At this time a year ago, Tyler Heaps, the 34-year-old sporting director for Major League Soccer expansion club San Diego FC, was sitting in his office, staring at a whiteboard of their roster.

It had six names.

“We had six players for so long,” Heaps said. “I just remember talking to (majority owner Mohamed) Mansour, and Mr. Mansour was constantly asking, ‘When are we getting more players?’ It’s difficult to tell him to be patient.”

On Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium, SDFC hosts the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Western Conference final for a spot the following weekend in MLS Cup against Inter Miami or New York City FC. They got more players, and the league’s youngest general manager is a prohibitive favorite to be named its sporting executive of the year.

“It’s probably something I

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