MLS Expansion Draft

[Gunnerman]

MLS released today the list of players available for the initial player stocking of the league's newest team Toronto FC. Toronto are set to join the league as the 13th team next season. So here is the list from MLSnet.

Each MLS team was allowed to protect 11 players on its current 28-man roster (Senior and Developmental rosters combined). The following are the unprotected players available for selection by Toronto FC in the expansion draft. The draft rules follow the list of unprotected players.

Chicago Fire
Bedrossian, Pascal
Brown, C.J.
Capano, Craig
Carr, Calen
Curtin, Jeff
Franks, Floyd
Griffin, Leonard
Gutierrez, Diego
Jaqua, Nate
Johnson, Ryan
Mahoney, David (GK)
Montz, Jared
Plotkin, Brian
Russolillo, Jordan
Ruud, Adam
Sanneh, Tony
Thornton, Zach (GK)
Thorrington, John
Ughiovhe, Idris

Chivas USA
Arias, Esteban
Borja, Carlos
Burpo, Preston (GK)
Corona, Rene
Garcia, Johnny
Helm, Drew
Llamosa, Carlos
Lopez, Rodrigo
Morales, Jesus
Muñoz, Mike
O'Brien, John
Perez, Orlando
Regan, Tim
Robles, Eder
Sanchez, Estuardo
Taylor, Matt
Whitfield, Brent

Colorado Rapids
Clark, Colin
Crawford, Matt
Denton, Eric
Gargan, Dan
Gonzalez, Luchi
Gotsmanov, Sasha
Harvey, Jordan
Jordan, Matt (GK)
Keel, Stephen
King, Aaron
Kirovski, Jovan
Mathis, Clint
Nkong, Alain
Noel, Fabrice
Petke, Mike
Tarley, Melvin

Columbus Crew
Becerra, Ivan
Burch, Marc
Busch, Jon (GK)
Cameron, Knox
Coiner, Ryan
Gaudette, Bill (GK)
Hendrickson, Ezra
Kotschau, Ritchie
Leitch, Chris
Moss, Brandon
Palmer, Noah (GK)
Pierce, Rusty
Retiz, Jose
Rozental, Sebastian
Vasquez, Eric
Walker, Jonny (GK)

D.C. United
Carroll, Jeff
Deroux, Stephen
Donnet, Matias
Dyachenko, Rod
McIntosh, Ryan (GK)
McTavish, Devon
Mediate, Domenic
Metcalf, Andy
Moose, Justin
Nickell, Matthew
Prideaux, Brandon
Rimando, Nick (GK)
Simms, Clyde
Ssejjemba, Robert
Stokes, David
Walker, Jamil
Wilson, John

FC Dallas
Burse, Ray (GK)
Cassar, Jeff (GK)
Dello-Russo, Michael
Gbandi, Chris
Goodson, Clarence
Mina, Roberto
Moore, Justin
Oduro, Dominic
Pitchkolan, Aaron
Rhine, Bobby
Smith, Alex
Valakari, Simo
Vanney, Greg
Wagenfuhr, David
Yi, Alex

Houston Dynamo
Aloisi, Chris
Chabala, Mike
Goldthwaite, Kevin
Gray, Kelly
Holden, Stuart
Hutton, Martin
Lanes, Aaron
Moloi, Mpho
Nash, Julian
Serioux, Adrian
Storey, Marcus
Waibel, Craig
Wells, Zach (GK)
Wondolowski, Chris

Kansas City Wizards
Groenwald, Matt
Hesmer, Will (GK)
Kronberg, Eric (GK)
McMahen, Ryan
Oshoniyi, Bo (GK)
Raad, Sergei
Raybould, Ryan
Roberts, Brian
Shirley, Stephen
Van Den Bergh, Dave
Wahl, Tyson
Watson, Lance
Zotinca, Alex

Los Angeles Galaxy
Enfield, Michael
Gardner, Josh
Glinton, Gavin
Gonzalez, Guillermo
Gordon, Alan
Hansen, Joshua
Jones, Cobi
Martino, Kyle
Miglioranzi, Stefani
Nagamura, Paulo
Randolph, Michael
Saunders, Joshua (GK)
Veris, Kyle

