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Union protected list released

The Philadelphia Union released on Monday its protected list for Wednesday’s Expansion Draft.

Philadelphia Union’s Protected Players:

1.         Califf, Danny (DF)
2.         Carroll, Brian (MF)
3.         Farfan, Gabriel (DF)
4.         Farfan, Michael (MF)
5.         Le Toux, Sebastien (FW)
6.         Daniel, Keon (MF)
7.         Mondragon, Faryd (GK)
8.         Mwanga, Danny (FW)
9.         Torres, Roger (MF)
10.       Valdes, Carlos (DF)
11.       Williams, Sheanon (DF)

Generation adidas Players (exempted from selection):

1.         MacMath, Zac (GK)
2.         McInerney, Jack (FW)
3.         Okugo, Amobi (MF)

Homegrown Players (exempted from selection):

1.         Zach Pfeffer

Unprotected Players:

1.         Adu, Freddy (MF)
2.         Gonzalez, Juan Diego (DF)
3.         Harrison, Chase (GK)
4.         Holder, Thorne (GK)
5.         Houapeu, Levi (FW)
6.         Langley, Morgan (MF)
7.         Mapp, Justin (MF)
8.         Miglioranzi, Stefani (MF)
9.         Nakazawa, Kyle (MF)
10.       Paunovic, Veljko (FW)
11.       Richter, Ryan (FW)
12.       Tait, Joe (DF)

Expansion draft rules

The Expansion Draft is set to begin at 2pm on Wednesday. For the official rules of the draft, click here. Below are the essentials:

  • Each team protects 11 players. If a player’s contract expires, he can still be protected.
  • Montreal will select 10 players.
  • No team can lose more than one player.
  • Generation Adidas and homegrown players are exempt from the draft.
  • Designated players are not exempt and can be exposed in the draft.
  • The Union must protect at least three international players, based on their current roster.

28 Comments

  1. Is anyone as shocked as I am that Adu has been left exposed? Seeing how this is Nowak I was expecting something crazy, but this looks perfect. I have to think this means that Adu is gone though.

  2. Keon turned up somewhere!

  3. this looks really good actually, glad to see keon was protected, hopefully get him back. i do not think that Adu being unprotected means he is gone, i do not think he showed enough to be picked up

    • I don’t really understand protecting Keon. I like him and think he’s a valuable asset when he’s around, but that’s the problem. Why would Montreal use 1 of 10 expansion picks on a guy that may not be able to get a work visa.

      I hope this means the Union know for a fact that Keon will be back, but that may be reading too much into this.

  4. Soccerdad1150 says:

    exactly Mike, although I’m pretty sure with his high salary and his lack of playing time/contribution, they won’t take him.

  5. Montreal won’t go anywhere near Adu. I think the players we stand to lose are Paunovic and Nakazawa… maybe Houapeu if Montreal scouts deep enough.

    I’d hate to see any of the three go, but I wouldn’t begrudge any of the three of them more playing time with an increased role.

    • I think Naka goes. He is cheap and has some skills they could build around. He doesn’t seem to have a place here anymore.

  6. Wow. Freddy, we hardly knew ya. Maybe his salary will scare MTL away, but he’s now one of the best available players in this expansion draft. Frankly I’m baffled why we protected him over Mondragon, who would have been a very, very low-risk exposure..especially considering Chris Seitz is available (kidding).

    • That should say, “why we protected Mondragon over him”

      • I’m interested to see what Adu can do with a full offseason with the team under his belt and at full health, but honestly, I wasn’t terribly impressed this season. I think he’s still got the potential to really be something special, but we haven’t seen it yet. I can only hope that familiarity and comfort will lead to improved results.

      • Because there’s a required number of international players that go on the protected list?

      • we only needed three. Mwanga, Torres and Valdes could have satisfied those requirements, as far as i understand it. More importantly, Montreal is looking for a veteran goalkeeper. that’s why you protect the dragon over adu. adu will be back though.

      • Err, Mwanga? I thought he had his green card, or some such, because of refugee status. If we include DM10, then our protected list is comprised of 5 internationals: Daniel, Mondragon, Mwanga, Torres, Valdes.

  7. Pretty happy with this list, although i would have liked to see veljko protected, but on second thought, because of his ge, he should be safe…All in all, good job. Adu didnt earn protection…mapp did, but his age should keep him safe too…if i was picking from this list, i would take nakazawa or holder, but they only get 10 picks and no team can lose more than 1 player, so well done, technical staff!

  8. Important side note: this list confirms that Mwanga graduated GenAdd, right? That means he’s a cap hit this year.

  9. We may have seen the last of Mapp, Nakazawa and Paunovic in the blue and gold. Great protection list! Lots of big names available out there for Montreal to choose from. They may not touch our unprotecteds.

  10. Joseph (aka virgoboy) says:

    …OK, i Like this! It’s pretty much what i expected except for Keon Daniel. I had pretty much written him off coming back to us. I had Adu protected instead. I mean this list does not have anywhere NEAR the “WTF???” factor of last year’s list 😉

  11. Love the list! Hell, I wish Montreal would be allowed to take more than a player from our team. I want to see Mapp, Naka and Miggy gone.

  12. I hope we don’t lost mapp or paunovic. Other than those two, I wouldn’t miss any of the other unprotected players. I think Montreal would be most likely to pick up mapp, which of course I hope I am wrong. The next most likely guy i see them picking would be nakazawa. I really would like if we could get rid of Gonzalez’s and adu’s contracts. Obviously gonzalez is a complete waste, and while Adu occasionally has a flash of skill here or there, I just don’t see him becoming effective or consistent enough to earn his bigger contract.

  13. Very happy with this list. Nowak got it right the first time for a change!

  14. I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep on beating this drum … just because a guy is on the exposed list doesn’t mean he’s automatically a shoe-in to be snagged by Montreal. Some players are left unprotected knowing that their exorbitant salaries are too much for an expansion club to take on, while team managers (Marsch and Nowak in this case) may have an agreement to not take a Union player with a future deal in the works. Anyone not remember the Union passing over RSL’s unprotected players only to make a deal for Chris Seitz later on.

    • Nowak and Marsch were teammates for five years in Chicago. I’m sure they’ve developed some sort of “understanding”. And yes, I’m aware that this makes MLS sound like the mob.

  15. please take migz

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