Here are the lists of players being exposed by all 14 teams in the upcoming MLS Expansion draft for Seattle Sounders FC (these are the players who will be available):
Chivas USA
Chiles, Kraig
Curtin, Jim
Ebert, Eric
Ferreira, Dejair
Flores, Jorge
Hamilton, Anthony
Kennedy, Dan
Mayen, Gerson
Nurse, Roberto
Paladini, Daniel
Parker, Lance
Razov, Ante
Savage, Keith
Suarez, Claudio
Talley, Carey
Thornton, Zach
Vaughn, Lawson
Victorine, Sasha
Wicky, Raphael
Zotinca, Alex
Chicago Fire
Banner, Michael
Brown, C.J.
Carr, Calen
Frankowski, Tomasz
Herron, Andy
Kasiguran, Kai
Kettering, Tyler
King, Stephen
Lowry, Peter
Marmol, Lider
Noble, Nick
Pappa, Marco Pablo
Prideaux, Brandon
Washington, Austin
Woolard, Daniel
Colorado Rapids
Burciaga, Jose
Burpo, Preston
Cooke, Terry
Dalby, Greg
DiRaimondo, John
Erpen, Facundo
Grazier, Brian
Harvey, Jordan
Hughes, Justin
Keel, Stephen
Kimura, Kosuke
McManus, Tom
Petke, Mike
Sarkodie, Kwame
Ward, Tim
Zambrano, Cesar
Columbus Crew
Burns, Kevin
Elenio, Cory
Evans, Brad
Garey, Jason
Gaven, Eddie
Gruenebaum, Andy
Josten, George
Junge, Ryan
Lenhart, Steven
Miglioranzi, Stefani
Moffat, Adam
Noonan, Pat
Nyazamba, Stanley
Oughton, Duncan
Peterson, Andrew
Pierre-Louis, Ricardo
Plotkin, Brian
Schoeni, Kenny
FC Dallas
Burse, Ray
Daniels, Andrew
Davino, Duilio
Dello-Russo, Michael
Pitchkolan, Aaron
Rowland, Jeff
Sikora, Victor
Wadsworth, Spencer
Wagenfuhr, David
Watson, Jamie
Wileman, Chase
D.C. United
Carroll, Jeff
Carroll, Pat
Cordeiro, Ryan
Crayton, Louis
Doe, Francis
Dyachenko, Rod
Gallardo, Marcelo
Kirk, Quavas
Koroma, Ibrahim
Martinez, Gonzalo
Mediate, Domenic
Miller, Ryan
Olsen, Ben
Peralta, Gonzalo
Thompson, Craig
Thorpe, James
Vide, Joseph
Wells, Zach
Zaher, Michael
Houston Dynamo
Alcaraz, Johnny
Ashe, Corey
Barrett, Wade
Brown, Kyle
Caig, Tony
Chabala, Michael
Hatzke, Nick
Hayden, John Michael
Ianni, Patrick
Jaqua, Nate
Mulrooney, Richard
Onstad, Pat
Ustruck, Erik
Waibel, Craig
Waller, Corbin
Wondolowski, Chris
Wondolowski, Stephen
Kansas City Wizards
Hartman, Kevin
Hohlbein, Aaron
Kraus, Michael
Kronberg, Eric
Marquess, Matt
McKenzie, Rauwshan
Morsink, Kurt
Pardo, Boris
Pizarro, Nelson
Pore, Ryan
Thompson, Abe
Trujillo, Ivan
Wahl, Tyson
Watson, Lance
Los Angeles Galaxy
Adzemian, Vardan
Alamo, Charles
Allen, Ely
Barlow, Jeremy
Cronin, Steve
Dominguez, Eduardo
Franchino, Joe
Gavin, Michael
Kirovski, Jovan
Klein, Chris
Munoz, Mike
Randolph, Michael
Saunders, Josh
Tudela, Josh
Vagenas, Peter
Valentin, Julian
Wicks, Josh
New England Revolution
Angulo, Jose
Badilla, Gabriel
Brill, Samuel
Flood, Gary
Germanese, Joe
Knighton, Brad
Manzonelli, Brandon
Matamoros, Mauricio
Phelan, Pat
Smith, Khano
Thompson, Wells
Tierney, Chris
Tyler, Brandon
Warren, Doug
Zapata, Argenis Fernandez
New York Red Bulls
Borman, Danleigh
Echeverry, Oscar
Gilkerson, John
Jimenez, Diego
