This month, Major League Soccer decided to once again change the way it allocates returning U.S. National Team players, enabling Toronto FC to sign American striker Jozy Altidore.

MLS allowed the move because Toronto held the highest spot in the allocation rankings among clubs interested in the striker. But using these rankings in the case of a Designated Player like Altidore goes against the league's own precedent: In 2013, MLS allowed the Seattle Sounders to sign U.S. National Team captain Clint Dempsey, claiming that designated players "of a certain threshold" were not subject to the allocation rankings.

In both cases, the rule changes directly impacted the Portland Timbers, which sat atop the allocation rankings when Dempsey returned to MLS and also had expressed an interest in Altidore before he signed with Toronto.

While Timbers owner Merritt Paulson said he was a "bit upset" with how the Dempsey situation was handled, he added that he wasn't at all upset with the Altidore situation.

"The process will be more transparent to fans after this," Paulson said. "I am 100 percent in support of more transparency."

MLS has often been criticized for a lack of transparency and also a willingness to bend its own rules.

The allocation rankings were specifically put in place to create an order that MLS could use to assign all returning MLS and U.S. National Team players.

When Dempsey announced that he would be making a return to MLS in 2013, Timbers fans naturally assumed that Portland would have the first chance at signing the National Team star because the club held the first position in the allocation rankings.

While Paulson said the Timbers were never interested in signing Dempsey, he added that he felt the Timbers had the right to be involved in the process because they held the top position in the allocation rankings.

Instead, the league made the decision to change its own rules and bypass the allocation rankings altogether, leaving the Timbers with no claim to Dempsey.

"The league disagreed with me and I accepted that," Paulson said. "Ultimately, he was a huge signing for MLS."

Since Dempsey's return to MLS, the league has continued to be very secretive when it comes to its process of allocating returning U.S. National Team players.

Last season, MLS used a secret blind draw to send U.S. National Team forward Jermaine Jones to the New England Revolution, even though both New England and the Chicago Fire had the available salary budget and designated player spot to sign the forward.

According to an ESPN report, MLS felt the blind draw was a "bad look for the league" and made the decision to revert to using the allocation rankings in the case of Altidore in hopes of having a "clear, consistent process" moving forward.

At the time of publication, Major League Soccer had yet to respond to multiple calls and emails from The Oregonian/OregonLive requesting more information about the league's decision to return to using allocation rankings in the case of Altidore.

When Altidore's interest in returning to MLS was first reported in early January, reports indicated that three teams were interested in signing the striker: the Timbers, Toronto and the New York Red Bulls.

Days before the reports surfaced, Paulson said in a Facebook Q&A that the Timbers had a U.S. National Team player on their "radar." Paulson confirmed to The Oregonian/OregonLive that the player was Altidore.

Still, at the time, Paulson said he was already aware that MLS would use the allocation rankings to handle the Altidore situation, even though this information was not yet publicly known.

Paulson said that Altidore never expressed interest in playing for Portland, so the Timbers didn't push the issue.

While Paulson said that he understands that some Timbers fans would like to see Portland sign a U.S. National Team star, he added that he is more concerned with signing players that will be the best fit for the club.

When a possible deal to sign U.S. National Team midfielder Mix Diskerud in 2012 fell through, the Timbers ended up signing midfielder Diego Valeri, who has arguably been the Timbers' best player since arriving in Portland and does not have any national team commitments to balance with his commitment to the Timbers.

Paulson added that Timbers forward Darlington Nagbe should finally be eligible for the U.S. National Team in September, so it is possible that the Timbers could end up with a U.S. National Team player without having to make another signing.

"Nagbe has a unique skill set," Paulson said. "I'd imagine that he would be someone the National Team would be interested in."

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg