NEW YORK – Major League Soccer has announced the list of players available for selection in the 2017 MLS Expansion Draft. The Los Angeles Football Club will have the opportunity to select up to five players during the Expansion Draft as they prepare for their 2018 debut. A list of 308 players is available.
The 2017 MLS Expansion Draft will be covered live on MLSsoccer.com on Tuesday, Dec. 12, beginning at 2 p.m. ET.
Each current MLS club protected 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 (all additional players from that team become ineligible for selection).
 Toronto FC | |
|---|---|
| UNPROTECTED | PROTECTED |
| Alseth, Oyvind (INT'L) Aubrey, Brandon Beitashour, Steven [FA] Cheyrou, Benoit (INT'L) Cooper, Armando (INT'L) Edwards, Raheem Endoh, Tsubasa (INT'L) Hasler, Nicolas (INT'L) Hernandez, Jason [FA] Irwin, Clint Moor, Drew [FA] Pais, Mark Ricketts, Tosaint | Altidore, Jozy Bono, Alex Bradley, Michael Delgado, Marky Giovinco, Sebastian (INT'L) Hagglund, Nick Mavinga, Chris (INT'L) Morrow, Justin Osorio, Jonathan Vazquez, Victor (INT'L) Zavaleta, Eriq Automatically Protected: Chapman, Jay (HG) Hamilton, Jordan (HG) Morgan, Ashtone (HG) Camargo, Sergio (HG) Spencer, Ben (HG) |
Notes:
- Protected/unprotected player-related rules:
- The 22 MLS clubs that competed during the 2017 season can protect 11 players between their Senior, Supplemental and Reserve Roster. If the player’s contract expires at the end of 2017, he will still be considered part of the club’s Senior Roster. If a club 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, subject to the CBA. Option Decline Free Agents and Out of Contracts Free Agents [FA] are part of the Expansion Draft and are not automatically protected.
- Players on a club’s Supplemental Roster, other than Generation adidas players (GA) who have not been graduated at the end of the 2017 MLS Season or Homegrown Players (HG), are eligible.
- Generation adidas (GA) players who have not been graduated at the end of the 2017 MLS Season and Homegrown players (HG) on a Club’s Supplemental/Reserve Roster at the end of the 2017 MLS Season are automatically protected. Clubs do not have to use a protected slot on them.
- Designated Players are NOT automatically protected (i.e., clubs must choose whether to protect such players and if such player is not protected, he will be available for selection in the Expansion Draft).
- If a player has a no-trade clause in his contract, his MLS club must protect him and he will count as one of the 11 players who may be protected.
- Retired player rules: If a player retires, he will not be a part of the Expansion Draft, but his club will lose its right of first refusal to him should he ultimately decide to play.
- International player rules: Clubs are restricted in the number of international player(s) that they may make available. Clubs may make available a number of international players equal to their total number of international players minus three, provided that if a club has three or fewer international players it may not make more than one international player available.
- Selection of Free Agents: If a Free Agent [FA] is selected in the Expansion Draft, the expansion club that selected the player will gain his previous club’s ability to renegotiate a new contract consistent with the CBA before the beginning of Stage 2 of the Re-Entry Draft. If an Out of Contract Free Agent is selected in the Expansion Draft and subsequently signs with his 2017 club via Free Agency, he will be subject to the compensation limitation for Out of Contract Players signing with a new Club, as provided in the CBA.
- If LAFC selects a Supplemental/Reserve Roster Player, it must offer him a Senior Roster position and he must remain on the Senior Roster as of Roster Compliance Date.
- Maximum player loss: Once one player has been claimed from a club’s non-protected roster, that club is eliminated from the Expansion Draft and may not lose any further players.
- Right to negotiate: LAFC 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 club a right of first refusal.
