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Money is a thing many MLS clubs might not be used to. Or at the very least, no one knows how it feels to be the LA Galaxy. Given the large influx of cash that MLS has been able to obtain over the last few years, one relic from MLS 1.5 might be on its way out - the Expansion Draft. A report yesterday on Yahoo! Sports says that discussions are being held on the elimination of this mechanism.
Every club that has come after the original ten has done it. The Philadelphia Union picked up a little known player from the Seattle Sounders by the name of Sebastian Le Toux when it was their turn to draft in 2009. For the Union however, the Expansion Draft has been a double edged sword. Shea Salinas knows all about the Expansion Draft, having been taken by the Union in 2009 and then again by Vancouver Whitecaps in 2010. More recently, the Union had Pedro Ribeiro drafted by Orlando City, however what we could be on the verge of is replacing how the Union lost Ribeiro with a system more like how OCFC landed Amobi Okugo - cold, hard cash in the form of Allocation money.
More money, less problems might be how the saying goes if you work in MLS headquarters these days. With the league becoming almost obsessed with winning the CONCACAF Champions League, an expansion draft doesn't seem to fit in with the structure. Losing out on a key CCL player because Atlanta United needed to have Shea Salinas (sorry again Shea) isn't fair at all to the Whitecaps. What we are going to see under this new process is just that, a bit more fairness. No more confusing protection and exemption rules, no more stealing marquee names or future stars from fellow clubs. You need to pay to play that game. Also given the average club is worth far more then they were when MLS started doing this with the Chicago Fire and Miami Fusion in 1997, this plan makes a lot of sense.
Of course all this is purely speculation until we either hear word from Commissioner Garber or Atlanta United doesn't get to cherry pick when they enter the league in 2017. Until then all we have is Danny Pena being a great answer to an MLS trivia question.