New England Revolution
Abundis, Jose Manuel
Brown, Kyle
Cancela, Jose
Franchino, Joe
Galik, Jani
Gonzalez, Miguel
Haggerty, Patrick
Hernandez, Daniel
John, Avery
Larentowicz, Jeff
Leonard, Marshall
Oka, Arsene
Riley, James
Tomasso, T.J. (GK)
Warren, Doug (GK)
Williamson, Adam
Wynn, Danny

New York Red Bulls
Behonick, Michael (GK)
Buddle, Edson
Camp, Blake
Canero, Peter
Graham, Taylor
Henderson, Chris
Jolley, Steve
Kuykendall, Shawn
Laventure, Jerrod
Lisi, Mark
Meola, Tony (GK)
O'Rourke, Danny
Vide, Joseph
Wolyniec, John

Real Salt Lake
Acosta, Adam
Akwari, Nelson
Besagno, Jacob
Broome, Paul
Brown, Chris
Cutler, Kenny
Garlick, Scott (GK)
Gil, Brian
Harrison, Chase
Hashimoto, Duke
Kreis, Jason
Nolly, Jay (GK)
Novak, Kevin
Sequeira, Douglas
Trembly, Seth
Williams, Andy
Worthen, Joey

MLS Expansion Draft Rules

• Each team may protect 11 players from its 28-man roster (Senior and Developmental rosters combined).
  • Generation adidas players are automatically protected. (Players in this category who are "graduated" to the Senior Roster at the end of the 2006 season are not automatically protected.)
  • Teams may make available no more than one Senior International player.
• Toronto FC may select no more than one player from any given MLS team.
• Toronto FC will make a total of 10 selections.
• A player who retires will not be considered part of the Senior Roster and therefore is not eligible for the draft and does not need to be protected.

Toronto FC player classifications

• Domestic players - Canadian citizens or Canadian permanent residents
• International players
  • Up to four Senior Internationals (non-domestic players who turn 25 years or older during the year).
  • Up to three additional Senior Internationals who would qualify as Domestic players on a U.S.-based MLS team.
  • Five Youth Internationals (up to 24 years old); two of these slots expire at the end of the team's 2008 season.

[ssigman]

wow...ok so lets pick who we think they will take....i know they only pick 10, but i picked 1 from each team anyway.... this is hard cause i don't know what strategy they wanna employ..i picked my guys without position worrying...i figure with drafting and trades it'll equal out

chicago is tough...i see c.j. brown, nate jacqua, tony sanneh(for leadership in back) or zach thornton(if they want a proven goalie)...i'd go with jacqua...tall forward

chivas.....carlos llamosa, john o'brien(could take a chance on him cause if healthy, he can bring it), tim regan...i'd go o'brien cause i know what he can do if healthy

colorado.....petke, kirovski or eric denton.....i would really go kirovski to match with jacqua...but if i felt i could get someone later, i'd take petke...so my choice is petke

columbus...not familiar with alot of these guys....maybe walker if they don't take thornton...yea i took walker with this pick

d.c......tough again, i don't know to many of them....brandon prideaux or jeff carroll...either of them...they are equal

dallas......greg vanney

houston....chris aloisi

k.c....no idea...don't know any of them....

galaxy....kyle martino

n.e....avery john, danny hernandez or joe franchino..i'd take danny hernandez...love the way he plays...got a raw deal in n.e. i think

ny....edson buddle...young, quick, still learning....why would the red bulls not protect him...i'd take him with jacqua

rsl.....andy williams..love the veteran presence

[Gunnerman]

I like some of your picks there ssigs. It is hard to tell which way they will go, youth versus veteran leadership plus they gotta get some Canadians on the team too and I don't know all the nationalities of the players available.

Given that I agree with your Jaqua pick from Chicago.

Chivas I'd take O'Brien as well

Columbus I take Ezra Hendrickson

Colorado agree Petke

DC I might give Jamil Walker a look

Dallas agree Vanney

Houston deffo will be Adrian Serioux

KC don't know either a real toss up there

LA can't pass on Kyle MArtino

NE gotta take Franchino, an energy guy

NY Red Bulls agree Buddle

RSL Scott Garlick I think he's a canuck anyways

[ssigman]

well if garlick is canadian..then i can see that pick instead of walker...i think walker is a better player but if you have to fill some canadian quota...well why not go with him....i don't follow columbus so i'll take your advice on that...

