Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com

As it turns out, Arturo Alvarez won't be suiting up for Chivas USA heading into the 2012 MLS season after all.

Alvarez, who was selected by Chivas in the first stage of the MLS Re-Entry Draft but never came to terms with the club as he sought opportunities overseas, has reportedly signed with Portuguese top-flight club Pacos de Ferreira on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

Marc Burch (left) was the first player selected in stage two of the Re-Entry Draft. (Getty Images)

The second stage of the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft came and went with a flurry of picks from the defending MLS Cup champions, LA Galaxy.

LA needed depth for the possibly 50ish games that they will play next year with the Champions League knock-out stage in the spring, followed by the 2012/13 group stage in the fall.

And they were the busiest MLS team in the draft period. Two are their own re-signed players: recently acquired defender Dasan Robinson and seldom used veteran Frankie Hejduk. The Galaxy also picked up: Chivas USA defender Andrew Boyens, veteran defender Chris Leitch, veteran Pat Noonan and veteran goalkeeper Jon Conway.

So Stage 2 of the Re-Entry Draft has just concluded. It was a bit more lively than Stage 1 but still not hugely impactful. Most teams passed outright with the Los Angeles Galaxy taking a starring role by adding four players and picking up two of their own players again.

Unsurprisingly the Portland Timbers passed on Stage 2 and also passed on selecting their own players once again.

Photo by Jose L. Argueta/ISIphotos.com

Although the majority of teams passed on the opportunity to add players in the second stage of the MLS Re-Entry Draft, a few used Monday's exercise to stockpile depth ahead of the 2012 preseason.

Three teams took multiple players, spearheaded by the defending champion Los Angeles Galaxy, who made four selections: defenders Andrew Boyens and Chris Leitch, veteran forward Pat Noonan and veteran goalkeeper Jon Conway.

Who will be saved and who will be left unprotected for San Jose? (Getty Images)

I am back on the expansion draft list bandwagon this afternoon. I've been working here and there this week on compiling several club's lists. Currently I am only working on teams that are eliminated from playoff contention though next week we'll have plenty more as teams fail to advance in the post season will be up to eight and then up to 12 when the wildcard round ends.

The MLS Reserve League is petering to a close. Tonight's match against the San Jose Earthquakes doesn't mean anything in any standings (Seattle has already won the MLS Western Reserve Division), but it does give Sigi Schmid an opportunity to see a few of his players on the deep bench. The Seattle Sounders have 6 available outfield players who have played in 4 or fewer MLS matches.

San Jose Earthquakes (6-11-11) vs. Houston Dynamo (9-9-12)
September 17, 2011 -- Robertson Stadium
Attendance: 18,129

Scoring Summary:
SJ -- Khari Stephenson 4 (Steve Beitashour 5, Joey Gjertsen 3) 40
HOU -- Brad Davis 4 (penalty kick) 47
HOU -- Will Bruin 5 (Luiz Camargo 1, Danny Cruz 3) 79

San Jose Earthquakes -- Jon Busch, Steve Beitashour, Nanna Attakora, Bobby Burling, Ramiro Corrales, Joey Gjertsen (Jacob Peterson 63), Sam Cronin (Maxwell Griffin 82), Rafael Baca, Simon Dawkins (Matt Luzunaris 83), Khari Stephenson, Chris Wondolowski.

The Quakes ended their 4 game streak of being shutout by the opposing team by scoring two goals against Vancouver. Both goals were scored by Chris Wondolowski, bringing his season total up to 8, which is good enough to be tied for 4th in the Golden Boot race. Unfortunately the defense fell asleep a bit Wednesday night by allowing two relatively easy goals for Vancouver, both of those goals being scoring by Eric Hassli, who is also tied for 4th in the Golden Boot race with 8 goals on the season.

Chivas USA's second Wednesday night game of the season did not prove a crowd crushing experience driving into Home Depot Center tonight.

And if it hadn't been for the way to many parking lot attendants and unnecessary barriers preventing you from finding a spot easily and quickly I would have been through the gates even quicker.

The Los Angeles Galaxy reserves are on the board.

Rookie Paolo Cardozo set up both Gregg Berhalter and Adam Cristman, and the Galaxy held on for its first MLS Reserve League victory, a 2-1 result over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Monday.

Cristman's goal in the 73rd minute from the top of the penalty area proved to be the game-winner after Whitecaps rookie Omar Salgado sliced the Vancouver deficit in half with a goal in the 77th minute.

The Fire is hoping that Tuesday's penalty kick victory over the Earthquakes will serve as a spring board to a reversal of fortunes. Despite advancing to the US Open Cup tournament for a fourteenth consecutive season the Fire are still winless in their last eight MLS regualr season matches. After a difficult start of the their own, winning only once in their first eight matches, San Jose has won it's last two at home against Columbus and New England allowing them to crawl back towards respectability.

By IAN HOLLIDAY

Bobby Convey lofted home a beautiful free kick in the 83rd minute and the San Jose Earthquakes weathered a frantic final 10 minutes to hold on for a 2-1 win over the New England Revolution at Buck Shaw Stadium Saturday night.

The win improves the Earthquakes to 3-4-3 (12 points) on the season, while the Revs drop to 3-4-4 (13 points).

Despite a bizarre series of decisions by referee Mark Geiger which led to the Philadelphia Union going down to ten men, they were still able to collect a win over the San Jose Earthquakes Saturday afternoon at PPL Park by the familiar scoreline of 1-0.

It was the Union's fourth win of the season, which all have finished at 1-0.

Toronto FC hit the road to face San Jose Earthquakes and came away with their first away point this season. It wasn't always pretty, but there were some notable strong passages of play. Some of our new acquisitions are starting to show real promise on the pitch as well. Points away from home are few and far between for most MLS teams and TFC have always been poor on the road, but for some reason we seem to do well when we play away to San Jose.

There have been a few changes to the schedule for preseason games for the Quakes. The overall schedule is still the same, as in they will still be leaving for London on the 17th of February. There is an additional exhibition game being added on March 4. The Quakes will play Colorado at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.