Kljestan, Gordon
Leitch, Chris
Magee, Mike
Mbuta, Andongcho
Mendes, Carlos
Palacio, Michael
Parke, Jeff
Patterson, Caleb
Pietravallo, Juan
Roth, David
Touray, Sainey
Wolyniec, John
Real Salt Lake
Besagno, Nik
Cutler, Kenny
Deuchar, Kenneth
Horst, David
Joy, Ian
Kirby, Dustin
Kovalenko, Dema
Mathis, Clint
Nunez, Tino
Reiman, Kevin
Reynish, Kyle
Sturgis, Nathan
Tennelle, Brennan
Williams, Andy
San Jose Earthquakes
Arce, Miguel
Ayres, Jay Michael
Cunliffe, John
Denton, Eric
Ghebru, Michael
Glinton, Gavin
Grabavoy, Ned
Gray, Kelly
Gustavson, Michael
Hatzke, Matt
O'Brien, Ronnie
Riley, James
Roberts, Jamil
Smarte, Adam
Somma, Davide
Toronto FC
Attakora-Gyan, Nana
Elkinson, Kilian
Freeman, Hunter
Gala, Gabe
Gaudet, Derek
Melo, Joey
Ricketts, Rohan
Rosenlund, Tyler
Ruiz, Carlos
Smith, Jarrod
Smith, Johann
Sutton, Greg
Velez, Marco
What do you think of the lists? What are the biggest surprises? Who do yo see Seattle taking with its 10 picks? Share your thoughts below.
all i can say is…
johann smith
jaqua
ianni
davino
besagno
gaven
FTW
Sammy Sounder–actually, if Seattle has 3-4 guys from the expansion draft starting for your team most of the season than you don’t make the playoffs. If your team has 1-2 guys from the expansion draft as starters then that probably means that your USL guys, your allocations/foreign signings and your draft picks went well. And that would mean you’d have a strong team.
As for the Seattle USL talent you cite–don’t get your hopes up. Most of those guys have been in MLS camps before. For instance, Vancouver this year was full of MLS rejects (Justin Moose? ) Doesn’t mean they’re bad players. It means they’re mostly role-players. Take Kandji who tore up the USL this year and is also a fantastic athletic–he didn’t start for a team that backed into the playoffs and had a losing record (RBNY).
Now Seattle might have a strong team next year. But it won’t be because of players chosen in the expansion draft. And it won’t be because of your Sounders players you’ve added (you give you depth–something most expansion teams don’t have). Your season is going to be determined by Ljundberg, Keller, your draftees, any trades you make, and your other foreign signings. That is how Chicago did so well their first year. And that’s how SJ got respectable at times.
I want to get younger. Already with Ljundberg we feel ancient and injury-prone. So:
F – Doe, DCU (41,000)
F – Jaqua, Houston (173,000)
M – Ricketts, TFC (200,000)
M – Pappa, TFC (w/ poison pill 165,000?)
M – Besagno, RSL (100,000)
M – Gaven, Crew (165,000)
D – Mike Randolph, LA (33,000)
D – Leitch, NY (60,000)
D – Kimura (33,000)
G – Hartman, KC (150,000)
Hartman could be easily traded.
I don’t know about Pappa, but if the so-called “poison pill” isn’t too bad, I want him. Otherwise, Prideaux, D, (72,000)?
PS – I’m not the other Justin.
