With just 17 players currently under contract, the Fire’s new technical staff has plenty of heavy lifting to do between now and the March 1 opener in Seattle.



Sporting director Georg Heitz, technical director Sebastian Pelzer and head coach Raphael Wicky have only been on the job for a few weeks, but they have been tasked with filling a variety of holes across all positions in a short period of time. If the rumor mill is to be believed, they’ve cast a fairly wide net into the transfer market with potential signings in Europe, South America and Mexico, although no big news appears to be imminent.



Players are due to report for preseason camp next week, and goalkeeper, defense, midfield and forward are all areas that require attention. But the lack of news shouldn’t be alarming just yet. The next two weeks should feature several new player signing announcements. Heitz and company appear to have substantial financial backing from owner Joe Mansueto and...