The Curious Case of Miguel Ibarra

Miguel Ibarra is a talented 24 year old currently playing alongside OCSC legend Jamie Watson with  Minnesota United of the NASL.  The young winger has been playing professionally in minor leagues of American professional soccer since 2008 bouncing between the NPSL, USL Premier Development League and NASL.  His most recent stint with Minnesota United has been wildly successful as the young man from New York has not only caught the eye of MLS but also of National Team Coach Jurgan Klinsmann who recently called up Ibarra to the upcoming USMNT Camp. 

Because of Jason Kreis' bababooey moment at the Expansion Draft, Orlando City will have the top pick in USL/NASL Player Priority Ranking.  This means Orlando City will have first choice of any player currently in the American second or third division.  Naturally many have speculated Miguel Ibarra will be a top target for Orlando City.

Out of nowhere however the New York Red Bull (a team soon to be defunct), have placed a ‘discovery claim’ on Ibarra.  Discovery claims are an archaic system setup by MLS that is used to determine which teams get new players coming into the league.  It is a mysterious process full of vagueness that needs reform.  When the Red Bull tried to use the discovery claim to sign Ibarra this past offseason, negotiations fell thru as they did not want to pay Minnesota the transfer fee. If they were not able to workout a deal, how long does this mysterious discovery claim tie Ibarra to the NYRB?  Just to be clear, Ibarra is not a homegrown player despite the fact he is from New York City.  He has never had an affiliation with the Red Bulls in anyway shape or form.  Because of MLS chaotic system however, somehow this young man is tied down to a club that never drafted him, developed him or ever had any affiliation with him.  

MLS now has systems in place to designate where talent plays such as the MLS Super Draft, USL/NASL priority rankings, Designated Player rankings, and waiver/re-entry draft rankings. 

With such systems in place why would Don Garber permit the chaotic discovery process to remain in place?  In my opinion the answer is simple; The MLS is a cartel that likes to manipulate its talent the same way Vince McMahon manipulates the outcome of matches in professional wrestling.  Forgive my skepticism but if a market like Columbus had a Discovery Claim on Ibarra, something tells me Garber would be quick to shoot that claim down.  Ibarra has no connection to the Red Bull.  The young man has been playing professionally and even drafted by the Portland Timbers in the 2012 MLS Supplemental draft (negotiations with the Timbers fell thru).  This backroom nonsense used by MLS to coarse the process of Miguel Ibarra coming into the American top flight by avoiding the USL/NASL priority rankings and simply designating him to play for Red Bull (who will be in dire need of Ibarra being that Thierry Henry has no intention of coming back to New York) is a joke and just another example as to why many of us long time followers of MLS see the league as shady and run by the special interest of the large/profitable markets.

 

As Major League Soccer continues to grow in both popularity and credibility, I believe the league needs more transparency as to how players are designated to play in what market.  The single player ownership model has many positives.  As many of the top professional European clubs and leagues are in dire straits because of gross financial irresponsibility, corruption and a woefully one-sided business models that only favor the top teams, Major League Soccer has continued to grow in a steady and profitable way as can be seen by the steady improvement in player talent coming to MLS, new nine figure multi-million dollar television contracts and continued growth and popularity in the international market as can be seen by the worldwide buzz in the signing of our very own Kaka. These successes can be attributed to many factors one of which is the single-entity business model which MLS operates under.  I am a fan of single-entity.  What I do not like is the ambiguity as to how players are designated to play in different markets.  We as Americans do not like ambiguity.   We do not appreciate any perceived unfairness or corruption.  MLS needs to be more clear in its process, improve the status quo and be clear with its supporters exactly how the player designation process is done.