Man… I’m ready to get down to the nitty gritty and start looking at next season. Who do we protect/unprotect in the upcoming expansion draft? With an educated guess, I’ll take a stab. I know the real list with be determined based on whose option is declined but for now I’ll make my predictions. Auto Protected: S. Anderson C. Bassett M. Edwards K. Ford M. Hundley O. Larraz P. Mayaka A. Rodriguez Y. Toure W. Vint D. Yapi My Protected: K. Acosta M. Barrios L. Esteves B. Galvan M. Kaye J. Lewis J. Price A. Trusty W. Yarbrough A. Shinyshiki My Toss Up To Protect of Unprotect: (Protect 1 of 3) L. Abubakar D. Rubio K. Rosenberry My Unprotected: B. Badji S. Beitarshour C. Irwin J. Kelley D. Moor Y. Namli A. Rawls C. Warner D. Wilson
Just gotta make sure you don't forget Nico Mezquida! He's one of those trickier ones for depth (to protect or not), so maybe you forgot about him intentionally . Also, at first glance, the two names in your "Protected" list that I'd debate would be Shinyashiki and Galvan. Though I love the personality and levity that Andre brings, I'm just not sure what he's brought to the team in recent months. Just seems very bland. As for Galvan... He's flashy, of course. But I still think he's still too much of a one-trick pony (fake right, cut left, then cross or shoot) and/or may be a liability on defense. But maybe those areas develop with time. [BTW, I'm not saying these guys should be cut, I'm just saying they may not warrant expansion draft protection]
First of all this might be a better discussion for the off-season thread Secondly, you can protect 12, not 11. I protect all 3 of your toss up list, but not Shinyashiki. I don't see how Andre is more valuable to this team than Abubakar or Rosenberry. Rubio too, though that's more debatable. But if there's any truth to the rumored interest in Diego from a Chilean club its worth holding onto him for a potential sale.
baby blues. Jesus, I seriously thought I read off season on the thread title. Whoa. I need rest. i knew I selected 11. Those were MY givens, obvious choices or uneducated guesses, whatever you wanna call it call. The other protected player would come up from the “toss up” pile. I just couldn’t decide hence the reason for toss up pile. I think Andre is a personal choice / preference. I just see something untapped in him. Unfortunately, I think that will be untapped somewhere else.I don’t think we’d protect him but I would. Abubakar is a rollercoaster for me. He plays like a Best XI CB one week and a Worst XI CB the next. Hell, at times, it’s a rollercoaster in-game . I don’t trust him. As for Rosenberry…… I love his play. I love that he’s a solid, steady player. He won’t wow you but he’s trusted. With that said, Seb Anderson is ready and ready to contribute now. I don’t think sitting behind Rosenberry or even an extended loan to the Switchbacks is going to benefit him like playing regularly for the 1st team. Rosenberry is a player I’d select (if unprotected) If I were Charlotte. He’d make the perfect bookend to Christian Fuchs on the left. If he was protected, I could see Rosenberry as value piece of trade material. I know I am sticking my neck out on the line for Anderson but I see a Vines-like trajectory. I really do. I believe in this kid and want his opportunities to come sooner than later.
You listed 10 players in your protected list, and then said 1 of 3 from the toss-up pile. That's only 11 players. We can protect 12. And that's why you protect him. He's more likely to get taken than Shinyashiki. Same thing with Abubakar. This is about protecting the assets that Charlotte are likely to take, and a starting RB or CB is more likely to be selected than a bech striker. Especially because if charlotte is going to spend big money they're likely to do it at the striker position.
Not to mention the other 21 teams that will have eligible players for Charlotte to pick (27 teams in the league, SJ, NYRB, Nashville, LA Gals, and Orlando are all exempt this draft). They get to pick a maximum of 5 players from the eligible 22 teams - and once a team has been picked from they are exempt from any further selections. The numbers game says we probably won't have anyone selected. But you'd want to be as safe as possible with that for sure
Nice interview with Cole Bassett on MLS's "The Call Up" podcast. A couple of nuggets were that Rapids legend Mac Kanji lives in Denver in the off season and trains with the team, to include playing pickup with local guys. Good perspective from Cole as well ... I really like this guy.
Doing some research for a piece ahead of MLS Cup, and dug this up:Atlanta, LAFC, Miami and Toronto paid more to their three DPs than Colorado and RBNY paid their entire rosters in 2021.— Sam Stejskal (@samstejskal) December 6, 2021
Colorado Rapids announce “Rapids 2” team as part of new MLS Next Pro league https://www.denverpost.com/2021/12/06/colorado-rapids-mls-next-pro-league/