Toronto FC sign defender Hedges in free agency
Toronto FC have signed free-agent defender Matt Hedges through the 2024 MLS season with options through 2025-26. The deal was completed using Targeted Allocation Money. The 32-year-old center back is the all-time appearances leader (349) at FC Dallas across all competitions. He’d spent his entire professional career (2012-22) with the MLS Western Conference club, often wearing the captain’s armband, until his contract option was declined after 2022.
2023 Generation adidas class announced
Major League Soccer on Monday announced eight distinguished college players in the 2023 Generation adidas class and released the tentative list of players eligible for selection in the MLS SuperDraft 2023 presented by adidas.
Sign up for The Daily Kickoff in your inbox! The Daily Kickoff is more than an article – it can be delivered to your email account as well.
The 2023 MLS SuperDraft is tomorrow at 5 pm ET. It understandably has its detractors, especially at this point, but time after time teams still seem to pull genuine value out of this thing. Some teams do it better than others. In no particular order, here are the best teams in the league at getting the most out of the SuperDraft over the past half decade.
I know we said “in no particular order,” but it seems kind of apparent New England have kind of outpaced most everyone here. In 2013 they drafted Andrew Farrell and, 300-plus appearances later, I think we can go ahead and call that a solid move. Then, in 2018, they grabbed Brandon Bye and a year later they picked up DeJuan Jones. In 2020, they drafted Henry Kessler. They’ve manifested their entire back line—the same one that helped set an MLS points record a year ago—via the SuperDraft.
Throw in picking up Tajon Buchanan in 2019 and the Revs have a claim to the totally real and not made up title of Best SuperDrafters.
A general rule of thumb in the SuperDraft is that defenders and goalkeepers are more likely to pan out in a meaningful way. See: That whole New England making their entire back line out of SuperDraft picks thing.
But Orlando have maybe bucked that trend more successfully than anyone. Cyle Larin, Chris Mueller and Daryl Dike are all products of Orlando SuperDraft picks. That’s 106 goal contributions over 218 MLS appearances for the Lions. It’s also a reported $9.47 million transfer fee for Dike.
They’re pretty much only getting credit here for drafting Roldans. But Cristian and Alex have made more than 300 appearances for Seattle and contributed to MLS Cup wins and a CCL title. That’s more than enough to place the Sounders on this list. Seriously, the bar here was way lower than I expected than when I started looking through SuperDrafts. Kind of feels like if you hit on two players over the past decade you did an outstanding job. Which, hey, speaking of…
There’s a serious argument that Atlanta’s 2017 SuperDraft is one of the best ever. The Five Stripes picked up Miles Robinson and Julian Gressel with their first two picks ever. Gressel won them an MLS Cup and Robinson has turned into one of the best defenders in the league and a USMNT staple.
New England could maybe put themselves into that argument thanks to picking up Tajon Buchanan and DeJuan Jones in 2019, but if I had to pick, the best draft class of the last decade goes to 2013 FC Dallas. Walker Zimmerman and Ryan Hollingshead in one go is as outstanding a class as they come in league history. The pair made 282 appearances for Dallas and won a Supporters’ Shield in 2016.
I wouldn’t quite call them an honorable mention, but there is a caveat here. They get a ton of points for taking Andre Blake back in 2014 but, other than that, they’ve largely ignored the SuperDraft. Especially in recent years. I mean, seriously, they’ve either passed on or traded every single draft pick since taking Matt Danilack with the 77th pick in 2018.
I’ve been trying for a couple of years now to get them to draft me using one of these picks they aren’t going to use anyway, but I’ve been (rightly) ignored. They won’t even draft someone as a bit.
Anyway, they’ve routinely traded picks for a significant amount of allocation money. Obviously, it’s a strategy that’s paid off. They’ve arguably been the best team in the East since they started skipping out on the draft. I would expect more of the same on Wednesday.
Unless they draft me. I would just draft me, to be honest.
Philadelphia Union re-sign goalkeeper Bendik: The Philadelphia Union have re-signed goalkeeper Joe Bendik to a one-year deal through the 2023 MLS season. The 33-year-old was out of contract after the 2022 campaign, when Philly finished second in the Supporters’ Shield race and as the MLS Cup runner-up.
LA Galaxy re-sign goalkeeper Klinsmann: The LA Galaxy have re-signed goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann through the 2023 season with an option for 2024.
LA Galaxy sign goalkeeper Bond to contract extension: The LA Galaxy have signed goalkeeper Jonathan Bond to a contract extension through the 2024 MLS season with an option for 2025. The 29-year-old has 12 clean sheets in 67 appearances across all competitions during two seasons as the Galaxy's starting goalkeeper.
- Matt Doyle has your Cheat sheet for what all 29 teams need in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft.
- Take a look at how to watch and what to know about the 2023 MLS SuperDraft.
Good luck out there. Say thanks when ya can.