I would take:
F Jorge Flores (Chivas)
M Eddie Gaven (Columbus)
F Quavas Kirk (DC)
M Marco Pappa (Chicago)
D Jeff Parke (NY)
D Hunter Freeman (Toronto)
D Tyson Wahl (KC)
F John Cunliff (San Jose)
D Patrick Ianni (Houston)
M Nicolas Besagno (Real Salt Lake)
None: New England (Manzanilli best bet), FC Dallas (Jamie Watson), Los Angeles Galaxy (Cronin), Colorado Rapids (Kiruma)
However, I’m not aware of salaries, so take with a grain of salt.
It’s been long known that Nate was coming to Seattle. He’s from the Eugene, OR and the word around here was that he wouldn’t agree to return to Houston until it was agreed he could move to Seattle upon the expansion.
Us Sounder fans are disappointed that it looks like it’s going to be via the draft. We were hoping he’d come on a free transfer.
re: Houston
Would hate to lose Waibel as he is strong in the air and good on set pieces. Although I love the guy, I wouldn’t be too upset to see Barrett go. Dynamo needs some younger, faster defenders, and this list definitely reflects that reality.
Hate to see Chabala on here though as I think he is up-and-coming. Amazing how Ianni’s stock has fallen — remember he was on our Olympic team this summer, although I don’t think he ever saw the field.
Please take Caig off our hands — he is garbage. Leave us Onstad for another year.
I wonder who would take the Captain’s armband if Barrett goes — seems like Clark and DeRo are both too volatile for that role.
So, what is happening with Jaqua??? Lots of rumors flying around. Is there some sort of deal for Seattle to draft him?
To clear the confusion, we have 4 players signed already, who are:
Freddie Ljungberg (Agreed that he’ll play an attacking central role)
Kasey Keller (GK)
Sanna Nyassi (Right wing) – Twin brother of Sainey Nyassi from the Revs
Sebastien La Toux (F) Current USL Sounder – USL MVP – Open Cup top goal scorer, turned down MLS to enter with Sounders FC this year
We also have (I think 10) free moves to take any USL players (not just current USL Sounders, but probably will be them)
Possible to stick around and/or challenge for a spot are DM Kenji Treschuk, MF Kevin Sakuda, FW Roger Lavesque, FW Josh Gardner, DF Michael Rodriguez, center half Taylor Graham, and midfielder Leighton O’Brien.
The USL side has been touring Argentina and scouts have been around the world for almost a year.
Remember that these guys knocked off multiple MLS squads in the US Open for a few years running.
It’s likely the team has signed more players, but didn’t want to tip their hand before the other MLS teams were forced to decide which 11 to protect.
I think the draft can yield some talent, but don’t fool yourself into thinking the heart of Sounders FC is going to be coming from the expansion draft. I’d be surprised if more than three or four of next season’s starters are from the expansion draft.
Athority–you mis-state the SJ situation. SJ didn’t get good until they went out and used their allocations wisely. Plus they lucked out immensely with Darren Huckerby. If you look at ALL expansion teams in the MLS, what you find is the two teams that did the best (SJ who was dreadful for a lot of the season) and Chicago did get some good expansion picks but mostly, their teams were carried by international players they acquired from overseas (Nowak, Kosecki, Podbrozny, etc.). And Cannon proves my point EXACTLY. He wasn’t taken in the expansion draft. He was traded for.
Justin, put down the crack pipe. Look at that lineup you proposed of the people you had Seattle selecting. It might be the worst backline in the MLS. Parke is fine. But Erpen? Prideaux is a solid journeyman. A midfield of Ricketts, Castro and Gaven isn’t bad IF you….(a) add a DP-quality A-mid and then (b) use an allocation on a quality D-mid (someone of Edu quality).
If you look at MLS history, teams that rely on the expansion draft to provide a lot of starters are traditionally terrible teams. I think the attitude needs to be:
–preserve cap space
–use the draft to acquire draft picks or allocations
–if 1 or 2 players are available that fit your system perfectly (ala Joe Cannon) than you pick them or trade for them. Otherwise, the vast majority of the players made available are guys with major holes in their game (James Riley) or contract issues (Parke) or health issues (Olsen).
