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Mike Magee, Ricardo Clark headline first MLS free agency class

MikeMageeChicagoFire1-CharlotteIndependence (USATodaySports)

Major League Soccer finally has free agency, at least in some form, and the first players to benefit from the new free agent designation were identified on Monday, with Mike Magee, Ricardo Clark and Ned Grabavoy among the more intriguing options for teams looking to sign veteran players who have no ties to their former teams.

The new Collective Bargaining Agreement grants free agency to any player 28 years old or older who has eight years of service time and is either out of contract or had their contract option declined by their previous team.

Here is the first MLS free agency class:

MLS Free Agent List

MLS also announced the players who are eligible for the Re-Entry Draft,  with Stage One to be conducted on Friday at 3 p.m. Clubs have up until 5 p.m. on Thursday to re-sign or trade their own Re-Entry Draft eligible players. Stage Two will be held on Thursday, Dec. 17 at 3 p.m. MLS will release the results following each of the calls. The Re-Entry Draft Order is determined by the reverse order of the final standings in the MLS season, taking into account postseason performance.

A player may choose to opt out of the Re-Entry Process prior to Stage One and/or Stage Two of the Re-Entry Draft. In such instances, the right of first refusal for the player will remain with his previous club.

Here are the players available in the MLS Re-Entry Draft:

MLS ReEntry List 1MLS Re-Entry List 2

What do you think of the lists? Which free agent would you like to see your team sign?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. There are only a few names that would be of interest to a team looking for anything beyond an infrequent used sub. A large percentage of these players should have hung up their cleats a while back. Just release these guys already.

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  2. Limited free agency at +28 was a stepping stone victory for Players Union but won’t mean anything for most of the guys on this list.

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    • Agreed. Pretty shady to have the +28 with the years of service. Guys who came into the league as teenagers can in some cases have to wait a decade to become a free agent. League really knows how to protect itself to the fullest every step of the way.

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  3. Magee has been hurt a lot the last two seasons, so he would seem to be a risk. I see a couple of others, like Larentowicz or Roy Miller, for example, who could start for some team, but a lot of these players have seen their best days and would seem to be more roster fillers than anything else. Some names like Beitashour and Mapp surprise me, but I can’t say I’ve seen a lot of them this season, so it will be interesting to see what happens with some of these players.

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    • Funny how the guy that was the plus of the worst trade in MLS history is on the scrap heap already. I wonder if he’s wishing he hadn’t pushed to move back to Chicago now. Where are all the Arena critics now?

      Reply

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