The regulations that govern how MLS clubs can build and structure their teams are complex, convoluted, byzantine, bewildering — so much so that even the people who are paid to understand them occasionally get confused. Over the years, both of us have been asked by quite a few well-regarded club executives if we knew of some way around a sticking point in the roster rules. Confusion reigns in those conversations. Clarity is hard to find.



That could change this winter, when MLS will have the chance to rewrite the roster rules during the upcoming CBA negotiations. Will the league actually make changes that result in a simplified set of regulations? Probably not. The conventional wisdom among our sources suggests that MLS will continue to lumber on with the bulk of the current system in place. Some combination of TAM, GAM, allocation rankings, discovery lists, re-entry drafts and rights of first refusal will remain. Chances are your confusion will, too.



But that...