The latest crop of collegiate prospects will enter Major League Soccer on Friday afternoon in Chicago.
Expansion side FC Cincinnati contains the No. 1 selection in the 2019 MLS draft, which begins at 1 p.m. ET.
San Jose, Orlando, FC Dallas and Chicago are currently slated to select beneath FC Cincinnati in the top five, but as we’ve seen in past years, trades are likely to happen.
UCLA midfielder Frankie Amaya is the No. 1 player on the SBI Big Board, with Siad Haji, Callum Montgomery, Tajon Buchanan and Dayne St. Clair all expected to be selected in the early in the first round.
As the draft picks, and eventual trades, start to roll in, we’ll provide updates in the comments section as MLS welcomes its latest rookie class to the league.
2019 MLS Draft Selections
first round
1. FC Cincinnati:Â Frankie Amaya, M, UCLA
2. San Jose Earthquakes:Â Siad Haji, M, VCU
3. Orlando City:Â Santiago Patino, F, Florida International
4. FC Dallas (from Colorado):Â Callum Montgomery, D, Charlotte
5. Colorado Rapids (from Chicago):Â Andre Shinyashiki, F, Denver
6. Toronto FC:Â Griffin Dorsey, M, Indiana
7. Minnesota United:Â Dayne St. Clair, GK, Maryland
8. Houston Dynamo:Â Sam Junqua, D, California
9. New England Revolution:Â Tajon Buchanan, F, Syracuse
10. FC Dallas (from Montreal):Â John Nelson, D, North Carolina
11. New England Revolution (from Vancouver):Â DeJuan Jones, M, Michigan State
12. New York City FC (from LA Galaxy):Â Luis Barraza, GK, Marquette
13. FC Cincinnati:Â Logan Gdula, D, Wake Forest
14. D.C. United:Â Akeem Ward, D, Creighton
15. Minnesota United (from Chicago via Colorado and FC Dallas):Â Chase Gasper, D, Maryland
16. New York Red Bulls (from FC Cincinnati via LAFC):Â Roy Boateng, D, UC Davis
17. Real Salt Lake:Â Sam Brown, M, Harvard
18. Columbus Crew:Â J.J. Williams, F, Kentucky
19. LA Galaxy (from NYCFC):Â Emil Cuello, M, SMU
20. Seattle Sounders:Â Tucker Bone, M, Air Force
21. Sporting Kansas City:Â Kamar Marriott, D, Florida Gulf Coast
22. New York Red Bulls: Janos Loebe, M, Fordham
23. Portland Timbers:Â Ryan Sierakowski, F, Michigan State
24. Atlanta United: Anderson Asiedu, M, UCLA
second round
25. New York Red Bulls (from FC Cincinnati):Â Sean Nealis, D, Hofstra
26. San Jose Earthquakes:Â Sergio Rivas, M, Seattle University
27. Orlando City:Â Kamal Miller, D, Syracuse
28. Colorado Rapids:Â Marcello Borges, D, Michigan
29. FC Cincinnati (from Philadelphia):Â Tommy McCabe, D, Notre Dame
30. FC Cincinnati (from Toronto): Jimmy Hague, GK, Michigan State
31. Minnesota United:Â Hassani Dotson, M, Oregon State
32. New York Red Bulls (from Chicago):Â Rece Buckmaster, M, Indiana
33. Houston Dynamo (from New England):Â Andrew Samuels, D, Maryland
34. Montreal Impact:Â Amar Sejdic, M, Maryland
35. Vancouver Whitecaps:Â Brendan McDonough, D, Georgetown
36. LA Galaxy:Â Don Tchilao, M, Oregon State
37. FC Cincinnati (from Philadelphia):Â Ben Lundt, G, Akron
38. Orlando City (from D.C. United):Â Tommy Madden, M, Charlotte
39. Toronto FC (from Colorado):Â Adam Wilson, M, Louisville
40: LAFC:Â Peter-Lee Vassell, M, Harbour View FC
41. Real Salt Lake:Â Kyle Coffee, M, Washington
42. Colorado Rapids (from Columbus):Â Jacob Hauser-Ramsey, D, UCONN
43. NYCFC:Â Abdi Mohamed, D, Akron
44. Seattle Sounders:Â Joel Rydstrand, M, Creighton
45. Sporting Kansas City: Camden Riley, M, Pacific
46. San Jose Earthquakes (from New York Red Bulls):Â Mamadi Camara, M, Simon Fraser University
47. Portland Timbers:Â Lennart Hein, D, Saint Louis
48. Atlanta United:Â Amir Bashti, M, Stanford
Univ. of Akron goalkeeper Ben Lundt is taken by one of FC Cincinnati’s many picks. Helped the Zips to a place in last year’s College Cup Final and was one of the best goalkeepers in college. Will probably compete for third GK spot but most likely be in USL
The Impact take Amar Sejdic from Univ. or Maryland who is coming off a title-winning campaign with Terrapins. Scored the winning goal in the College Cup Final
Trade reportedly in the works between Portland and New England which will see Claude Dielna head to the Timbers. Expected to take the place of departed Liam Ridgewell.
