Major League Soccer's Western Conference has been the stronger of the two conferences for a few years now and that is expected to continue in 2017.
The last Eastern Conference champion was Sporting Kansas City in 2013, and KC has since switched conferences. You have to go back to 2008 when the Columbus Crew won before that.
Familiar names figure to be at the top once again.
Title favorites
Seattle Sounders
Seattle is always in the mix to win trophies, but once Obafemi Martins exited just before last season the team struggled. The midseason acquisition of Nicolas Lodeiro proved to be a title-winning move. Now, Lodeiro has a full season and Clint Dempsey is coming back after missing most of last season. Barring more injuries, Seattle is in the top tier of the league.
FC Dallas
Chicago Fire
Dallas had a great season last year winning the Supporters' Shield and the U.S. Open Cup. The playoffs were another story though. Dallas appears to have reloaded with forward Cristian Colman coming over from Paraguay, winger Roland Lamah coming with Premier League experience under his belt and MLS veteran Javier Morales to add depth in attacking midfield. FCD will be competing for more trophies in 2017 and is already in the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals.
Contenders
Portland Timbers
The Timbers' additions in the offseason should have the team closer to its 2015 title-winning form than its 2016 form, when Portland missed the playoffs. Sebastian Blanco is one of the most lauded acquisitions this winter. The Argentine playmaker comes as a designated player and if he lives up to the hype, him pairing with Diego Valeri and Darlington Nagbe could make Portland incredibly dangerous.
LA Galaxy
This is a new LA Galaxy club. Robbie Keane is gone. Landon Donovan is back in retirement. Steven Gerrard is gone. A number of league veterans (A.J. DeLaGarza, Mike Magee, Jeff Larentowicz, Alan Gordon) also exited. Most importantly though, Bruce Arena is gone. Arena is managing the national team for a second stint. So what does LA still have? The back line is mostly familiar with Jelle Van Damme anchoring the defense. Gio Dos Santos, Gyasi Zardes and Sebastian Lletget lead the attack. That's a good core, plus the additions of designated player Romain Alessandrini, American national teamer Jermaine Jones and defensive mid Joao Pedro. There's a lot of uncertainty due to all the changes, but this is still a talented roster.
Fighting to get in the playoffs
Colorado Rapids
The Rapids were one of the biggest shocks in the league last year, going from the second worst record in the league to the No. 2 seed in the west and a spot in the conference finals. Jermaine Jones departed, but he didn’t play much for the Rapids due to suspension and the injury. Tim Howard and co. should be solid defensively again, but don’t be surprised if Colorado takes a step back.
Real Salt Lake
RSL teased of being a strong team last year, but slumped down the stretch. Burrito Martinez was one of the most fun players to watch in the league and he is gone. In his place is attacking mid Albert Rusnak. Rusnak is 22 and comes from FC Groningen, the Dutch club where current Fire players Michael de Leeuw and Johan Kappelhof came from. If Rusnak can run the show at a high level, RSL has the pieces up front to finish in Joao Plata and Yura Movsisyan.
Sporting Kansas City
Since winning MLS Cup in 2013 Sporting has perpetually been struggling to get in the playoffs and losing in play-in games. Expect more of the same unless DP signing Gerso Fernandes can raise the team's level. The winger will combine with Dom Dwyer, Graham Zusi and Benny Feilhaber in the team's talented attack.
[RELATED: 2017 MLS Eastern Conference preview]
On the outside looking in
Vancouver Whitecaps
The Whitecaps made a solid move by adding Fredy Montero. The former Sounders forward has a good track record of success in MLS and should go a long way to helping Vancouver's offensive issues. Trading Giles Barnes for Brek Shea was a surprise move and it will be interesting to see if Shea is utilized as a winger or stay at left back where he played with Orlando. Alphonso Davies, a 16-year-old winger, could be one of the most exciting young players in the league in a long time. There are interesting pieces, but maybe not enough to contend in the West.
Houston Dynamo
The Dynamo went big on the rebuild, shedding six players (Will Bruin, Cristian Maidana, David Horst, Raul Rodriguez, Collin Warner, Sheanon Williams) who combined for 131 starts in 2016. All six started a majority of the Dynamo's MLS matches. Fire fans will be familiar with this level of churn from a bad team. Those players were replaced by Honduran talents Alberth Elis and Romell Quioto up front and Juan David Cabezas in central midfield and MLS veteran A.J. DeLaGarza in defense. There might be improvement there, but probably not enough to make a playoff push in the tougher conference.
San Jose Earthquakes
There is a regime change happening in San Jose. Jesse Fioranelli is in at general manager and comes with lots of Italian club experience. Dominic Kinnear is still the manager, but if things go badly in 2017 it's fair to wonder if Fioranelli will want to bring in his own hire. San Jose hasn't made the playoffs since 2013 and even though there were some notable additions (forward Danny Hoesen, midfielder Jahmir Hyka and defender/defensive mid Florian Jungwirth were all signed with targeted allocation money), there still may not be enough support for Chris Wondolowski. (I would like to see young midfielders Tommy Thompson and Jackson Yueill on the field at the same time often. That could be fun.)
Expansion team
Minnesota United FC
The Loons didn't build an expansion roster the way Atlanta did. This is a more measured, smaller market approach. The consensus appears to be that Minnesota will struggle in its first year. Kevin Molino was a big addition and there are some other interesting pieces, but the Western Conference appears too strong for this team to contend out of the gate.