The half day trade deadline has closed. The 18 MLS teams have announced their protected and unprotected rosters. On Wednesday, Orlando City and NYCFC will each select 10 players in the 2014 MLS Expansion Draft.
The full list of rules for the expansion draft can be found here. The account of all trades made can be found here. Here is the full list of protected and unprotected players for each team. Now that the rosters are out, how do things look for the LA Galaxy:
LA Galaxy Expansion Draft Preview
Automatically Protected: Chandler Hoffman, Bradford Jamieson IV, Jack McBean, Raul Mendiola, Oscar Sorto, Jose Villarreal, Gyasi Zardes.
11 Protected: Leonardo, AJ DeLaGarza, Omar Gonzalez, Baggio Husidic, Sefan Ishizaki, Robbie Keane, Tommy Meter, Juninho, Jaime Penedo, Robbie Rogers, Marcelo Sarvas.
Unprotected: Todd Dunivant, Dan Gargan, Alan Gordon, Brian Perk, James Riley, Kenny Walker, Rafael Garcia, Brian Rowe, Charlie Rugg, Kyle Venter.
Every automatically protected player is a Homegrown, with the exception of Hoffman, who is a Generation adidas player. The Galaxy fulfilled their requirement to protect at least three international players.
Thoughts on the roster selection:
As usual, much of the young talent on this roster was started in house and is thus already safe. That’s a big plus for the future of the club with ‘Los Dos’ about to enter year two. It’s also a bonus that Zardes was automatically protected despite being a regular starter in 2014. It’s still a bit ambiguous how a Homegrown player becomes unprotected based on the rules for this expansion draft.
I am a little bit surprised that both Gargan and Gordon are left unprotected while four of five center backs are protected. Gargan and Gordon were major parts of this roster this year. I get protected DeLaGarza and Gonzalez. Those were no-brainers. But protecting both Meyer and Leo while leaving Gargan and Gordon out there?
Leonardo played his way onto the protected list in the playoffs. He’s been phenomenal since the middle of October. It’s the best he’s played since joining LA. But part of me still sees the error-prone goof that got run over by Xolos. Meyer is younger. He’s the future. He played the entire 2012 playoff run including MLS Cup. I think he’s ready to start in MLS. They’re close enough that I’d be ok with protecting one of the two, but not both. Especially when Gargan is making the league minimum and Gordon is making $185k.
MLS Expansion Drafts are about picking your poison. I’m sure Bruce and company have contingency plans for every possible outcome, including losing both Gordon and Gargan.
Now, who is getting drafted:
As previously stated, the obvious choices are Gargan and Gordon. They’re both solid veterans (something Orlando City doesn’t have a lot of). Gordon can be your 65th minute attacking super sub. Gargan gets forward but is old enough that he could easily split time with a young full back. NYCFC already has former Montreal Impact RB Jeb Brovsky, who’s quality. I don’t see them looking at Gargan.
If Gargan’s going, it’s to Orlando. Purple Reign (seriously, can we make that OCSC’s nickname?) have Tyler Turner, who played RB for the squad in USL Pro. He was captain of the US U18 team and was Orlando’s Rookie of the Year in 2014. He’s also one of their poster boys. But Tuner might not be ready to step in and start in MLS. Gargan could take over the majority of the job, with Turner learning under him, subbing on, or splitting starts. Orlando City should consider it.
Gordon could fit with either team because both have major holes at striker. Gordon’s versatile in that he could start and be subbed off or be the super sub. However, at his age and at his price, I’m not sure he’s worth it unless he’s starting 15-20 games, which I don’t know if he can. At least he won’t be as effective as he was with the Galaxy down the stretch.
There is a clause in the rules that once a player is selected from a team, that team gets to add a 12th player to the protected roster. So as soon as Gargan or Gordon are taken, the other will be protected. I think that’s the obvious move.
After that, there’s a serious drop off in experience of the Galaxy’s unprotected roster. I think the only dark horses after the two veterans are Kenny Walker and Brian Rowe. Dunivant and Riley are too much of a risk because of injuries this year. Dunivant is also a decent cap hit. Everyone else is not likely. Another player from another team can be taken who’s better, more experiences, or both for the same price.
Kenny Walker is a young holding midfielder who I think Arena could be grooming to take over for Sarvas or Juninho one day. He could come it and be that young sub on the bench. He could turn into a reliable starter on a contender. Brian Rowe might be the best back up goalie in MLS who isn’t currently with FC Dallas. Both expansion teams have starting caliber goalies and wouldn’t need to rely on Rowe regularly. He’s only 26 and inexpensive.
My hunch is that Gargan or Gordon is taken, and that’s it. I lean towards Gargan because of price and a potential need in Orlando. I’d be sad to see either of them gone. I don’t see the Galaxy losing two players in the draft.
We’ll find out tomorrow.
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