Sporting KC signs defender ahead of Saturday MLS opener at Austin. Here are the details
With Saturday’s Major League Soccer season opener fast approaching, Sporting Kansas City has made another addition to its 2025 roster.
Set to visit Austin FC at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sporting KC on Thursday announced the acquisition of defender Andrew Brody via a waiver claim.
Brody, 29, was waived by Real Salt Lake earlier this week. He spent the last four years with RSL after signing a homegrown player contract with the Utah organization in 2020.
He has tallied two goals and eight assists in a little over 8,405 MLS minutes at the right-back position, surpassing 2,000 in each of RSL’s last three seasons.
Sporting KC needed another right-back given Jake Davis’ emergence as a midfielder last season. The midfield would seem to be KC’s (and Davis’) preferred spot now.
Davis started Wednesday night’s match against Inter Miami; right-back as Khiry Shelton was not on Sportings 23-man active roster. Shelton did not train in advance of the match, hinting at an injury, but Kansas City was not required to file injury reports ahead of CONCACAF Champions Cup play.
Jan Jurcec was with Sporting during preseason training camp and remained with the team in advance of the Inter Miami match. But as of Thursday afternoon he had not been signed.
Jurcec, who is Croatian, would occupy an international spot on Sporting’s roster. If KC then wanted to add another designated player or U-22 Initiative player, the team might have to swing a trade to acquire another international roster slot.
Brody, who was born in Florida and played at Louisville in college, does not require an international slot. KC will pay him the league’s veteran-minimum salary; RSL will be on the hook for the remainder.
He made $275,000 in 2024, according to the MLS Player’s Association fall salary data. That means Real Salt Lake will likely pay Brody more to not play for RSL than Sporting KC will pay him to don a Kansas City kit.
Brody is under contract through the 2025 season and will be a free agent after that. He spent five seasons with Real Monarchs, RSL’s second team, before signing his homegrown contract in 2020.
Roger Espinoza returns to Sporting KC
Sporting KC’s Roger Espinoza officially announced his retirement as a player last summer.
Less than a year later, he’s back with Sporting as an assistant coach. He will work with the first team, tailor individual training programs and provide off-the-field mentorship to players with the first team, Sporting KC II and the Sporting KC Academy.
Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.
This story was originally published February 20, 2025 at 12:55 PM.