| Chicago Fire |  sortname|Frank|Yallop
Player transfersMajor League Soccer employs twelve methods to acquire players. These mechanisms are the following: via allocation; via the Designated Player Rule; via the annual SuperDraft; via trade; placing a discovery claim; via the Homegrown Player Rule; via the annual Re-Entry Draft; via the annual Waiver Draft; through weighted lottery; through an "extreme hardship" call-up; by replacing a player who has been placed on the Season Ending Injury List; by replacing a player who has been placed on the Disabled List.
Allocation rankingThe allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. National Team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the League after having gone to a club abroad for a transfer fee. The allocation rankings may also be used in the event two or more clubs file a request for the same player on the same day. The allocations will be ranked in reverse order of finish for the 2013 season, taking playoff performance into account.
Once the club uses its allocation ranking to acquire a player, it drops to the bottom of the list. A ranking can be traded, provided that part of the compensation received in return is another club's ranking. At all times, each club is assigned one ranking. The rankings reset at the end of each MLS League season.
| Original Ranking | Club | Date Allocation Used | Player signed | Previous club | Ref | | 1 | Philadelphia Union | January 27, 2014 | 
Rule changesThe rules for the 2014 season are largely identical as those in 2013, with one major exception. For the first time in league history, the away goals rule will be used in two-legged MLS Cup playoff matches. MLS will use the version of the rule employed in CONCACAF competitions, which is applied only at the end of regular time of the second leg and not after extra time. MLS has also tweaked the tiebreaker rules for the league standings. The first tiebreaker remains total wins, but the second and third tiebreakers have been swapped—goal difference is now second and goals scored is third. All other tiebreakers remain the same as in 2013.
More minor changes include the following:
- The so-called "Special Discovery Signing" has been standardized. Under this provision, each team is allowed to amortize the total acquisition costs for one player, including the transfer fee, over the length of his contract without making him a Designated Player.
- Regulations for loans between MLS teams have been formalized. Each team may loan out one player per season to another league team, with the loan deal being finalized no later than the close of the primary transfer window. The player must be no older than 24 at the time of the loan, must stay on the receiving team's roster for the entire season, and cannot play against the team that loaned him out. Deals may include an option to buy.
- Players who have trained for at least one year in a team's youth system, and have trained for at least 80 days with the team's academy in that year, may be signed to a first professional contract without being subject to the MLS SuperDraft.
The salary cap for 2014 has also been adjusted upward. The team salary cap, which as in previous years covers the first 20 of the 30 available roster spots, has increased to $3.1 million. The cap charge for a Designated Player is now $387,500, up from $368,750 last season. Midseason Designated Player signings carry a cap charge of $193,750. The minimum salaries for "off-budget" players have also increased from last season.
Player statisticsHat-tricks| Player | For | Against | Score | Date |
AwardsWeekly awardsThe player of the week is voted on by North American sports journalists. All other weekly and monthly awards are decided by an online fan vote.
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