MLS had itself an offseason.

Over the past three months, the league’s stable of teams largely shirked the kind of splashy transfers it had been so wedded to for years and went substance over style. And as you’re about to see, that’s reflected in the reckoning of the best players at every position in MLS.

I’ve taken pains to systematically rank the best players in MLS at every position entering the 2017 season using a combined litmus of skill, production and projection. Unlike Homegrowns, this list is more about who’s ready now as opposed to players who might be better served contributing down the years, although I did wrap that into the package on a few occasions.

In any case, as always these are subjective (although objectively true in Parchmanland). Take that into account before cranking up the Outrage Machine.

Goalkeepers

Yes, I really do believe Blake is currently the best ‘keeper in the league. And yes, despite his postseason shootout heroics, I also don’t think Tim Howard is a top five ‘keeper in the league anymore (nor do I rate Nick Rimando as highly as I might’ve three or four years ago). MLS is a goalkeeper-rich league, and Blake emerged as the league’s best in 2016.

I don’t think you can move Robles off of No. 2 due to his sheer consistency, but Hamid and Bingham are locked in a tight battle that could flip either one way or the other. Frei narrowly squeezed out the third tier – guys like David Ousted and Jake Gleeson – but then again, I think he’s always been criminally underrated nationally.

Center backs

The 2016 MLS Defender of the Year vote could’ve gone either way, but Van Damme had my check mark. The guy is a bolt of cashmere at a position with more rough-spun wool than anything else. Hedges is right there, but I think he’s a tad less fluid.

Ciman would be higher if not for his predilection for rough challenges and subsequent card flirtations. Marshall, the only three-time MLS Defender of the Year winner, is ageless and looks as good as he ever has. And Sjoberg is a swing, but I think he’s shocked everyone with how mobile he is for a 6-foot-7 guy.

Right backs

If you could chart one player’s progression from when he started in MLS and where he is now, I’m not certain anyone’s come so far in so short a time as Afful. He’s added legitimate defensive bonafides to his attacking and crossing game, which was already at league-best levels at the position.

Rosenberry is bouncing off maybe the best defensive year for a rookie in recent memory, while Rogers remains a unique threat as a two-way guy. Abdul-Salaam and Farrell are both quality too, the former as a tornado on the touchline and the latter as a defensive bull after converting from center back.

Left backs

I know it’s somewhat off-kilter that a 36-year-old is the best raiding fullback in the league, but did you watch Cole in 2016? He certainly didn’t look his age. I don’t have a problem calling him the best left back in MLS at the moment. I love Oyongo in Montreal, and I think 2017 is the year he finally gets more attention.

I like Matarrita, but I’d like to see more out of him defensively before scooting him further up. Jones cut loose from some of his defensive mishaps from his earlier days and came into his own as a true two-way defender, while Tierney has slyly been the most consistently overlooked left back in MLS history.

Defensive midfielders

In hindsight, it seems almost inconceivable that Alonso was on the trade block during the 2015 offseason. He hit career form in 2016 and was the driving heartbeat of a championship team that didn’t register a shot on target in the final. I think Alonso and McCarty are in their own league at the moment, but Gruezo is charging hard.

Chara is as consistent a disruptor as it gets in this league, and he’s one of those names you love to have in your colors and can’t stand on the other end. Trapp narrowly beat out a couple names, guys like Kyle Beckerman, due to his rapidly rising star. He might not be the best defensive presence on this list, but he’s easily the best mid-range distributor out of the position in the league.

Central midfielders

Yes, I know we’re all very passionate about Bradley’s true position, but if the 2016 MLS Cup proved anything it’s that Bradley is still raiding opposition final thirds with impunity. I think he’s still more of a pseudo-No. 8. And yes, he’s still MLS elite. I grant that there isn’t much “two-way” about Pirlo’s game these days, but as a deep-lying playmaker he can still influence a game and affect its tempo in a way few can. I dare say he’d start for any of the league’s 22 teams in 2017.

Acosta is blossoming into a nice line-connector between deep and attacking midfield areas, so I think he belongs here. With Dax McCarty in the lineup, Juninho will surprise some folks as to how much of a runner he can be. As for Jones? The jury always seems out, and he always seems to produce. C’est la vie.

Central attacking midfielders

Diego Valeri is the OG of this elite position group now that Javier Morales is edging closer to retirement. He has unlocked so many attacking doors Timbers fans might as well call him the keymaster. Piatti, though, made a play for his crown last year, and the two might be closer to level pegging than not. I think the top three are pretty ironclad (Lodeiro and Piatti may play wider out of necessity, but both are true No. 10s).

But the next two are a bit more subjective. Kljestan belongs on this list, and so does Diaz, but it also (shockingly enough) keeps Kaká off it. While the Brazilian string-puller has been huge in his time in MLS, perhaps a sign of the league’s progression at the No. 10 position is that he can relatively easily be left off a top five.

Left midfielders

For me anyway, there’s little question golazo machine Shkelzen Gashi is the most consistently dangerous left-leaning midfielder in the league at present. Few, at any position, are so goal dangerous from so many different angles. Accam, meanwhile, might be the scariest vertical threat on the left in the entire league.

Nagbe could be higher or lower due to his production, but as I’ve argued before his true value is as the secondary assist man, and in this he’s still an unrivaled technical force. The new Designated Player contract for Plata this offseason was well deserved for such a rare talent, and I think Fagundez should continue his consistent pace.

Right midfielders

I did it. I put three brand-new acquisitions with zero MLS experience in the top three of my right midfielders list. It’s a risk, I know, but on pure talent balance, I can’t see a way around it. All three have immense, rounded skill sets and at least via early returns in preseason (where applicable), I could imagine all three absolutely ripping MLS apart in 2017 in some order.

Barrios has gone underappreciated in Dallas due to the glut of talent at other positions, but ask any fullback who they’d least like to see bearing down off the right and Barrios is easily a top five guy. No. 5 is contentious, but I felt comfortable going with Harrison when combined with his talent ceiling, which is somewhere above the cloud shelf over the Bronx.

Second strikers

What a list this is: The radiating talent here is eye-watering. Those top three aren't moving any time soon. The top two represent the last two MLS MVPs, and Dos Santos isn’t far behind as one of the more dangerous players in space the league has ever seen (and to head you off at the pass, Villa is not a target striker).

The latter two are up for debate, although I can’t see moving a guy like Wondolowski, with all his 10-plus goal seasons, off anyone’s top five. Morris only has one professional year under his belt, but as a rampaging speed striker there are few more menacing. Fourteen goals is pretty nice for a 21-year-old.

Target strikers

I don’t think there’s much worthwhile debate to be had over our top spot. By the time he hangs up his boots, Wright-Phillips might be the best pure goalscoring No. 9 in the league’s history. But second place? That’s another matter. Altidore doesn’t always play as a pure target man – he loves dropping deep – but he’s a grizzly in the box and is impossible to move off possession without fouling. But in a fantasy draft, given the two options, I like Adi’s production and consistency better.

Dwyer, too, is a versatile threat up top, and Larin narrowly wrestled No. 5 away from Ola Kamara thanks to his ideal blend of size, youth, poaching ability and aerial prowess. As for Fredy Montero, I’d like to see him again before folding him into the next edition of our list.