MLS teams get three Designated Players and teams have the flexibility to use those slots as they like.
With the Seattle Sounders having an open DP slot right now, there's been speculation they will make another big signing to go alongside Nicolas Lodeiro and Raul Ruidiaz.
Don't count on that this year, however, according to GM and president of soccer Garth Lagerwey.
"I wouldn't expect a splashy third DP-level signing," Lagerwey told the "Sounders Weekly" radio show this week. "Our big investments are in Nico Lodeiro and Raul Ruidiaz. Those guys are the cornerstones we're building around and certainly we are going to continue to bring in good players...But I don't anticipate it's going to be at an impact like a Lodeiro or a Ruidiaz."
Lagerwey elaborated that he expects Seattle's third Designated Player to be the club's highest-paid player not on a DP deal, "an accounting mechanism" as he put it, citing that maneuver in the past with former midfielder Ozzie Alonso.
And while that might sound disappointing to fans looking for more star wattage, Lagerwey said the strategy is "consistent with how we expect the league to go forward."
The Sounders open the 2019 MLS regular season on March 2 at home against FC Cincinnati.
