Which MLS team won the international transfer market in 2016?

The relationship between MLS clubs and the international transfer market is as varied as it is unpredictable.

Some clubs still prefer to chase pricey, more experienced Designated Players. Some, like Orlando City for instance, prefer to chase young DPs instead. Still others scour the transfer market's underbelly, leveraging contacts in lesser-tapped nations in search of undiscovered gems. Hello, Ola Kamara.

In any case, 2016 provided another quiet step in the ongoing evolution of MLS clubs' approach toward international players. With the league's roster rules and salary cap, digging out gems from abroad is perhaps the most difficult thing to do in the league. Doing it well is an art form few have mastered.

Today, let's take a look under the hood at the 2016 international signings from all 20 teams, see how they fared and assign each team a grade. The rubric is mostly based around their impact this season, but in a few cases these moves were made with the future in mind, and that was given credence as well.

So let's take a look. Who won the international transfer market in 2016?

(Note: Only new international player acquisitions are considered on this list. Americans, Canadians, SuperDraft picks or former MLS players acquired from overseas clubs are not included. Statistics reflect regular season only)

Chicago Fire: B-

The Fire were a landing pad for foreign talent in 2016 during Veljko Paunovic's first season in charge. The most resounding impact belonged to John Goossens, who ensconced himself as a meaningful part of the Fire's attack in the middle of the park. There is no one game-changer here, but Paunovic formed the basis of his rebuilding effort with a sturdy foundation that ultimately played 153 games in 2016, far more than any other team. That said, it still didn't save the Fire from the cellar.

Colorado Rapids: B-

There are times when the most robust returns come from the smallest of packages. The Rapids didn't do much on the transfer market in 2016, but Pablo Mastroeni packed a lot of punch into those moves. There weren't many headlines nationally when they picked up Albanian Shkelzen Gashi in the offseason, but he ultimately became arguably the keystone to the Rapids' second-place finish in the West and their deep playoff run. Mekeil Williams, meanwhile, contributed to the league's top defense. Quality over quantity here.

Columbus Crew SC: B-

Gregg Berhalter's connections in Europe have already served Crew SC well, but nobody could've anticipated the impact dished out by Ola Kamara. A relative unknown outside Norway, Kamara scored 16 goals and was a couple of goals shy of MVP consideration. In terms of identifying talent and integrating it, this is the MLS blueprint. That said, the class had a relatively weak year otherwise, which drags it back down to earth slightly. Larsen transferred to Denmark in July, but Naess became a fixture and Martinez was still clawing for time.

D.C. United: C+

You'd need four hands to count the number of teams who could use a player like Luciano Acosta. Poached from Boca Juniors, D.C. United swooped in for a loan (which ultimately became a purchase) that added some feathery silk to the steel. Acosta has the ability to center United's attack, and his renaissance in D.C. is reason for optimism in 2017. But the Andrea Mancini project was an enormous bust, and Alhaji Kamara was a dice roll that may or may not pay out.

FC Dallas: C+

Transfer trends are based on need, and you can see the theme in FCD's this year. Five of these six were either defenders or holding midfielders, an effort to beef up the back with so much attacking firepower already on the roster. The only one who stuck was Carlos Gruezo– the other five are no longer on the team. The young Ecuadorian started Copa America matches in 2016 and became an easy first choice defensive mid. Other than that? Depth or busts.

Houston Dynamo: D

There's not much meat (at all) on this bone. Agus is an aging center back who couldn't crack 700 minutes on a last-place team. The Yair Arboleda and Keyner Brown loans turned out to be duds, and David Rocha, who's now back in Spain, mutually terminated his contract at midseason over "family reasons." There's nothing binding this class together, and new head coach Wilmer Cabrera will no doubt look elsewhere for roster impact.

LA Galaxy: B+

This is the good stuff. Even if you take out Nigel de Jong, who left at midseason after a productive if controversial stint, every other addition is quality personified. Ashley Cole was maybe the best left back in MLS for stretches, Jelle Van Damme was an MLS Newcomer of the Year and Defender of the Year finalist, and speedster Emmanuel Boateng played a ton as a live threat off the wing. There's a reason the Galaxy compete for titles every year, and this kind of shrewdness is a major contributor.

Montreal Impact: B-

Pulling in new players at midseason isn't easy, and expecting them to change games in the postseason is perhaps somewhat foolhardy. But the Impact hit a ringer with Matteo Mancosu, who caught fire late in the year on loan from Bologna and rightly stole Didier Drogba's starting spot. Lucas Ontivero, meanwhile, is one of those young, skilled, all-action midfielders MLS teams covet. This class could've used some filling out, but both signings were winners.

New England Revolution: D-

The Revolution were clearly happy with what they had, because they did almost nothing on the international market in 2016. And the little they did do fell flat. The Xavier Kouassi situation was unfortunate, as the DP was lost for the season in February before he even officially joined the team. Sambinha, meanwhile, got 91 minutes in two games in the span of a week in May. And that was that for the Sporting Lisbon loanee, who was waived in August. Given the Kouassi situation was out of the Revs' hands, the end result was the bottom of the barrel.

