Photo by Robert Hanashiro/USA TODAY Sports
By CAITLIN MURRAY
The end of Chivas USA is near.
A Major League Soccer dispersal draft to determine the fate of players from defunct Chivas USA is set for Nov. 19, the league announced Friday.
MLS will hold a random weighted draw next Friday to determine the draft order via an envelope method. This year’s playoff clubs will receive a single envelope and non-playoff clubs will receive two envelopes.
All 20 MLS franchises participating in the 2015 season will be eligible to participate. Orlando City SC and New York City FC, both set for their league debuts next year, will be weighted as non-playoff clubs.
The news of the dispersal draft comes as Erick “Cubo” Torres — surely the biggest prize to claim from the remnants of Chivas USA — told reporters he expected a decision on his future by Dec. 15. Torres will not be included in the dispersal draft.
“I’ve felt very good there,” Torres said Friday of Los Angeles when asked about his future. “The league and team has treated me very well in general. I’ve felt very comfortable on and off the field. It’s a source of pride that the league wants to keep me.”
Torres scored 22 goals in 44 appearances for Chivas USA and has started earning regular call-ups to the Mexican national team. Reports had indicated Torres is worth more than $1.5 million per year to MLS officials trying to keep him in the league. Chivas had previously said they wanted him to leave MLS and stay with their first team in Mexico.
“I have no doubt that I will return,” Torres said of his hometown in Guadalajara, Mexico. “I don’t know if it will be in January or inside four or five years with more experience.”
The Chivas USA dispersal draft will not be public, being held on a private conference call with clubs, who will have one minute to make a draft selection from the available players. The draft ends once all clubs pass on selecting a player.
MLS clubs that acquire dispersed Chivas USA players will take their selection at their full 2015 budget charges and options must be exercised, including all associated transfers or loans. If a team selects a player in the dispersal draft but leaves him exposed for the expansion draft set for Dec. 10, that player can be selected by Orlando City or NYCFC then.
Players not selected during the dispersal draft will be available for the league’s re-entry draft.
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