The Union are about to step into what could be a sprint to the finish in the MLS playoff race

If you’re a fan of playoff races, the Union might soon be part of one of the best Major League Soccer has seen.

As the league returns from the All-Star break, five teams are set to jockey atop the Eastern Conference: currently first Cincinnati, the Union, Nashville, Columbus, and Miami, the last of which has three games in hand on the field thanks to the Club World Cup. Two more teams from the Western Conference, Vancouver and expansion debutant San Diego, are in the race for the leaguewide Supporters’ Shield.

Most of the East’s contenders will face each other, starting Saturday, when Miami hosts Cincinnati (7:15 p.m., FS1 and Apple TV) — with Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba suspended for having bailed on the All-Star Game on the morning of the contest. (When the suspension was announced Friday, many fans cheered the news that the league’s rule applies to the big names too.)

Cincinnati hosts Nashville and the Union later this year, and Nashville hosts Miami on the last day of the season. The Union also visit Vancouver on Sept. 13, their only West Coast trip of the year, and San Diego hosts Nashville this Friday.

While Cincinnati leads for now, some observers have the Union pegged as the favorites. That’s in part because the Union (and Nashville) aren’t in this year’s Leagues Cup, which starts Tuesday, while Cincinnati, Columbus, and Miami are. The days of rest gained from not being in the tournament could help.

“We had our tough month, month-and-a-half even,” striker Tai Baribo said, referring to the team’s nine-game May slate and the June FIFA window that followed it. “Now, except for the [U.S. Open] Cup that we will have again [on a] Wednesday, we’ll play Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, and they will have much more games. We need to take advantage of this and to push as hard as we can, because we will have the power to push.”

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Union manager Bradley Carnell admitted he isn’t thinking about that right now. He said he’s solely focused on Saturday’s game vs. Colorado (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).

“When you get caught in that process, you’re going to be wasting energy thinking about what could be, should be, and whatever, and that’s for me pie in the sky,” he said. “For me, there’s another game, it’s a cross-conference [game], and it’s another three points. So this is only on my mind.”

 The league’s summer transfer window opened Thursday, starting the usual rush to reinforce rosters. The Union don’t have a lot of room to add, with all 21 of their senior roster spots full.

They have some room in their supplemental roster spots, and will gain another when they loan attacking midfield prospect David Vazquez to San Diego FC in the coming days. (It’s an unfortunate turn of events given how much the Union invested in recruiting the 19-year-old from his native Los Angeles, but his path to first-team playing time is blocked by too many other players.)

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Supplemental spots don’t usually work for major summer additions, though. So while the Union could use another centerback and a chance-creating midfielder (which makes the Vazquez loan even more unfortunate), the odds of a big signing seem slim.

“For the most part, you’ve seen us be consistent with rotations, with results, and that’s a sign of a good team and a good roster — a roster we believe in,” Carnell said. “I don’t think there’s any club when a window opens that they’re not looking. We do have some opportunities here or there to acquire some players, and if something presents itself, we’ll have a look. But I don’t think we are desperate to sign anybody right now.”

The Union have been pitched some names, and Carnell and sporting director Ernst Tanner have turned some of them down. They include German star Thomas Müller, who is reportedly interested in moving to MLS after concluding his long tenure at Bayern Munich. But the 35-year-old has been turned down by many teams in the league because of his age and multi-million-dollar price tag.

“It’s not like no names have been brought up,” Carnell said. “There’s been a few, and we’ve either passed on those or [deemed them] not worth it. Only if character-wise, technical-wise, or talent-wise, will we ever even consider something right now, because we do feel the chemistry within the group is excellent.”

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While Baribo was scoring the All-Star Game’s winning goal and taking home MVP honors, a report was making the rounds about his future. The Union’s top scorer this season is in the last guaranteed year of his contract, with a team option for 2026. Talks on a new deal have started, and it’s no surprise that he’d like a raise from his current salary of $810,000.

At the end of June, Baribo’s agent, Shlomi ben Ezra, told One.co.il, one of Israel’s top sports news sites: “As befits the best Israeli striker, it’s not surprising that Tai is aiming for his next move. He deserves to move to one of the best teams in Europe or in MLS, and to upgrade himself.”

Those remarks had flown under the radar until a few days ago when some U.S. outlets picked them up.

The report floated a potential transfer to “one of the New York teams,” which might have been a bit too revealing for its own good. There’s the obvious point that aspiring to a New York team is something any agent would hint at, but also, New York City FC and the Red Bulls have pretty different philosophies about their signings. (On top of that, as one source pointed out , it’s tampering if the teams get too involved with talking about a player under contract elsewhere.)

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Baribo was asked after Friday’s practice for his reaction. He mostly waved the matter off, but acknowledged he’d spoken with his agent, and said talks with the Union about a new deal haven’t gone as hoped.

“First of all, I can’t control what everybody says,” he said. “Right now, Philadelphia, they offered me something that — we negotiated, but they didn’t offer me something that I want.”

He would definitely like to stay if a deal can be reached, and not just because of his success on the field. Baribo and his wife enjoy living here, and their first child is on the way.

“Of course, I love the club, I love the people here. The owners, the city, the fans, they’re amazing,” Baribo said. “They didn’t offer me something really good, but it doesn’t matter, because I’m here, and I’m glad to be here. And I will work as hard as I can, as long as I’m here, and I hope that I will stay here.”

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Apple’s broadcast of the Union-Rapids game will be available not just through the MLS Season Pass subscription, but on Apple’s more widely used Apple TV+ platform – the same place the Phillies were Friday night, along with shows like Severance and The Studio.

Apple has quietly been airing a few MLS games each week on Apple TV+ to increase viewership.

MLS commissioner Don Garber said at his All-Star Game news conference on Wednesday that the league wants to look at “how do we evolve our Apple relationship,” now in its third of 10 years, “to provide more access, to provide more distribution, and perhaps make it easier for our fans to get access to our games.”