While technically accurate, describing new Sounders goalkeeper Trey Muse as a “Homegrown Player” signing is a bit of a linguistic stretch.



Muse came of age in Louisville, Kentucky, relocating to the Northwest during his junior year of high school to join the Sounders Academy. He spent two years with the Rave Green before heading to Indiana University, where he helped lead the Hoosiers to back-to-back College Cup final four appearances.



Now, after two seasons at IU, Muse is headed back to Seattle after having inked that aforementioned contract earlier this week. All told, he’s spent about two of his 19 years in the city he’ll now represent as a Homegrown. Such is the shifting meaning of that word — and that specific MLS player acquisition mechanism.



Muse’s signing is emblematic for a couple of different reasons, as well.



The waning significance of the MLS SuperDraft, for one: The 2019 draft took place on Jan. 11, or...