested in joining such as Orlando, Tampa, Miami, and San Diego, St. Louis, Atlanta, and Ottawa.  Garber mentioned that he couldn't imagine that the league wouldn't expand into the Southeast at some time.  Where do you see the league going?  What cities do you want to get in?  Any love for Des Moines? Just sayin.