Ahead of the 2015 Major League Soccer season, the Las Vegas bookies predictably gave the star-studded teams the shortest odds of lifting the MLS Cup come December.

[FC Yahoo: The complete MLS Cup playoffs picture and schedule]

The Los Angeles Galaxy, already armed with the league's best striker in Robbie Keane and with Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard on the way, was priced at 7/2. The Seattle Sounders, in spite of having never won the thing, were given 5/1 odds of winning it, courtesy of the mere presence of lethal striker tandem Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins.

[FC Yahoo: Five players in MLS Cup playoffs who could lift floundering USMNT]

But now, with the playoffs about to begin, the picture is very different.

Who's the MLS Cup favorite? Fun to see how the @LVSuperBook title odds have changed since the preseason. pic.twitter.com/J25hCnM6N6 — Paul Carr (@PCarrESPN) October 26, 2015

On the eve of the MLS playoffs, the two teams with arguably the least star power, and certainly the lowest payrolls in the league, currently have the best chances of winning the big trophy. That's per the bookies, anyway, who have priced the Eastern Conference champion New York Red Bulls at 3/1 and Western Conference winners FC Dallas at 5/1.

The Red Bulls and Dallas are teams, rather than glorified marketing ploys. They aren't built around famous players on the downside of their careers, or ones who never quite made it over in Europe. The bulk of their players don't merely fill out a roster around the rich and famous men whose careers are often conflated with the notion of a personal brand. And along that demarcation, the seeding for the MLS playoffs cuts an intriguing divide.

Because the teams, or non-teams, that act as adornment for their stars, as a pretty frame around the ancient and priceless work of art, have fared far worse than their more traditional and balanced counterparts.

View photos At 3/1, the Red Bulls are the favorites to win MLS Cup. (AFP Photo) More

In the East, Toronto FC, with its league-record $22 million payroll spent on U.S. stars Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore and Italian whiz kid Sebastian Giovinco, earned the club's first-ever postseason berth but will make its debut in a perilous knockout game against Didier Drogba's Montreal Impact. New York City FC and its glittering trifecta of thirtysomethings – Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa – didn't even make the playoffs. Neither did fellow expansion team Orlando City and Brazilian superstar Kaka.

Over in the West, the Galaxy stumbled into the postseason, failing to convince even after adding Mexico star Giovani Dos Santos, and were relegated to the play-in round as well. So were the Sounders. The 10 best-paid players in MLS all play for Toronto, NYCFC, Seattle, L.A. or Orlando, yet just three of those teams are still alive.

Meanwhile, the starless Vancouver Whitecaps and Columbus Crew advanced straight into the conference semifinals with a first-round bye, courtesy of their second-place finishes in their conferences.

Which isn't to say that the pricey, once-great Designated Player doesn't offer a return on the considerable investments of their employers. Such signings seem to make business sense. The big names sell jerseys and tickets, and they've brought a great deal of credibility, exposure and cachet to the league. The Designated Player rule has been a successful experiment in that regard.

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