Winners and losers from the MLS offseason

MLS is almost back and the offseason is thankfully almost over. With just a few more days before the real games begin, here's a breakdown of who had the best and worst outcomes following the league's hiatus.

For the sake of not stating the obvious, I'll just be excluding Inter Miami from this exercise.

Winners

Nashville SC

After making a run at Paul Rothrock, the Coyotes made the biggest free-agent splash of anybody, going out and getting Cristian Espinoza after he unexpectedly became available thanks to an apparent clerical error by the San Jose Earthquakes. That puts one of the league's best wide playmakers over the last six years on the same team as Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge, forming a scary attacking trio on paper. They also pulled off what could turn out to be a shrewd move with their cash-for-player trade for Reed Baker-Whiting for $800k plus add-ons, and reinforced their defense with the arrival of highly rated Ghanaian center back Maxwell Woledzi. There's a lot to like there.

As far as outgoing players, most of their losses were of older veterans like Gastón Brugman, Walker Zimmerman, Teal Bunbury and Tyler Boyd. BJ Callaghan's side was good in 2025, but their roster feels well-positioned for them to leap into genuine contender status.

Charlotte FC

They took care of their first order of business early, fully acquiring Pep Biel from Olympiacos. The Spaniard was looking like a genuine MVP candidate last year before going down with an injury, putting up 10g/12a in just over 2,000 minutes. If they can keep him healthy, it could be the season he becomes a true household name in MLS. Keeping him stateside was a big win for CLTFC.

As for actual new additions, I also like the move for USMNT midfielder Luca de la Torre after he spent last season on loan at San Diego FC. He got overshadowed a bit playing next to one of the league's best No. 6s in Jeppe Tverskov, but de la Torre had a really good year in his own right, showing himself as a high-level MLS starter.

Houston Dynamo FC

This pick could backfire, but if the Dynamo flop again in 2026, it won't be for lack of effort or spending. After a relatively uninspiring move to bring back Héctor Herrera, Houston ended up having one of the splashiest offseasons in the league, going out and getting the DP duo of Mateusz Bogusz and Brazilian winger Guilherme.

MLS fans will remember Bogusz from his run with LAFC, where he broke out before earning a hefty transfer to Cruz Azul. But it's Guilherme who could be a sneaky pick for Newcomer of the Year. He's apparently been absolutely tearing it up in preseason, hitting the New York Red Bulls for a hat trick in their scrimmage a few days ago. At the very least, this team should be fun to watch on offense. They made a major defensive addition as well, bringing in Lucas Halter from Botafogo.

LAFC

It was a quiet offseason by LAFC standards, but they made one move in particular that stands out with the acquisition of Canadian international midfielder Stephen Eustáquio. He's been a master midfield metronome for Canada for years, so he should give the Black & Gold an immediate boost there while lending support to the demonic duo of Son Heung-min and Denis Bouanga. I expect Eustáquio to thrive in MLS.

They double-dipped on Canadian internationals by trading for Jacob Shaffelburg from Nashville, which isn't a big-name addition on paper. But he feels like the type of guy that LAFC always seem to get the best out of. It wouldn't shock me at all to see Shaffelburg break out for them in a way he never did with Toronto or Nashville.

Chicago Fire

I won't pretend to know a great deal about them, but it seems like all of Chicago's additions from outside the league are highly rated. They signed a pair of South African U22s in center back Mbekezeli Mbokazi and winger Puso Dithejane, who are both exciting prospects, according to the scout and pundit class. They also went out and got Anton Salétros, who has an impressive track record from his time in the Swedish top-flight.

Then, you've got a potentially savvy intra-league addition with the signing of Robin Lod in free agency. The Finnish international was quietly one of the more consistent players in the league during his time with Minnesota United, and he won't be tasked with carrying the full load on a team with Philip Zinckernagel, Jonathan Bamba and Hugo Cuypers. Gregg Berhalter achieved baseline competency for this team in 2025, which is honestly a huge accomplishment. They look set up to move to another level in 2026.

Losers

Minnesota United

Dayne St. Clair is in Miami. Hassani Dotson in Seattle. Joseph Rosales is in Austin. Lod is in Chicago. Eric Ramsay is back in England. That's five major departures between all the starting players they lost and the head coach. Drake Callender feels like a clear downgrade from St. Clair. Then you've got veteran additions like Peter Stroud and Kyle Duncan, who are fine players, but not building blocks.

They did get one of the biggest names of anybody with their move for Colombian legend James Rodríguez, but can he really be expected to carry the whole load at age 34 in the year 2026? New head coach Cameron Knowles might have to reinstitute Ramsay Ball in order to keep this thing on track.

San Jose Earthquakes

Losing Espinoza was already tough enough, and then they ended up having to transfer Chicho Arango back to Colombia due to personal reasons just weeks after he signed a long-term contract extension. That's a rough go.

Similar to Minnesota, their attempt at addressing that came in the form of a big-money move for a globally recognized name in the form of Timo Werner. But even if the German is a smash hit, it doesn't seem like one guy can be enough to offset everything they lost, unless he has a truly MVP-caliber season. That’s not impossible for a player of his pedigree, but it's now been a few years since Werner looked like a dominant force, so it feels like a dicey gamble at best. But it is one they probably had to make.

Portland Timbers

I actually really like the trade for Cole Bassett from Colorado, but it seems like the plan is to build the whole team around him, and he never struck me as quite that level of player during his time with the Rapids. Their only other two moves were signing free agent Brandon Bye and Australian centerback Alex Bonetig.

They need a couple of additions in the summer window aimed at replacing or upgrading on some of their departures, like Maxime Crépeau, Cristhian Paredes, David Ayala and Jonathan Rodríguez. Right now, it feels like they're going into the season a little behind the eight-ball.

Philadelphia Union

This season will be the true test of the power of the Philadelphia Union. Jakob Glesnes, Tai Baribo, Mikhael Uhre and Kai Wagner are all gone. That's a Defender of the Year-winning centerback, one elite striker, one really good striker, and arguably the best left back in the league over the last five years. No one's had more star power vacate their roster, and it's just hard to imagine their inbound moves making up for that much lost proven production.

All that said, the Union have been in similar situations before and they always seem to stay near the top of the Eastern Conference. No one thought they would be good last year and they won the Shield. If they do it again this year, it'll be their most impressive accomplishment yet.

Sporting Kansas City

This might be my pick for the most decimated roster in the league at the moment. It's actually tough to analyze because it has the largest number of players I've never heard of. A full teardown and rebuild is what this team needed, so it's a sound strategy from that perspective. But when Calvin Harris (the soccer player, not the DJ) is your biggest-name addition, that's just an inherently tough place to be as an MLS team.