Oakland Roots announced they signed former Toronto FC II midfielder/defender Mark Fisher to a contract on Friday.
The move comes shortly after the team released midfielder Danny Gomez. Although it’s unclear whether Fisher fits into the midfield or back line, his background suggests he’s a player with enough versatility to fit into multiple roles. A multifaceted skillset could benefit him toward earning a role early on, similar to Julian Bravo last season after signing on as a former MLS Next Pro player.
During his college career at Stanford, he suited up as a central midfielder and was the Cardinal’s captain in 2023. His Wikipedia, Transfermarkt, and MLS Next Pro profiles list him as a midfielder, while FotMob has him as a center-back.
Fisher will be reunited with college teammate Keegan Tingey, after last playing alongside each other from 2020 to 2022.
So what are Roots getting in Fisher?
There are only so many stats to pull from FotMob, and film from his time in Toronto is limited, but I found one quote from Fisher from 2024 that would certainly fit what Ryan Martin is looking to deploy.
During his first year in MLS Next Pro, Fisher described what made Stanford so successful when he played there from 2020 to 2023: “We played a style that made people uncomfortable. It was fast-paced. We defended lights out pretty much the entire 90 minutes. A lot of our success came from people’s mistakes in building. They wanted to play a pretty game, and we were able to pressure them and win it in their half. 1-2 passes and it’s a goal. It’s a lot easier to score off of two passes off of 20.”
Although Martin’s system typically has a high amount of passes, the ability to win possession and pose problems with an aggressive press should translate well.
Fisher has 2,696 minutes over his two years in MLS Next Pro. He got most of his action in 2024 with 1,901 minutes. FotMob has Fisher as one of the best CBs in the league in its 2024 data. His 33 accurate long balls ranked in the top 9 percent, while he was heavily involved with 1,190 total touches and 752 successful passes.
Defensively, he was the No. 1 defender in the league for blocked shots with 12 in 2024, while winning 25 aerial duels and 14 interceptions–both ranked near the top of the league for players at his position.
Although his defensive figures took a dip in 2025, Fisher still completed 63.5 percent of long balls to put him in the top 15 percent of the league. He also averaged 0.45 chances created per game.
Fisher, 25, joined Stanford in 2019 following his high school career in Grand Blanc, Michigan. After redshirting his first year, he won Pac-12 Conference Freshman of the Year in 2020, helping the Cardinal win the Pac-12 title. He earned All-Pac 12 Second Team honors as a senior in 2023.
From there, he signed his first professional contract with Toronto FC II of MLS Next Pro in 2024. Toronto FC II exercised its contract option on Fisher for 2025, and he briefly signed a short-term loan with Toronto FC of MLS in June, but did not appear.
During his MLS Next Pro career, Fisher appeared in 39 matches and started 29 times for 2,696 minutes, scoring three goals and two assists, with nine shots on target.