SAN JOSE, Calif. – Major League Soccer today announced the list of players available for selection in the 2017 Expansion Draft. The draft will provide an opportunity for expansion side Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) to select five players from the list of 309 available.
The San Jose Earthquakes have protected goalkeepers Andrew Tarbell and David Bingham, defender Florian Jungwirth, midfielders Fatai Alashe, Darwin Ceren, Anibal Godoy, Jahmir Hyka, Vako and Shea Salinas, and forwards Danny Hoesen and Chris Wondolowski. Defender Nick Lima and midfielder Tommy Thompson are automatically protected due to their Homegrown Player status, while midfielder Jackson Yueill is automatically protected due to his Generation adidas status. Tarbell, a member of the Generation adidas Class of 2017, has graduated to the senior roster and is no longer automatically protected from selection.
The Quakes have left the following players unprotected and available for selection Tuesday: goalkeeper Matt Bersano, defenders Francois Affolter, Victor Bernardez, Kip Colvey, Harold Cummings, Andres Imperiale and Kofi Sarkodie, midfielders Leandro Barrera, Cordell Cato, Simon Dawkins, Lindo Mfeka, Marc Pelosi and Matheus Silva, and forwards Quincy Amarikwa and Marco Ureña.
The 2017 Expansion Draft will take place on Tuesday, December 12, beginning at 11 a.m. PT.
Each current MLS club had the opportunity to protect 11 players from their 2017 roster. Generation adidas players who did not graduate at the end of the 2017 season and Homegrown Players on a club’s off-budget roster are automatically protected and do not count against a team’s 11 protected roster spots. Designated Players are not automatically protected. If a Designated Player has a no-trade clause in his contract, then the club must protect him in the Expansion Draft.
Once one player has been selected from a team’s unprotected roster, that team may not lose any further players, with all additional players from that team becoming ineligible for selection.
For a full list of players eligible for selection in the 2017 Expansion Draft, click here.
For a full list of players eligible for Free Agency, click here.
