Brittany Campbell

LA Galaxy Release Their list of Unprotected Players for Upcoming Expansion Draft

The LA Galaxy, via Major League Soccer, put forward their list of Unprotected Players for Tuesday’s Expansion Draft where Atlanta United and Minnesota United will take up to 10 players from a list of unprotected MLS players encompasing all 20 existing teams.

The bottom line for the LA Galaxy is that they can lose a MAXIMUM of one player. Once a player has been selected from a team that team will be removed from the expansion draft. And out of the 20 existing MLS clubs, ten of them will have no players chosen.

This is a huge departure from previous expansion drafts when teams could lose as many as two players and the expansion teams were able to draft many more players. MLS seems to be telling expansion clubs that you better be good at getting your own talent.

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The LA Galaxy actually have a bunch of things working in their favor. There are a bunch of free agents listed which means that even if a team would select them in the draft there’s no gaurantee that the Free Agent would choose to stay with that team. Not really worth picking free agents at all.

In addition, there are players who have a high salary (Dan Kennedy) and will likely be passed over and there are a couple of players who are either going to retire or have already departed — Steven Gerrard, Robbie Keane, and Landon Donovan.

Ariel Lassiter may be interesting to someone, but the expansion team would need to place the drafted player on their Senior roster and their salary would count against the cap. That’s a bit of gamble on a USL Player, but it might be a gamble Atlanta or Minnesota are willing to make if Lassiter can realize his upside.

Dave Romney and Baggio Husidic are also interesting choices. Romney is a young defender ready for some starting minutes. And Husidic can be played at just about any position in the midfield. Versatility is something any team would be lucky to have.

But don’t expect any of these players to make or break the 2017 LA Galaxy. Not with two Designated Player slots waiting to be filled.

Unlike years past, MLS has really taken the sting out of the expansion draft. Pretty soon, teams coming into the league will need to do all their own acquisition of talent. The expansion draft will take place at 11AM on Tuesday, December 13th.

You can find the complete list of protected and unprotected players, HERE.

The LA Galaxy’s list of players is as follows. With an asterisk denoting that the player is a free agent:

UNPROTECTED:

  • Da Silva, Leonardo
  • Donovan, Landon
  • Garcia, Rafael
  • Gerrard, Steven
  • Gordon, Alan*
  • Husidic, Baggio
  • Keane, Robbie
  • Kennedy, Dan
  • Larentowicz, Jeff*
  • Magee, Mike*
  • Aguilar, Miguel
  • Lassiter, Ariel
  • Romney, David

PROTECTED:

  • Boateng, Emmanuel
  • Cole, Ashley
  • DeLaGarza, AJ
  • Diop, Clement
  • Dos Santos, Giovani
  • Lletget, Sebastian
  • Rogers, Robbie
  • Rowe, Brian
  • Steres, Daniel
  • Van Damme, Jelle
  • Zardes, Gyasi

AUTOMATICALLY PROTECTED: (HOMEGROWN)

  • Jamieson IV, Bradford
  • McBean, Jack
  • Mendiola, Raul
  • Sorto, Oscar
  • Villarreal, Jose

EXPANSION DRAFT RULES:

MLS Clubs may protect 11 players between their Senior, Supplemental and Reserve Roster. If the Player’s contract expires at the end of 2016, he will still be considered part of the Club’s Senior Roster.

If a Club protects a player, it is not obligated to exercise the player’s option. It may renegotiate a new budget number for the player as in previous years, subject to the CBA.
Option Decline Free Agents and Out of Contracts Free Agents are part of the Expansion Draft and are not automatically protected.

If a Free Agent is selected in the Expansion Draft, the Expansion Club that selected the Player will gain his previous Club’s ability to renegotiate a new contract consistent with the CBA prior to the beginning of Stage Two of the Re-Entry Draft.

If an Out of Contract Free Agent is selected in the Expansion Draft and subsequently signs with his previous Club via Free Agency, he will be subject to the compensation limitation for Out of Contract Players signing with a new Club, as provided in the CBA.

If a player retires, he will not be a part of the Expansion Draft, but his Club will lose its right of first refusal to him should he ultimately decide to play.

Players on a Club’s Supplemental/Reserve Roster, other than Generation adidas players who have not been graduated at the end of the 2016 MLS Season or Homegrown Player’s on a Club’s Supplemental/Reserve Roster, will be part of the Expansion Draft.

Generation adidas players who have not been graduated at the end of the 2016 MLS Season and Homegrown players on a Club’s Supplemental/Reserve Roster at the end of the 2016 MLS Season are automatically protected (Clubs do not have to use a protected slot on them).
If Atlanta/Minnesota selects a Supplemental/Reserve Roster Player, it must offer him a Senior Roster position and he must remain on the Senior Roster as of Roster Compliance Date.

Clubs are restricted in the number of international player(s) that they may make available. Clubs may make available a number of international players equal to their total number of international players minus three, provided that if a Club has three or fewer international players it may not make more than one such player available.

For purposes of this expansion process, any non-domestic U.S. Player would count as an International.

If a Player has a no-trade clause in his contract, his MLS Club must protect him and he will count as one of the 11 Players who may be protected.

Designated Players are NOT automatically protected (i.e., Clubs must choose whether to protect such players and if such player is not protected, he will be available for selection in the Expansion Draft).

Maximum Player Loss: Once one (1) player has been claimed from a Club’s non-protected roster, that Club is eliminated from the Expansion Draft and may not lose any further players.

Right to Negotiate: Atlanta and Minnesota will have the right to renegotiate a drafted player’s salary (either up or down) without having to place such player on waivers or giving his previous Club a right of first refusal.

Minnesota will have priority over players on its NASL roster and one additional player in USL/NASL not on its roster, subject to another Club’s right of first refusal.

Atlanta will have priority over players it has signed to MLS Contracts and one additional player in USL/NASL subject to another MLS Club’s right of first refusal.
International Player Protection Requirements

Clubs may make available a number of international players equal to their total number of international players minus 3, provided that if a Club has 3 or less international players it may not make more than one 1 player available.

Rounds:
There will be five (5) rounds.

Selection Clock:
Atlanta and Minnesota are permitted three (3) minutes to make each selection.

Timeouts
There will be NO timeouts during the Expansion Draft.

Failure to Make Selection in Designated Time
Expansion Clubs that fail to make their selection in time must wait until their next pick to make a selection.

Trades
No trades are permitted during the Expansion Draft.

Expansion Draft Rules from MLSSocer.com