Seattle’s success (or failure) will be determined mostly by:
–their allocations (DP and transfer signings): do Ljundberg, Keller and Co. make impacts (like Nowak and Huckerby did)?
–their draft picks (do all of the draft picks prove to be wise and do 1-2 of them end up starting?
–are they able to pull off 2 trades before the season starts to get quality starters?
The expansion draft? Not so much.
The biggest surprise to me is Ben Olson, WTF? he is a United legend and he must end his career there.
I think the club most likely to get burned is Columbus with Eddie Gaven almost assuredly to be picked up by Seattle.
He does come with a price tag, i.e. a contract worth $165,000 per year and the possibility of a move abroad. But here is the benefit to Seattle. If he is picked up and stays one more year in MLS (he is a six year veteran at age 22), has a good year for the Sounders, Seattle will benefit from his move abroad. They will get allocation money and other compensation.
I would expect one other high price pick up as well.
why would the galaxy protect Alan Gorden and Alvaro Pires!
To: The Athority
Good point on having to play all these young cheap players. San Jose didn’t spend all their money before the season which allowed them to pick up some really good players during the season. I don’t think that is the way to do it (they should have picked up some good international players prior to the season), but they were prepapered to take advantage of having some money to pick up some good players because they weren’t stuck with too much large value. You can’t spend all your money during the expanision draft. Seattle has already spent some huge money on Freddie and Kasey so they need some cheap good players.
Eddie Gaven is easily the #1 player to take.
He’s good and he’s young. Freddie will not play the wing in Seattle, he’s going to play centrally. If anyone watched him the past 2 years in the EPL, you know that he’s shot and has lost his speed.
Even if Seattle doesn’t want Gaven for the long haul……..mid-season next year, any contender would be more than happy to trade for him.
Why would LA trade for Kirovski who makes over $200K a year. I certainly hope that they are negotiating a new contract for him. I have nothing against the guy, but what has he done to deserve this sort of pay check at his age (31 or 32)? I’m not a fan of LA, but you better have players that can deliver if they are being paid over a certain amount.
Why is Kirovski on the LA list? Did I miss something? Isn’t he a SJ player?
Trent, keep in mind that all teams have to trim their rosters. Andrew Peterson doesn’t really fit into the Crew’s roster next year unless a few 2008 starters will try and play in Norway or Austria.
they left parke unprotected? he’s definitely one of the best defenders left unprotected.
Andrew Peterson of the Columbus Crew is actually on a send Andrew Peterson to Seattle facebook page.
John,
Young cheap players might seem like gold, but look at history. Any team that loads up on cheap young players winds up SUCKING!! Look at Toronto.
Then look at San Jose who took the best players available….such as Cannon, etc. They wanted to be good right away and almost made the play-offs.
The Joe Vide’s of the world are good thoughts on paper……then you have to go out and try and win with them, and your team stinks.
RBNY protects Goldthwaite but not Parke? I don’t get it. Goldthwaite is awful (though he had a nice tackle in the box on Sunday).
RBNY protects Goldthwaite but not Parke? I don’t get it. Goldthwaite is awful (though he had a nice tackle in the box on Sunday).
Well, I’d take (considering salaries)…
Lawson Vaughn (Chivas USA)
Stephen King (Chicago Fire)
Tim Ward (Colorado Rapids)
Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew) – Brad Evans would be a good cheap option
Quavas Kirk (D.C. United) – GA contract
Nate Jaqua (Houston Dynamo) – Corey Ashe would be a good cheap option
Jeff Parke (New York Red Bulls)
Gabriel Badilla (New England Revolution) – They wont, but I would
Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake)
Johann Smith (Toronto FC)
Flores, Jorge (F)
Prideaux, Brandon (D)
Erpen, Facundo (D)
Gaven, Eddie (M)
Jaqua, Nate (F)
Wahl, Tyson (D)
Castro, Mauricio (M)
Parke, Jeff (D)
Joy, Ian (D)
Ricketts, Rohan (M)
There is no way Seattle doesn’t compete for a playoff spot in 2009…..no way.
