Forgetting about why he's been locked or frozen out of the starting line-up by head coach Peter Vermes, the opinion from most pundits is that Bieler is still a good player and maybe even a borderline great player with the right team in place around him. As a point of reference look at his xGoals.

Just last year he produced 9.29 xGoals for the season finishing 11th overall on accumulation. That was a nudge over 20% of all of Kansas City's expected goals accumulated. Over a full season, he would be on pace for the 10+ xgoal range, which would put him somewhere in the assumed Top-15 of total goal scorers in the league. Think about that, and then realize that he's currently one of the cheaper DP striking options in MLS---beaten only by Erick Torres ($152,000)---at a gutbusting $225K annually.

El Taca's Designated Player status is largely wrapped around the fee that was paid to acquire him from LDU Quito, which is rumored to be a little over a million. Should that be correct, and based upon what information is available, that DP tag could fall off this off-season. Making him one of the top targets around MLS, assuming Bieler is willing to stay in the states.

The word at last season's end was pretty much that Bieler was done in KC and that he would be looking for... something else. That didn't happen. So you have to wonder if a season with far less opportunities is going to prompt him to "run for the hills". That said a legit contract and playing time could always tempt a player of his situation into staying with the league.

He honestly makes perfect sense for far too many clubs that will seek to resolve issues with their attack. A couple quick examples would be: The club formerly known as Chivas, Houston and Vancouver would all three be really interesting cases to look at. That's not even accounting for New York, LA and Seattle all having potential questions marks with their men up top going into next season.

This is all a waiting game but I would be excited to see what Bieler could do to this league if given a chance.

#FreeBieler