[mattmanp]

Didn't see any post on this yet. Let the speculation begin!

http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news...._mls&fext=.jsp

NEW YORK -- The League's 16th team, Philadelphia Union, will take another significant step toward building their club as the 2010 expansion side will participate in the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft on Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 25. The Union, who recently unveiled their inaugural game kit, open their season in the MLS First Kick presented by Dick's Sporting Goods match on March 25 versus 2009 expansion club Seattle Sounders FC, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2/Deportes, ESPN360.com).
Philadelphia will select the core of their inaugural squad in a 10-round draft next Wednesday. Teams can participate in a half-day trade window on Monday until Noon ET. All 15 MLS teams are required to submit their lists of protected players to the League by 3 p.m. ET on Monday, Nov. 23.
The League will distribute a list of the players available in the expansion draft to media that day. At the conclusion of the Expansion Draft, results will be posted on MLSnet.com and teams may resume trading.
The most recent expansion draft was highlighted by several impact players who helped lead Seattle Sounders FC to a playoff berth in their first season including Brad Evans, Nate Jaqua and James Riley.
Philadelphia Union may not claim more than one player from any given team in MLS - five teams will not have a player taken in the expansion draft.

2009 MLS Expansion Draft Rules

Senior Roster • Teams may protect 11 players between their Senior and their Developmental Roster.
• If the Player's contract expires at the end of 2009, he will still be considered part of the Team's Senior Roster.
• If a Team 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.
• If a player retires, he will not be a part of the Senior Roster, but his Team will lose its right of first refusal to him should he ultimately decide to play.



Developmental Roster
• Players on a Team's Developmental Roster, other than Generation adidas players who have not been graduated at the end of the 2009 season and Home Grown Players, will be part of the expansion draft.
• Generation adidas players (who have not been graduated at the end of the 2009 season) and Home Grown players are automatically protected (teams do not have to use a protected slot on them)If Philadelphia selects a Developmental Player it must offer him a Senior Roster position and he must be on Philadelphia's Senior Roster as of Roster Compliance Date.



International Players
• Teams are restricted in the number of International player(s) that they may make available per the table set forth below.
• For purposes of this expansion process, for US-based teams, any non-domestic US player would count as an International and for Toronto FC, any non-domestic US player or non-domestic Canadian player would count as an International.



Designated Players
• Designated Players do not have to be protected unless the player has a no trade clause in which case he must be protected.



Maximum Player Loss
• Once a player has been claimed from a Team's non-protected roster, that team is eliminated from the expansion draft and may not lose any further players.



Right to Renegotiate
• Philadelphia 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 Team a right of first refusal.



Priority
• On the first day of the Discovery/Allocation Period, Philadelphia will have priority over players who played professionally in the USL First or Second Division in 2009, subject to another MLS team's right of first refusal.



Rounds
• The expansion draft will be 10 rounds.



INTERNATIONAL PLAYER PROTECTION REQUIREMENT TABLE:
• Teams may make available a number of international players equal to their total number of international players minus 3, provided that if a team has 3 or less international players it may make available not more than 1.

[Dills]

Anticipating the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft [Part 4]

/pimp

[newtex]

For some reason the Dynamo website is saying that we have to leave one of our three Internationals unprotected.

Of Houston's three international players (Andrew Hainault, Luis Angel Landín, Dominic Oduro), at least one must be left unprotected.

Does anyone know of a rule that stipulates this? The rules I see say that teams may leave an International unprotected depending on how many you have but is there any rule that you have to?

[Dills]

Straight from the League itself:

... if a team has 3 or less international players it may make available not more than 1.

... kinda contradicts things, huh?

[newtex]

Originally Posted by Dills

Straight from the League itself:



... kinda contradicts things, huh?

Which things? If a team has three or fewer Internationals, the team may only expose one. Basically if you have a bunch of Internationals you can expose several of them. If you only have few you can only expose one. What does that contradict?

My question is about whether or not you have to expose any?

[Dills]

Originally Posted by newtex

Which things? If a team has three or fewer Internationals, the team may only expose one. Basically if you have a bunch of Internationals you can expose several of them. If you only have few you can only expose one. What does that contradict?

My question is about whether you not you have to expose any?

No contradictions ... I misunderstood the point you were getting at (may protect vs must protect).

[GOALSeattle]

In case it needed clarifying (and it did for me)...

The DP's are ALL protected by the league from the draft. If a DP has a no-trade clause, then he becomes part of the 11 for his club and 10 others can be protected. If he doesn't, then it's DP AND 11 other players protected.

So says Seattle GM Adrian Hanauer today via email...

I also asked him about rights v. roster. In Seattle's case we still have the rights to Jeff Parke, a NJ guy who would be a great pick for the Union. However, Philly cannot pick him from us in the expansion draft because he is unrostered. So...Seattle would have to sign him before next week (not likely) or Philly will have to make a trade for him with Seattle sometime after the Exp. draft.

[Dills]

Originally Posted by GOALSeattle

In case it needed clarifying (and it did for me)...

The DP's are ALL protected by the league from the draft. If a DP has a no-trade clause, then he becomes part of the 11 for his club and 10 others can be protected. If he doesn't, then it's DP AND 11 other players protected.

That's not what the following says, however.

Designated Players

• Designated Players do not have to be protected unless the player has a no trade clause in which case he must be protected.

I'll tell ya, these expansion rules are as clear as mud.

[newtex]

Originally Posted by Dills

That's not what the following says, however.

I'll tell ya, these expansion rules are as clear as mud.

It might make sense from the 11 player rule. If you have a DP with a no-trade clause then you have to make him part of your 11 protected list and you only get to protect 10 others.

If you have a DP without a no-trade clause then you get to protect 11 other players and the expansion team still can't pick him.

The league would be saying, Fine, this guy won't allow himself to be traded to anyone else and you still signed him, you have to expose some other player.

But if the player signed with you for all that money with the understanding that he might get sent somewhere else then you don't have use up one of your 11 protected slots. He is protected and if you choose to trade him you get full value for him.

[GOALSeattle]

OK, here is a transcript of my short email back and forth with Adrian Hanauer, Seattle GM, today:

ME: A quick question: are all DP's automatically protected from the expansion draft by the league? The wording is confusing to me.

Hanauer: Yes. So the DP and an additional 11 may be protected.

Me: Thanks. I guess I do have one more quick one...Do clubs have to protect 'rights' to players not currently signed?

Hanauer: Philly can only take a rostered, non-protected player. If a player's contract expires (Tyson Wahl, as an example), he still must be protected, if we want to keep him.