It's all here in this Washington Post story about a player who wasn't selected by DCU's academy and ended up in Portland's, but would still require some kind of deal for the Timbers to acquire. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ar-old-moves-cross-country-alone-for-another/
Good article. Really want to cheer for the kid. So let me get this straight, Guevara tried out for DC, didn't make it, then Nyarko talks to Sutherland, Guevara tries out for Portland, Portland want him, and then DC and Portland agree for Guevara to spend time with Portland? That last part irks me. I already don't like the HG trading part, but hypothetically DC could've told Portland to get lost and Guevara couldn't play in any other MLS academy?? By that logic, a kid who is born and raised in a HG territory unwittingly signs a sort of contract with no benefits with the MLS team in that area, right?
I read the story as saying that DCU didn't necessarily have anything to do with his joining Portland's academy, but might say something if they wanted to sign him. Whether that means sign him to the MLS roster, the USL roster, both, etc., I dunno. Either way, it's still a mess -- though, for what it's worth, ASA is one of DC's partner clubs, so the theoretical benefit was arguably the path to the "big club." You can perhaps see the can of worms that opens. https://www.dcunited.com/post/2018/09/11/dc-united-academy-announce-dmv-pathway-2-pro-program
Even worse, the player doesn't have to sign a damn thing. They could be like Sargent, who never played for SKC but had he no European offers, he'd have to sign with them or convince another team to pay something in order to trade for him. Cappis played for the Houston Texans not the Dynamo. Now he can't sign anywhere else and it seems like Houston isn't interested in giving him a contract. What a way to low ball kids and limit choices other than praying at 18 they can move abroad. Gee is it any wonder kids aren't interested in signing with MLS clubs.
To be fair..........................didn't we all know Cappis wasn't eligible for FCD? For a year I was saying "The kid is from Houston's homegrown territory. Surely he's not eligible for FCD." And like we all expected, he wasn't. Ya know, teams trade homegrown rights for nothing. Dallas has a ton of assets in terms of draft picks, GAM/TAM, whatever. I kinda wonder if there's still negotiatin' going on behind the scenes. Heck, FCD could just send the assets they got from LAFC for Shaft Brewer to Houston for Cappis. So what is the situation here? Is Houston just holding the HG rights hostage and not trading them to their biggest rival? Possible. Is Houston holding out while trying to convince Cappis to play for them? Possible. If they're going to trade Cappis' homegrown rights, they can do so to anybody (not just Dallas.) Are they hoping for a bidding war? Things I think I know: 1) Chris Cappis committed to SMU, and I don't see him on their roster. 2) I see no mention of Cappis in FCD's practice reports. 3) I don't think he's at Bayern any more. What I do know is that his twitter feed is still active with FCD-related posts. So he's seemingly still in that circle.
I find it strange that they only time we hear from the MLSPA it is about denying training compensation and solidarity. All these issues that effect players they are silent on. TC&S effect players that have never been MLS players, just like HG territories.