New York City FC: B

To the uninitiated this might simply look like an OK class with a handful of role players. But look closer and you'll see the bones of the team that buttressed NYCFC's high-priced Designated Players and made the playoffs for the first time ever. There are 111 games here, from unearthed young gems like fullback Ronald Matarrita to quality forward depth in Steven Mendoza to skillful Boca Juniors loanee Federico Bravo. NYCFC doesn't do what it does without this group.

New York Red Bulls: C-

The jury is still out on this class, which is small and decisively geared toward the future. The Red Bulls didn't need a ton of immediate help, so they went with center back depth in Gideon Baah and help out wide with Austrian Daniel Royer. Baah could come into play as a 2017 partner for Aurelien Collin, and Royer got three starts in September a month after joining the team (Omer Damari, meanwhile, is already gone). That said, there wasn't a ton of substance for 2016.

Orlando City SC: C+

Orlando City's propensity to buy young on the international market snapped this year considering Antonio Nocerino, 31, and Julio Baptista, 35, were their two biggest impacts. The good news is that the hulking Baptista, who was cut on Nov. 23, provided a nice spark almost exclusively off the bench, and Nocerino had an above average season as a holding midfielder. Midseason acquisition Jose Aja played in 10 of 15 matches for which he was available, but it remains to be seen if his 6-month loan deal is extended.

Philadelphia Union: B-

When it comes to finding a one-two punch from abroad, bringing in Roland Alberg and Ilsinho in one fell swoop isn't a bad way to go. Those two provided a driving impetus to the 2016 Union side that snuck into the postseason, and it's fair to conclude they wouldn't have been there without either (and certainly without Alberg's nine goals). That said, they were the only two of these five to finish the year on the first team roster.

Portland Timbers: C+

In the aftermath of an MLS Cup title, the Timbers perhaps didn't feel like major splashes were necessary. That was reflected in depth moves like the loan for winger Jack Barmby, the pickup of 30-year-old center back Steven Taylor and the addition of versatile defender Vytautas Andriuskevicius. The latter cemented himself as a starter late in the year, and Taylor filled in for the injured Nat Borchers, something he may have to do again in 2017.

Real Salt Lake: C-

If it wasn't for an injury, Sunday Stephen might've had more of an impact on RSL's season. As it was, the defensive midfielder picked up in the offseason got 1,115 minutes and showed relatively well in 15 starts. But that was more or less it. Pedro Baez is one for the future, so it's hard to classify his signing as anything else considering he got all of one game, but the 19-year-old looks promising anyway. That, however, didn't help them much in 2016.

San Jose Earthquakes: C+

It isn't often that a player fits hand in glove with their club right off the bat, but so it went for Alberto Quintero in San Jose in 2016. The technically gifted Panamanian was an immediate starter out of training camp for coach Dom Kinnear, and the midfield engine ultimately hit 30 games and 2,230 minutes. That alone was more than just about any team got from a single international signee, but they didn't get much elsewhere.

Seattle Sounders: A-

It's impossible to overstate the impact Nicolas Lodeiro had on the Sounders, and his signing almost singlehandedly turned the Sounders' season from the worst in its MLS history to the best. The MLS Newcomer of the Year was poached from Boca Juniors in July and immediately became one of the league's top creators. What’s more, at 27 Lodeiro likely has a long shelf life as one of the league’s best. The Sounders may only have one player here, but he had a bigger impact than any midseason signing perhaps in league history. Can't avoid that grade.

Sporting Kansas City: C+

If not for Nuno Coelho, this class would be struggling. That said, Coelho proved himself as maybe the most underrated center back in the league in 2016. There's a reason a healthy Matt Besler found it hard to work back into the starting XI. Diego Rubio seemed to be a promising young striker well-attuned to Peter Vermes' setup, but a season-killing knee injury in October is an offseason setback. As for Ever Alvarado and Emmanuel Appiah, their contract options were not picked up.

Toronto FC: C-

It's tough to be too hard on TFC, which didn't need to mine the international market after loading down on players the last two years. So the fact that Panama's Armando Cooper was it, and that even then he only had a third of the season to make an impact, well, it made sense. But Cooper's been immense late in the year as an instigator-in-chief in Greg Vanney's 3-5-2. In fact, he played in six of the team's final seven regular season games and started each of TFC's first three playoff games. A quality cog to find this late in the season.

Vancouver Whitecaps: C+

Vancouver's struggles this season might've been partway down to their silence internationally, but it certainly wasn't down to the efforts of Christian Bolanos, who had one of the better debut seasons in the league. As a wide creator with quality both in the setup and the finish, he developed into an indispensable part of Carl Robinson's game plan. The fanfare around Masato Kudo didn't ultimately match his production as he struggled to find form, but perhaps the kernels are there for a better 2017. The Whitecaps certainly need it.