Sergio Rivas goes to the SJ Earthquakes. Rivas played with Alex Roldan at the Univ. of Seattle.
The New York Red Bulls stay local and select defender Sean Nealis to open the second round.
And I especially love that they call it the SUPER Draft !
appreciate the coverage and commentary Joe
If Cincinnati holds on to the pick would you be shocked if they don’t take Amaya
Welcome to our live coverage of the 2019 MLS draft!
FC Cincinnati is currently in possession of the No. 1 overall pick, but that could change.
We’ll be updating this post once every pick is made in Chicago.
FC Cincinnati has taken a timeout as it discusses a potential deal with LAFC.
After a long discussion at the FC Cincinnati table, Frankie Amaya is selected No. 1 by the expansion side.
San Jose takes VCU midfielder Siad Haji with the No. 2 pick in the 2019 draft.
Orlando City selectes Santiago Patino from Florida International at No. 3.
The Lions previously had a Homegrown player claim on Patino denied before the draft.
However, Patino faces an uphill climb receiving playing time at forward given Orlando City’s depth at the position.
The first defender is off the board!
FC Dallas takes center back Callum Montgomery out of Charlotte with the No. 4 pick.
Next up is the Chicago Fire, who have been rumored to trade out of the No. 5 spot.
Chicago trades the No. 5 pick to Colorado for No. 15 and $100,000 in allocation money.
Colorado then takes a local product in Andre Shinyashiki, a forward from the University of Denver.
Interesting selections from Colorado and Orlando, who both chose forwards with plenty of strikers already on their depth charts.
The No. 3 pick is especially interesting since Montgomery was available and the Lions chose to go after Patino instead.
Toronto FC ignores some of the Canadian players still on the board and takes Indiana’s Griffin Dorsey, a midfielder and Generation Adidas player.
Maryland goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair goes to Minnesota United at No. 7.
St. Clair, who is a member of the Generation Adidas class, fills a depth needs for the Loons at the position.
At No. 8, Houston takes defender Sam Junqua out of Cal.
Junqua is a surprise to say the least at No. 8 with Generation Adidas players like Tajon Buchanan still on the draft board.
Tajon Buchanan finally comes off the board!
The New England Revolution take the best player available at No. 9.
Nice selection by Brad Friedel’s team after going defensive in the draft a year ago.
FC Dallas takes North Carolina defender John Nelson at No. 10.
FC Dallas received this pick in the Maxi Urruti trade with Montreal, and he’s the second defender to go to FC Dallas today after Callum Montgomery went No. 4.
The second pick made by the New England Revolution is DeJuan Jones out of Michigan State at No. 11.
Jones tested incredibly well at the MLS combine and received top-10 buzz because of the numbers he put up.
The LA Galaxy traded the No. 12 pick to New York City FC in exchange for the No. 19 and $75,000 in GAM.
NYCFC selects goalkeeper Luis Barraza out of Marquette with the pick acquired from the Galaxy.
With the first of the five picks it acquired from Philadelphia, FC Cincinnati takes Wake Forest’s Logan Gdula at No. 13.
Gdula is a nice addition to Cincinnati’s defense, which is still being worked on.
One pick after Gdula is chosen, Akeen Ward goes to D.C. United at No. 14.
Ward and Gdula were seen as two of the best fullback prospects in the draft class.
Minnesota United acquires the No. 15 pick from Chicago for $50,000 in GAM.
Maryland defender Chase Gasper is the pick for the Loons at 15.
The No. 15 pick has now switched hands between four teams.
Initially, No. 15 belonged to FC Dallas, who traded it to Colorado in the Kellyn Acosta trade.
Colorado then swapped picks with Chicago earlier today, and then Chicago traded it to Minnesota.
Got all that?
ANOTHER TRADE!
FC Cincinnati traded the No. 16 and No. 25 picks to the New York Red Bulls for $100,000 in GAM.
The Red Bulls take UC Davis defender Roy Boateng with the newly-acquired 16th selection.
J.J. Williams continues to drop!!
At No. 17, Real Salt Lake takes midfielder Sam Brown out of Harvard.
Williams, a Generation Adidas member, is still out on the draft board.
And there goes J.J. Williams.
The Columbus Crew take the final Generation Adidas player on the board with the 18th overall pick.
With the pick they acquired from NYCFC, LA Galaxy takes Emil Cuello, a midfielder out of SMU, with the 19th overall pick.
Seattle, SKC, New York Red Bulls, Portland and Atlanta finish off the first round.
Air Force Academy midfielder Tucker Bone goes to the Sounders at No. 20.
Sporting Kansas City goes the defensive route with the No. 21 pick, as it takes Kamar Marriott out of Florida Gulf Coast.