[Gunnerman]

Taking all that into consideration I still wonder if Toronto is going to try and trade for Dwayne De Rosario, you know they want him bad, Canadian boy made good.

[ssigman]

yea thats true....but they'd have to give up something good cause that boy can play....but in the end mls might put pressure on them to get him...i still don't get why arena didn't protect buddle...does he do anything right?

[Gunnerman]

Some players just don't mix well with Big Bruce, maybe Buddle is in that mold, who knows. Speaking of Bruce Arena he was just god awful crap in his role as color analys during MLS Cup, every time he talked I wanted to beat my head with a very blunt object.

Anyways, once Toronto has some sort of a working roster they may package a 1st round pick and some other player(s) to Houston for DeRosario but if I am Houston and the league starts to pressure me to let Toronto have DeRo I tell the league to get bent.

[BtownJay]

I don't know near enough about most of these guys to make good picks. I can tell you one thing though... you take Jaqua and Buddle and you are going to score some goals! IMO they would be foolish to not add these two guys right away.

However, could these two be available because they may be heading overseas somewhere?

[Gunnerman]

The players lists had to made available today.

The transfer window opens in January so it is possible that Toronto could select a player and then that player could get transferred without ever playing for Toronto. Remember MLS holds control of all player transfers with the club that the player plays for getting a percentage of the transfer fee. So if Toronto loses a player in the transfer market they do get some monetary reimbursement.

[ssigman]

i don't worry about them going overseas...i don't think jacqua can play in a league any better than the mls right now....and buddle is young...he would be wise to stay here a few more years...but that combo up top would be wonderful for an expansion team

and if they do get sent overseas...i think they not only get money but a player allocation...so lets say a guy like djorkaeff..older player but talented comes over to the mls...toronto would have a good shot at getting him

[BtownJay]

Yeah thats kind of what i mean. I wonder how much contact they can have with these players before the draft friday? I'd try to find out from the players if they are going to look to leave MLS before I draft them.

But thats a good point.. not sure if Buddle or Jaqua are even good enough to play elsewhere. Just seems odd their teams wouldn't protect them.

[ssigman]

well buddle i don't know why they didn't protect....they go thru 11 forwards a year...chicago can plug the hole if they lose him...they left some other guys who might be taken...toronto can only take 1 guy from a team...who knows..

[Gunnerman]

Here's the list of players selected by Toronto FC in the expansion draft;

1. Paulo Nagamura (Los Angeles Galaxy)
2. Danny O'Rourke (New York Red Bulls)
3. Jose Cancela (New England Revolution)
4. Adrian Serioux (Houston Dynamo)
5. Nate Jaqua (Chicago Fire)
6. Rod Dyachenko (D.C. United)
7. Jason Kreis (Real Salt Lake)
8. Tim Regan (Chivas USA)
9. Ritchie Kotschau (Columbus Crew)
10. Will Hesmer (Kansas City Wizards)

Right afterwards though the following deals were made;

Toronto sent Canadian international Adrian Serioux and a second-round draft pick to FC Dallas in exchange for wide midfielder Ronnie O'Brien.

Additionally, discussions with Real Salt Lake resulted in that club reacquiring the rights to forward Jason Kreis, whom Toronto had selected in the draft. Toronto FC will receive a partial allocation in return.

In a third deal, Toronto dealt midfielder Danny O'Rourke and goalkeeper Will Hesmer to the Columbus Crew in exchange for a partial allocation.

[BtownJay]

Thanks for the update Gunner!! I totally forgot this was going down on friday and never looked for the results.

I can't believe they picked Cancela! I mean he really didn't have a spot in NE, but there were better players from their team available, IMO. No shock with jaqua, and Kreis would have been a nice guy to hold on to. However, i have no clue what this "allocation" business is.

I also think its crap that you can draft a player from a team and then turn around and ship them somewhere else.