This Guy – I don’t think any of us are questioning protecting Robinson over Prideaux. It’s Robinson over Pappa that we can’t get our heads around.
Seattle will pick Burse, then trade him to Columbus. That way they can get Evans and Lenhart.
Columbus, please get rid of Gruenebaum.
arm:
You said: “did I miss something? How did Adam Cristman get on the KC list?”
You sure did. The Cristman trade to K.C. news is even in two places on this very page.
I don’t understand the comments about Seattle being bad. This is easily the best pool of players an expansion team has ever had to choose from.
1. Wow–Seattle is going to be bad! Well, at least they aren’t going to get much talent from the expansion list. I think if Seattle is smart, they won’t use all 10 picks.
2. No–don’t take Razov. If you’re willing to spend $250k, you can find someone younger, faster and healthier. No Gaven. For $160k you can find a central American player who’ll give you just as much, maybe even more. No Pappas. Players on loan (like Kandji, like Pappas) will need to be purchased. If you have to purchase a player, why waste an expansion slot on them? That’s silly.
3. If Seattle is smart, they’ll choose Petke and Marmol with the intention of keeping neither, and then deal both to RBNY for allocation money or picks. Petke supposedly wants to finish his career here, he’s a standup guy and great team leader, and we all know how JCO lusts after Marmol. They’ll choose Prideaux and Jaqua. Both of those guys hail from Seattle, are worthy MLS starters on an expansion team, aren’t too expensive and have enough experience that they’ll be decent team leaders. Maybe you choose Rod Dyachenko who is a young, cheap MLS veteran who hails from Vancouver WASHINGTON and can play a couple of attacking roles (viewing him as an initial starter but long-term a #13 or #14 player on the bench).
Then you choose a young veteran GK making little money. Ray Burse? Steve Cronin maybe? A guy to give you depth, not give much of a cap hit and learn behind Kasey Keller. Or maybe you gamble you can sign someone at 30k who’ll be as good as Burse or Cronin so you pass on the GK option.
After that, you look for MLS minimum salaries of AMERICAN players (so no international restrictions) who are young. Evans from Columbus is a no-brainer. Maybe, just maybe you go for James Riley who is relatively young, cheap, very fast, and versatile but will never be anything but mediocre. Abe Thompson isn’t MLS minimum salary but he’s a young, comparatively cheap American MLS vet who would be a pick for your first forward off the bench or late-game addition when you’re down a goal and go to 3 forwards.
Maybe you take a gamble at Parke who would start for an expansion team, isn’t that expensive but will miss initial games (and a team with no depth really can’t afford that).
Otherwise, the only other way (if I was Seattle’s GM) I keep picking is if there are great athletes making MLS minimum salary who are young, American, and are more than Calen Carr (ie: periennial scrubs who underperform–to be honest, James Riley might fall into that category as might my recommendation of Dyachenko). And if Seattle doesn’t go for Jaqua, then they go for Corey Ashe.
Ives, Thanks for the site and keep up the good work. What are the mechanics of the Exp Draft? When Seattle picks a player, e.g. Gaven in rd 1 from Columbus, does that mean all other Columbus players are safe? Do all the other teams get to add an additional player to their protected list?
I would go with this team
Razov Ruiz
Gaven
Smith Lunjberg
Olsen
Burciaga Brown Parke Klein
Onstad
Definately not a bad expansion team in my opinion.
Ives,
I dont see Terry Boss on any of the Red Bull lists. did they actually protect 3 goalies,( Boss, Conway, Cepero) or am I missing something?
so wait, how is angulo exposed if he doesn’t have a contract with NE? Does he have one? Or do they still just have his discovery rights?is that enough for him to be exposed to an expansion draft if he isn’t even on your roster? Well if it is enough, I’d say a smart move for New England who have their discovery rights expiring in december, leaving angulo free to go to any team. I still don’t get why they would put him on there, especially if he’s the talent everyone says he is…
(CH) Curtin, Jim
(CO) Cooke, Terry
(CC) Noonan, Pat
(CF) Marmol, Lider
(HD) Jaqua, Nate
(KC) Wall, Tyson
(NE) Thompson, Wells
(NY) Jimenez, Diego
(SL) Joy, Ian
(TO) Smith, Johann
Eddie Gaven being on that list is unbelievable. He’s a steal.
