Best Teenagers in MLS, 2019

Jesus Ferreira (18, F, FC Dallas) and James Sands (19, CB/DM, NYCFC) top my list of performers 19.5 years of age and younger. Jesus is the son of David Ferreira, who some might remember playing for FC Dallas 2009-13. Sands is a player NYC have been nursing for a couple years.

Playing some of the younger talents was a point of emphasis this season after a handful of critical comments must have found their way to corporate office ears.

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How I rated players is simple:

1. Age: have to still be a teen at season's end
2. WhoScored Rating x Helltown Rating = Player rank
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(Transfer Markt value in 000)
Age	NAME	TEAM	MINS	SALARY	Birthplace	€
18.6	Jesus Ferreira	FCD	1512	$70,250	Santa Marta, Colombia	750
19.1	James Sands	NYC	1225	$105,000	Rye, New York	800
18.8	Brenden Aaronson	PHI	1260	$95,809	Medford, New Jersey	800
18.8	Edwin Cerrillo	FCD	828	$100,250	Waco, Texas	300
18.0	Julian Araujo	LAG	649	$86,250	Lompoc, California	200
19.5	Chris Durkin	DC	595	$104,167	Hampton, Virginia	500
18.0	Cole Bassett	COL	865	$84,000	Littleton, Colorado	600
17.2	Gianluca Busio	SKC	530	$90,000	Greensboro, North Carolina	800
17.1	Efrain Alvarez	LAG	355	$75,606	Los Angeles, California	600
18.8	Frankie Amaya	FCC	826	$172,000	Santa Ana, California	300
18.2	Thomas Roberts	FCD	237	$138,000	Little Rock, Arkansas	100
16.2	Danny Leyva	SEA	188	$89,872	Las Vegas, Nevada	150
19.3	Aboubacar Keita	CLB	335	$110,000	Columbus, Ohio	50
19.1	Andrew Carleton	ATL	64	$97,400	Powder Springs, Georgia	450
16.8	Griffin Yow	DC	59	$76,368	Clifton, Virginia	100
18.1	Bryan Reynolds	FCD	61	$70,250	Fort Worth, Texas	100
17.3	Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez	SEA	82	$85,750	Fresno, California	100
16.5	Ricardo Pepi	FCD	18		El Paso, Texas	0
18.9	Mathias Jorgensen	NYR	117	$306,250	Hundested, Denmark	1,000
17.9	Justin Haak	NYC	4	$56,250	Brooklyn, New York	100
17.0	Sebastian Anderson	COL	272	$80,917	Sacramento, California	200
19.3	Michee Ngalina	PHI	9	$56,250	Kinshasa, DR Congo	175
18.5	Luis Arriaga	RSL	4	$56,250	Santa Rosa, California	75
17.4	Gilbert Fuentes	SJE	2	$92,000	Tracy, California	75

FC Dallas has a good track record of playing younger players, it's no different this season. They lead the way with five. Outside of Ferreira, you see that James Sands, playing both as CB and DM and Brenden Aaronson, MF, are making regular contributions to good teams (NYC and PHI are currently 1 and 2 in the standings). Here are the ratings:

Age	NAME	TEAM	WS	HB	x-rating
18.6	Jesus Ferreira	FCD	6.80	5.58	38
19.1	James Sands	NYC	6.86	4.85	33
18.8	Brenden Aaronson	PHI	6.49	4.39	28
18.8	Edwin Cerrillo	FCD	6.61	3.17	21
18.0	Julian Araujo	LAG	6.97	2.89	20
19.5	Chris Durkin	DC	6.64	2.67	18
18.0	Cole Bassett	COL	6.39	2.63	17
17.2	Gianluca Busio	SKC	6.53	2.24	15
17.1	Efrain Alvarez	LAG	6.40	2.16	14
18.8	Frankie Amaya	FCC	6.59	1.78	12
18.2	Thomas Roberts	FCD	6.38	1.72	11
16.2	Danny Leyva	SEA	6.47	1.51	10
19.3	Aboubacar Keita	CLB	6.43	1.49	10
19.1	Andrew Carleton	ATL	6.07	1.36	8
16.8	Griffin Yow	DC	6.13	1.34	8
18.1	Bryan Reynolds	FCD	6.06	1.35	8
17.3	Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez	SEA	6.18	1.22	8
16.5	Ricardo Pepi	FCD	6.16	1.20	7
18.9	Mathias Jorgensen	NYR	5.95	1.22	7
17.9	Justin Haak	NYC	6.07	1.14	7
17.0	Sebastian Anderson	COL	6.19	1.05	7
19.3	Michee Ngalina	PHI	5.87	0.96	6
18.5	Luis Arriaga	RSL	6.07	0.91	6
17.4	Gilbert Fuentes	SJE	6.22	0.81	5

This is sort of a high-level look, but there's enough here to lead to some digging. Especially with the players towards the top of the list.