Ranking every MLS team’s 2024 summer transfer window from worst-to-first

MLS doesn’t have enough winners and losers — and that’s by design.

The league’s constraining roster rules and regulations have been purpose-built to keep a tight gap between the best and worst teams. Toss in the fact that 62% of the league makes the playoffs and you’ve got a real “everybody gets a trophy” situation on your hands. We need more winners in MLS. We need more losers, too. Those things build the kinds of stories that make any product more compelling. 

To that end: today, I’m making my own winners and losers by ranking MLS teams based on their summer business.

With the secondary transfer window officially closed, teams have made most of the rest of their big additions for the year. Now, we could still see some players moving from MLS to other countries with many other transfer windows around the world not closing until the end of August or very start of September. We could also see teams pick up a few free agents. Still, we have plenty of information to put together a quality list. 

The winners? They’re primed and ready for a late-season push. The losers? Maybe not so much.

Let’s get to the transfer rankings, working from worst to first.

*Deal not yet announced as of this story's publish time.

29. Seattle Sounders

Notable incomings: N/A

Notable outgoings: N/A

Yeah…

Seattle. did nothing to meaningfully elevate their chances of winning a trophy this year. They didn’t fill their open U22 Initiative spot and they didn’t ditch Raul Ruidiaz. The Sounders are still a strong team, but their margin for error is smaller than the best in the West.

28. San Jose Earthquakes

In: N/A

Out: N/A

Is anyone surprised that the Quakes had a quiet summer? No? I didn’t think so. The worst team in the West has a coaching vacancy to fill, a roster to overhaul, and a reputation as one of the league’s least-ambitious clubs to maintain.

27. Vancouver Whitecaps

In: Edier Ocampo

Out: Javain Brown

The Caps entered the summer window with an open DP spot…and they exit the summer window with an open DP spot. Ownership apparently doesn’t want to invest into making Vancouver a true threat in the Western Conference, which is a shame for those of us watching along at home.

Letting go of outside defender Javain Brown and adding 20-year-old Colombian right back Edier Ocampo from Atletico Nacional doesn’t move the needle all that much for me.

26. Chicago Fire

In: Ariel Lassiter

Out: Xherdan Shaqiri

It’s the end of an error, uh, I mean “era” in Chicago. Two errors, actually. Shoot, I did it again. Well, I’m not going back to fix it now…

Sporting director Georg Heitz is riding off into the sunset after this season and Xherdan Shaqiri and the Fire agreed to a contract termination earlier this week. Assuming you don’t mourn for the millions and millions of Joe Mansueto’s money spent on Shaqiri (and the millions more misspent by Heitz), then those are both positive developments. However, they won’t improve the Fire in 2024 and they were incredibly long overdue.

You don’t get credit for late work around here.