This Guy-
Dunno bout Melo man, hes gotten little to no playing time in the last season or so, also i think he plays DM and is in a developmental contract so i dont see him getting picked (hes also canadian).
Consensus seems to suggest JoSmith is going to. Pretty unhappy about that. Bloody Mo better find a superior replacement for the promise that kid has.
By the way,
Thanks Ives. I have been looking for this all day and you never let me down with all I need to know about MLS news because I am a FIRE fan in Jan. and Feb. as staunch as I am in Oct. and Nov.
Biggest suprises for me?
Toronto: Joey Melo and Johann Smith
Those 2 could be their starting wings next season. They are that good.
Dasan Robinson is protected over Pridueax because they are the same position but Robinson has more speed, the ability to push effectively and is 8 or so years younger.
Dasan Robinson looked solid in the Reserve matches I have seen him in.
Please, Please, Please Seattle, take Wells Thompson from the Revs. I can’t bare watching him fumble the ball away any more. I promise he will be the nicest hardworking guy on your team and you’ll love him.
But do not take:
Badilla (because we need him to replace Parkhurst)
Manzenelli (he’s going to be somebody)
Tierney (he will be a natural left back for an aging and out of place Heaps)
And as much as Khano is frustrating, we need to have him on the left wing.
Adzemian, Vardan
Alamo, Charles
Allen, Ely
Barlow, Jeremy
Cronin, Steve
Dominguez, Eduardo
Franchino, Joe
Gavin, Michael
Kirovski, Jovan
Klein, Chris
Munoz, Mike
Randolph, Michael
Saunders, Josh
Tudela, Josh
Vagenas, Peter
Valentin, Julian
Wicks, Josh
ID be sad if klein went,hes been great for us.get both cronin and wicks out of here though!we need to get a real goalie!
If Seattle takes anyone from Chicago, it will be Prideaux, King or Woolard. Banner and Pappa have tons of potential and provided a spark when Chicago was losing, but neither has demonstrated that they can do anything more than provide an offensive spark when the Fire are losing (which is much easier for a quick, offensive-minded player to do after everyone else on the pitch has played 70+ minutes and the other team is holding onto a lead).
Of course, Seattle could be looking for a few energy guys to come off the bench, in which case Banner or Pappa definitely fit the bill.
Seattle already have a good goalkeeper they could get from the USL team, why spend a draft pick on a backup for Keller?
We also have already signed LeToux from the USL team, who is a solid striker, so I can’t really see them grabbing Razov and Noonan
did I miss something? How did Adam Cristman get on the KC list?
Thanks Ives I’m enjoying this one…
first impressions nothing definite here, if I were Seattle I’d pick the following;
Goal keepers;
dan Kennedy or ray burse
good inexpensive keepers
defense;
prideaux Lawson vaughn wade barret jeff parke khano smith
pitchkolan gonzalo Martinez marco velez Jordan Harvey
Midfield; rohann ricketts brad evans (eddie gaven 2nd clb choice) corey ashe terry Cooke pat phelan, moffat
Forwards; razov jaqua johan smith
I may be missing a few and I’m naming more than one from each team in some cases (like Columbus) but this is more or less the pool of players that I would consider
Not too much to be concerned about for the Red Bulls. I like Mbuta a lot, but losing him wouldn’t be the end of the world. Aside from him, I think everyone else is replaceable.
I can see King on the list but by no means Pappa. He is a stud and i have a terrible feeling he is gone, which is sad cuz he is gonna blow up next year with us or them.
All faith is lost in the Chicago FO. What’s going on. Pappa and King shouldn’t be on that list.
Shoot… I thought that Corey Ashe would be a guy that the Dynamo would have wanted to protect… Looks like they are looking for defenders and a keeper… Interesting…