Regardless of the result on Monday, Garth Lagerwey and Jason Kreis will be forced to sit down with the players on Monday as they have to turn in their list of players protected and exposed in the upcoming Expansion Draft for the addition of the Philadelphia Union. The draft will occur on Wednesday of next week.
Garth Lagerwey isn’t a fan of the expansion draft, “I hate the expansion draft. No matter what I do we are going to lose. We’re going to lose a player that we really like. The only thing we can do is be honest with people, look them in the eye, and say thanks.”
Lagerwey is indeed prepared to lose a player, “I don’t think we’re going to be one of those teams that doesn’t have a player selected.”
Lagerwey feels that this is an indication of where they are at in terms of developing the team, “If in the expansion draft we lose a good player, I feel like we’ve done something right. That’s a small consolation in the whole thing.It’s an indication that we have a depth of talent that other teams want to pick a player from.”
Soccer By Ives, pointed out the recently released Expansion Draft Rules (which you can find here).
- Teams get to protect 11 players, both senior and developmental
- Generation adidas players do not need to be protected
- Designated players only need to be protected if they have a no trade clause
- Teams can only lose one player -- after a team has a player selected, they are out
- The expansion draft will last ten rounds
Our good friend Drew at WV Hooligan, gave us his list of what he thinks. I think his list is spot on, but I think there is a chance they could protect a talented young player: Alexandre, Cox or Gonzalez and gamble on leaving an older veteran off the list.
| Protected | Available | Exempt |
| Kyle Beckerman | Jean Alexandre | Tony Beltran |
| Nat Borchers | Raphael Cox | Alex Nimo |
| Pablo Campos | Rachid El Khalifi | Chris Seitz |
| Fabian Espindola | Nelson Gonzalez | |
| Robbie Findley | Ned Grabavoy | |
| Will Johnson | David Horst | |
| Javier Morales | Clint Mathis | |
| Jamison Olave | Yura Movsisyan | |
| Nick Rimando | Tino Nunez | |
| Robbie Russell | Kyle Reynish | |
| Chris Wingert | Andy Williams |
With this in mind, there are a few options that the Union could take:
- Andy Williams – the veteran has had a great run at the end of 2009.
- Raphael Cox – the kid has shown something in his limited opportunities.
- Nelson Gonzalez – if they’ve scouted this kid, they may know that he’d be a steal.
