Heist's link is interesting to me. Given that you get allocation money if someone else signs your free agent selected in the expansion draft, I'd be tempted to load up on free agents that are likely to sign elsewhere if I cannot find a good fit for my team.
from team site: D.C. United have protected Steve Birnbaum, Bill Hamid, Taylor Kemp, Nick DeLeon, Lloyd Sam, Patrick Nyarko, Lamar Neagle, Rob Vincent, Marcelo Sarvas, Luciano Acosta and Patrick Mullins.
The list would suggest Olsen is comfortable with either Opare or Robinson in the unlikely event that Boswell is selected. Protecting Sarvas would suggest that he and Vincent are the two central mids going into next season, with Jeffrey (if not selected) and Buescher the depth.
The only eyebrow raiser for me is Vincent. Robinson is automatically protected because he is homegrown, right?
It's odd to jump through these last minute trade hoops just to use that last spot on Sarvas. First of all I highly doubt anyone would have picked Sarvas. Second of all even if they did it would be dumping a big contract of a 35 year old player. I won't go as far as to say 'addition by subtraction', but it almost is ...
Just so it's in one spot and I don't have to keep thinking of just the protected list - here's what the team says is its unprotected list: Boswell, Bobby Dykstra, Andrew Franklin, Sean Horton, Charlie Jeffrey, Jared Kamara, Alhaji Korb, Chris Mishu, Luke Opare, Kofi Rolfe, Chris Saborio, Alvaro Worra, Travis Saborio is already sunning on a Costa Rican beach, Mishu is going back to Business School, and Rolfe is sitting in a dark closet somewhere - but I think the other guys are legit pick-able. If I were Minnesota I would grab Boswell (if I grabbed a United player at all), possibly Franklin - both guys are good vets and great locker-room guys. If I was Atlanta, well none of those guys are flashy enough to be picked by ATL, but maybe Jeffrey would be semi-intriguing to do the dirty work for their over-payed flashy guys. Which United picks first?
I doubt anyone picks Franklin. He's a free agent and could negotiate with other clubs. Boswell is a possible pick. The only thing that doesn't make it a slam dunk is that there's no shortage of veteran domestic CBs available if that's a need for one of these clubs. Clarence Goodson, Marvell Wynne, Nat Borchers, David Horst, Bobby Burling etc ... Anyways ... if we lose Boswell I'm mostly OK with that. I don't think he fits our style anymore. Honestly I'd be more bummed about losing Opare who IMO still has upside with some coaching and consistent playing time
And if he signs with one then Atlanta gets allocation money for taking no risk basically - they also have a leg up in contract negotiations over the other teams (if they feel like spending)
Lololololololo NYCFC protected famous bench player Mix Lolololololololoo Must have a no trade clause or something Lolol ol
I tend to agree in principle, but remember for large parts of 2016 Sarvas seemed like the best player we had on the field. It's also possible that Magee wants Jeffrey and Jeffrey wants to go to the tundra ... and for the nicety of putting him on the unprotected list, they'll grab someone else and send him to us in a decent deal (it is still conspiracy theory season).
Saw an article by MLS that interviewed Minnesota UFC, said they needed experienced MLS talent if they want to compete this season for a playoff spot. They currently only have 3 defenders. 0nly have 3 players officially signed
Robinson home grown. Vincent has a high ceiling in MLS at an affordable price if an MLS team can find the right place to feild him
Between Vincent and Jeffrey, I have no problems with protecting Vincent. He's grown on me, hard worker, cannon of a shot, decent soccer IQ. I also like Jeffrey, but between the two, putting Vincent on the protected list is smart -- he has a higher upside IMHO.
Tenorio's 442 mock expansion draft has Opare going to Minnesota with 4th pick. http://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/featu...urce=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_m_medium=t
I thought Jeffrey may be more likely to go, but that article may sway me to Opare being the one taken.
Boswell started to score on set pieces this past season. Who else besides Birnbaum do we have that can do that regularly?
Well, if you lose Boswell, it might come down to Opare. He does have the raw materials to be a set piece threat, although I'm sure he needs coaching to make it more consistent. Also Boswell has 18 career MLS goals in 355 games. Opare has 2 in 40. They're both scoring at a rate of 1 goal per 20 games, so it might not be a big drop-off.
Telling that during the after-draft interviews, the MN guy says "If we keep these 5 guys we're fine with that, they're ready to start" and the ATL guy says right off the bat when asked about their 3 Ds and 2 GKs picked: "We have a couple of pre-determined trades we'll be announcing next week"