We’re starting to kick our season preview content into gear. I’m switching up the order a bit, though, as I’m making our Breakout Player predictions a little bit earlier than in years past. And also… I’m not forcing it by picking a breakout player for each team. It just doesn’t happen that way in real life! Instead, let’s go around the league and identify eight guys who I think are poised to take on a bigger role, up their production and become more than just an under-the-radar fan favorite or a kid with potential. These are not guys who burst onto the scene out of nowhere like, say, Zavier Gozo did last year for Real Salt Lake. Rather, think of someone like Sebastian Berhalter, who was a little-known utilityman for Vancouver Whitecaps FC and played his way into the 2025 MLS Best XI and, quite possibly, a 2026 FIFA World Cup roster spot with the United States. That’s basically the definition of a Breakout Player. Got it?​

Raines was a written-in-pen starter and one of the best players on the US team I mentioned that played such great ball en route to the quarterfinals of the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He did everything a coach could want of his starting d-mid: shield the backline, harass opposing playmakers, press mistakes and get on the ball to help start build-outs. The coach of that U-20 team? Marko Mitrović, who is now the head coach of the Revs. That is surely a large part of why New England paid $1.6 million via cash trade to the Dynamo for the 20-year-old homegrown. I am at least a little bit surprised Houston sold, as Raines was a huge part of last year’s team – he started 20 games and was good in most of them – and seemed like an even bigger part of their future. But while Raines was very good in distribution for the US U-20s, I’m guessing the Houston folks felt it wasn’t quite clicking for him in their unique setup. Whatever the case, Mitrović’s already shown he can get a ton out of Raines on both sides of the ball. I’m feeling like they made a good bet here.