Union trade away three years of future draft picks, showing again they value academy prospects more

Union sporting director Ernst Tanner has never been shy about his preference for developing prospects within the club’s youth academy instead of through college soccer. It’s already been nearly six years since he made that clear for the first time, trading all of the Union’s college draft picks in 2019 to then-expansion team FC Cincinnati.

This week, Tanner made another big statement. The Union announced Tuesday that they’ve traded all of their picks in the next three drafts to the Colorado Rapids for cash in MLS’s allocation money system (effectively extra salary-cap space).

It’s a headline-grabbing move, but it shouldn’t be surprising. Along with Tanner’s preference, a fleet of high-ceiling Union academy prospects has reached the cusp of the professional ranks, with some already holding reserve and first-team contracts. Giving roster spots to college prospects, especially on the reserve squad, would naturally block homegrown progress.

In other sports, college draft picks are prizes to be cherished and parted with only for big ransoms. But in MLS, the college pathway is far less important, and only a handful of players at most each year become pros. There have been calls for a few years to ditch the college draft entirely and let teams sign those players on the free market — a move the NWSL made this year.

That’s part of the reason the Union traded or passed on all of their college draft picks from 2019-22. They didn’t make a first-round pick from 2017, when Tanner’s predecessor Earnie Stewart was in charge, until 2023 when they drafted Holden Trent.

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In this latest deal, Colorado agreed to pay $350,000 split over the next three years, plus up to $250,000 more if those draft picks hit performance metrics. The Union gave up a total of eight first-round picks along with three first-rounders, three third-rounders, and second-rounders in 2026 and 2027.

(The 2025 second-round pick was already traded to, perhaps not coincidentally, Colorado in the deal that landed backup goalkeeper Oliver Semmle.)

So are the Union ahead of the curve? Only time will tell whether the players the Rapids draft end up making the grade. But if you had to bet on either them or the Union’s prospects, you’d take a long look at the latter.

Neil Pierre, a 17-year-old, 6-foot-6 centerback, is drawing raves as the best prospect at the position in club history — even better than Mark McKenzie and Auston Trusty, both now stalwarts of European clubs. Northeast Philadelphia-bred left back Frankie Westfield captained Union II at age 19 this year, and led the MLS Next Pro league’s youngest squad to the title game.

Eddy Davis, 18, was Union II’s top scorer this year (14 goals in 31 games) while playing on an amateur contract. And 16-year-olds Jamir Johnson, Anisse Saidi, and 17-year-old Diego Rocío have already played for the U.S., Tunisian, and Mexican youth national teams, respectively.

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Those four are among at least seven notable forward prospects in the Union’s pipeline — a remarkably high number for the only position where the club has never brought a homegrown product all the way through to the first team. That alone is worth clearing the pipeline for.

There’s even a good goalkeeping prospect in Mike Sheridan, who’s likely to be Union II’s starter next year with Andrew Rick set as Andre Blake’s backup.

And this is all before getting to the cream-of-the-crop youngsters already on first-team deals: Cavan Sullivan, CJ Olney, and David Vazquez.

Fans who’ve watched these players have seen their potential, and know that even if they don’t ultimately make it, the pathway has to be kept clear to try. So it wasn’t surprising that social media reactions to the trade were generally positive.

MLS’s newest team, San Diego FC, will make its expansion draft picks Wednesday night, and the league announced the draft pool on Tuesday.

Each of the other 29 teams got to protect 12 players each, and all homegrown players are automatically protected on top of that. Because the Union hold so many homegrowns, they ended up with relatively few players exposed, and many of them were already leaving the club.

The eight players who are officially available — or at least whose rights are available — are centerback Jack Elliott (a free agent), right back Jamir Berdecio (whose loan ended), left back Isaiah LeFlore, midfielders Alejandro Bedoya (free agent) and Leon Flach (returning to Germany), and forwards Sam Adeniran (already signed with a club in Austria), Chris Donovan, and Joaquín Torres (a free agent).

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It’s certainly noticeable that the Union exposed Elliott and Bedoya, but since both are free agents, it lets the club protect other players under contract.

San Diego gets to select five players across all clubs, and can take only one from any given club. So the Union’s odds aren’t bad here.

The draft will take place Wednesday at 10:30 p.m., streamed online at SanDiegoFC.com.