MLS Waiver Draft: Marco Ureña taken, NYRB trade up for Marcus Epps | OneFootball

On Wednesday afternoon, four players were selected in the 2018 MLS Waiver Draft.

The Red Bulls selected midfielder Marcus Epps from rivals Philadelphia Union after they traded away their second-round pick in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft to the San Jose Earthquakes to move up to the number one spot in Wednesday’s draft.

After Epps was selected with the 25th overall pick in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft, the 23-year-old made 32 appearances and scored three goals while contributing three assists in two seasons with Philadelphia.

Epps has also spent part of his two professional seasons on loan with the Union’s USL-affiliate Bethlehem Steel, where he scored three goals over 25 appearances.

The Chicago Fire made a pair of selections, first taking Panamanian international winger Cristian Martínez from the Columbus Crew before drafting Costa Rican international forward Marco Ureña from LAFC.

In three seasons with the Crew, the 21-year-old Martínez scored once and had two assists over just 1,275 minutes of MLS action. He was in Panama’s preliminary 35-man squad for the World Cup but did not make the trip to Russia.

Ureña will head to Chicago in what will be his third MLS side in three seasons. Despite appearing in his second-straight World Cup with Costa Rica, the 28-year-old struggled to make the desired impact for LAFC, scoring just once and adding five assists in 18 matches.

The fourth and final player selected in the Waiver Draft was Ricky Lopez-Espin, who will head to LAFC after one season with Real Salt Lake.

Last season’s 33rd-overall SuperDraft pick spent most of his time on loan with RSL’s USL affiliate Real Monarchs and made just one MLS appearance.

The players who were not selected are now free to sign with the team of their choice.

The Waiver Draft included players who are not eligible for the re-entry draft or free agency and either:

A) are out of contract and have not been issued a genuine offer OR

B) have not had their 2019 options exercised.

Players under contract who are selected in the Waiver Draft will be automatically added to the drafting club’s roster.

Clubs that claim out-of-contract players must issue a genuine offer to the selected player.

All four players selected on Wednesday saw their options declined this offseason as each team will be required to issue a genuine offer to the player they picked.

The next step in the MLS offseason is Friday’s Re-Entry draft, which will take place at 3 pm EST.