MLS, why do you hate the Timbers?

This morning, ESPNFC.com released an article by Jeff Carlisle that seemed to clarify a few unknowns relating to the battle for Jozy Altidore between Toronto FC and the Trimmies. For about a week, it’s been known that both Toronto and Portland have been after Jozy’s services, with Toronto being the apparent front-runner, as usual.

Apparently, Allocation Order matters again.

Silly me, I should have known.

Toronto FC has a higher place in the Allocation Order, so they will have first dibs on Jozy. But why does Allocation Order suddenly matter again, when it clearly didn't for Dempsey, Bradley, and Jones?

Does MLS hate the Timbers? That seems to be the discussion on Twitter right now. Let’s take a slight detour and reexamine the signing of Kris Boyd (“Ugh, not again,” – everyone ever).

In order to sign Kris Boyd (as a DP), the Timbers had to trade one of their 2013 first round draft picks to Houston for Boyd’s Discovery Rights. Makes sense, right? 

But a little over a year later, when Seattle signed Dempsey to a DP contract, people wanted to know why he wasn't subjected to the Allocation Order. Portland had the top spot and Seattle would have had to give us something in exchange for that spot. But we didn't get squat.

Why not?

Because, apparently, players can only be signed using one “mechanism,” as explained by Seattle’s part-owner Adrian Hanauer. “We have different mechanisms by which players can come into the league. You can’t come in through multiple mechanisms. You can’t come in as a Designated Player and an allocation player and a Discovery Player. So [Dempsey] came in as a Designated Player.” (MLS gets cloudier...).

But since Kris Boyd was a Designated Player, why did Portland need his Discovery Rights?

The last three years have been rough. MLS seems determined to screw over Portland with every player signing the league makes. We lost a first round pick to Houston, we lost any form of compensation at all by letting Dempsey pass through the Allocation Order, and now we apparently might lose an opportunity for Jozy Altidore.

MLS: Figure it out.

And to those who want me to sacrifice my tickets for a year, two years, or perhaps 50 years in order to take a stand against MLS…no.  

I'll leave you with this wonderful video of Adi after practice, attempting to answer the greatest question ever asked: 

<3 Clon & Dran