US international Benny Feilhaber was claimed by the New England Revolution today on an allocation. It came after four days of speculation as to whether Chivas USA would pick up the midfielder, after he signed with the league on transfer deadline day.
For those a little shaky on the rules, allocation can mean one of two things in MLS. It either refers to funds that can be used to pay for incoming transfers or to buy salary off the cap or, as in the case today, it refers to the process that “big”, non-DP signings to the league are distributed (remember, the league owns the players in MLS, not the teams.)
We are generally talking about American internationals that are getting paid at, or close to, the max. In Feilhaber's case it’s being suggested that he will be making $400,000.
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In the end Chivas decided that they couldn’t afford Feilhaber’s cap hit. They want a forward and Feilhaber doesn’t meet their needs. Philly had already let it be known that he wasn’t in their plans so it came down to whether New England wanted to grab a hold of the asset.
I say asset because the rumours strongly suggest that Feilhaber is going to end up in Houston. Apparently the Dynamo made an offer to Chivas that would have seen the Goats claim the player then send him to Texas. However, Chivas felt that the No 1 slot in the allocation order was more valuable than what Houston was offering.
Houston and New England are alleged to be hammering out a deal as I type.
By selecting Feilhaber, New England moves to the back of the line. That bumps Toronto up to the four slot and Vancouver to No 15 (the Caps used their allocation to grab Jay DeMerit). Montreal will jump to the top of the list next season.
The full list is:
- Chivas USA
- Philadelphia Union
- Houston Dynamo
- Toronto FC
- Chicago Fire
- Sporting Kansas City
- Seattle Sounders FC
- Columbus Crew
- New York Red Bulls
- Real Salt Lake
- San Jose Earthquakes
- LA Galaxy
- FC Dallas
- Colorado Rapids
- Vancouver Whitecaps
- Portland Timbers
- D.C. United
- New England Revolution
Toronto last made a claim in July 2008 when then GM Mo Johnston used the top pick to claim Brian McBride. It was widely known that McBride was only interested in going to Chicago, so Toronto was using its selection to gain leverage to force Chicago to give up something in return. Eventually Chad Barrett came to the Reds.
TFC’s only other use of the allocation process was in 2007 when it selected Conor Casey.
It’s probably a long shot that Toronto will gain a player off the list this season, but if the opportunity presents itself let's hope the new management will find a way to convince the player claimed to come to Toronto. Allocation picks are often the foundations of good MLS clubs.