Tacoma Defiance have announced the signings of Edson Carli and Cris Batiz ahead of the team\u2019s season opener on Sunday against LAFC 2 at Starfire Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cCris and Edson have both earned this opportunity through their work in the academy and the progress they\u2019ve shown over time,\u201d Sounders FC Director of Development Wade Webber said in a team release. \u201cThey\u2019ve embraced the standards we set and continued to push themselves in training and competition. We believe they\u2019re ready for the next step in the professional pathway, and we\u2019re excited to see how they grow within the Defiance environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edson Carli is a familiar face for those that followed the Defiance last season. The 18-year-old, who originally joined the academy in July of 2022, played more than 1,200 minutes and ended the season with two goals and three assists.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cris Batiz is a 14-year-old who has been a part of the academy for a year after joining in February of 2025. He joined the club from Academia Internacional de F\u00fatbol Leones in Honduras. He is now the youngest player to sign a professional contract in Sounders organization history.<\/p>\n
\u201cCris and Edson have worked hard within our academy and consistently shown the growth that made this moment possible,\u201d said Tacoma Defiance Head Coach Paulo Nagamura. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to welcome them into our group because they\u2019ve shown the right mindset and commitment throughout their time in the system. They\u2019ve earned the trust of the staff and now we\u2019re looking forward to helping them continue their development with Defiance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both players bring excitement for different reasons. Carli showed offensive creativity that has not historically been developed by the club, while also being versatile and able to get on the field in various positions. Batiz, who may not play a ton with Defiance this year, was considered promising enough that signing him was a priority regardless.<\/p>\n
TRANSACTION: Tacoma Defiance signs midfielder\u00a0Edson Carli\u00a0and forward\u00a0Cris Batiz\u00a0to MLS NEXT Pro contracts on February 24, 2026. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.<\/p>\n
Full Name:\u00a0Edson Carli<\/p>\n
Position:\u00a0Midfielder<\/p>\n
Height:\u00a05-8<\/p>\n
Weight:\u00a0160<\/p>\n
Hometown:\u00a0Lake Forest Park, Washington<\/p>\n
Date of Birth:\u00a0August 23, 2007 in Lake Forest Park, Washington<\/p>\n
Nationality:\u00a0United States<\/p>\n
Acquired:\u00a0Signed to Tacoma Defiance on February 24, 2026<\/p>\n
Full Name:\u00a0Cris Batiz<\/p>\n
Position:\u00a0Forward<\/p>\n
Height:\u00a05-8<\/p>\n
Weight:\u00a0120<\/p>\n
Hometown:\u00a0San Pedro Sula, Honduras<\/p>\n
Date of Birth:\u00a0March 28, 2011 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras<\/p>\n
Nationality:\u00a0Honduras<\/p>\n
Acquired:\u00a0Signed to Tacoma Defiance on February 24, 2026<\/p>\n
Defiance roster (11)<\/p>\n
Goalkeepers (1):\u00a0Shour
Defenders (3): Lopez, Gaffney, Phoenix
Midfielders (4): Carli, Dodzi, Gnaulati, Hassan, Kingston
Forwards (1): Batiz, Bronnick<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tacoma Defiance have announced the signings of Edson Carli and Cris Batiz ahead of the team\u2019s season opener…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-489282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}