Nate Jaqua was the easiest of picks for Seattle (Seattle Sounders FC)

I know this post comes a few days late but due to me travels over the holiday season I really didn’t get to dive deep into Seattle’s expansion draft last week since I was somewhere in the air over Memphis when the whole thing went down. So forgive me for the lateness on this, I had several people asking me to post this when I could.

The new club had the chance to really make a dent into the league with their 10 draft picks but after seeing the 10 come down when I sat foot in my layover stop in Philly last Wednesday I thought nothing more than just utter shock at a few of the picks.

A few were simple:

• Nate Jaqua – We saw that coming from the second he returned to Houston.
• Nathan Sturgis – Its a risk but one that I thought they’d take because its one worth taking.
• Brad Evans – Whoever was picking really could go no wrong with Evans from Columbus (same would have been said for Eddie Gavin).
• Khano Smith – Some really questioned this pick but I thought it was a smart one from the start (not because I predicted it). Smith has plenty of talent is if he isn’t going to be used he will be valuable trade bait.

A few were a bit of a shock but not a real stretch:

• Peter Vagenas – Most felt it was a Sigi Schmid pick but I see it more as getting a strong veteran in the club house that knows the lay of the MLS land.
• Tyson Wahl – Cheap, young, and not a bad talent for a defense that will have to protect Kasey Keller. Really not a bad pick at all.
• Stephen King – I thought Brandon Prideaux was the easy pick from the Fire but King was my next bet from them. He’s young, talented and showed plenty of potential.
• James Riley – A surprise pick really for me but a smart one when you really think about it. San Jose will miss this kid.

And the one’s that left us wondering why:

• Jeff Parke – One he still has a few games left on a suspension and secondly he is expected to leave MLS and try his game in Europe. Its the Clarence Goodson pick of 2008.
• Jarrod Smith – The wrong Smith from Toronto was selected. They should have taken Johann Smith and not Jarrod. Word has it they were going to cut Jarrod after the draft anyways.

In all it wasn’t a terrible draft but not a great one by most people. I still believe some trades are coming down very soon once they get their coaching staff lined up. Seattle got some players that are still expendable here but for the most part they filled out their majority of their roster in a decent way to compliment the players they will add from their USL team and the couple moves that they had already made before the draft.

WVH Draft Grade: B-

From week-to-week (and soon to be a day-to-day thing) I will post this list with the updated moves that each club has made.

So far a lot of the moves center around the expansion draft, retirements and players that got cut recently. If any move is missing or incorrect please just comment below and I will update it as soon as possible. Big thanks to a couple readers for emailing in a few of these lists over the last couple weeks. I really appreciate the help you guys!!

Now on to it:

Chicago Fire
Incoming:

Outgoing:
Tomasz Frankowski (waived)
Diego Gutierrez (retired)
Andy Herron (waived)
Stephen King (Seattle Sounders FC – Expansion Draft)

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Chivas USA
Incoming:

Outgoing:
Alex Zotinca (waived)

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Columbus Crew
Incoming:

Outgoing:
Kevin Burns (waived)
Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC – Expansion Draft)
Ryan Junge (waived)
George Josten (waived)
Andrew Peterson (waived)
Ricardo Pierre-Louis (waived)
Brian Plotkin (waived)

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Colorado Rapids
Incoming:

Outgoing:
Mike Petke (Waiver Draft)
Tim Ward (waived)

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FC Dallas
Incoming:

Outgoing:
Jeff Rowland (waived)
Bobby Rhine (retired)
Spencer Wadsworth (waived)

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DC United
Incoming:

Outgoing:
Jeff Carroll (waived)

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Houston Dynamo
Incoming:

Outgoing:
Nate Jaqua (Seattle Sounders FC – Expansion Draft)

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Kansas City Wizards
Incoming:
Adam Cristman (trade w/NE)

Outgoing:
Carlos Marinelli (waived)
Ryan Pore (waived)
Ivan Trujillo (waived)
Tyson Wahl (Seattle Sounders FC – Expansion Draft)
Kerry Zavagnin (retired)

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Los Angeles Galaxy
Incoming:
Jovan Kirovski (trade w/SJ)

Outgoing:
Scott Bolkan (retired)
Jeremy Barlow (waived)
Joe Franchino (waived)
Alvaro Pires (waived)
Greg Vanney (retired)
Peter Vagenas (Seattle Sounders FC – Expansion Draft)

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New England Revolution
Incoming:

Outgoing:
Jose Angulo (waived)
Adam Cristman (trade w/KC)
Khano Smith (Seattle Sounders FC – Expansion Draft)
Doug Warren (waived)

Additional Items
2009 SuperDraft 3rd round pick(from KC in A. Cristman trade)
Allocation $ (from KC in A. Cristman trade)

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New York Red Bulls
Incoming:
Mike Petke (Waiver Draft)

Outgoing:
Gabriel Cichero (waived)
Gordan Kljestan (waived)
Jeff Parke (Seattle Sounders FC – Expansion Draft)
Sainey Touray (waived)

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Real Salt Lake
Incoming:

Outgoing:
Nik Besagno (waived)
Kenny Cutler (waived)
Dustin Kirby (waived)
Nathan Sturgis (Seattle Sounders FC – Expansion Draft)

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San Jose Earthquakes
Incoming:

Outgoing:
Jovan Kirovski (trade w/LA)
James Riley (Seattle Sounders FC – Expansion Draft)

Additional Items
Conditional 2010 SuperDraft pick (from LA in J. Kirovski trade)

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Seattle Sounders FC
Incoming:
Sebastien Le Toux (via signing from Seattle – USL1)
Freddie Ljungberg (via signing from West Ham United – England)
Sanna Nyassi (via signing from Ports Authority FC – Gambia)
Kasey Keller (via signing from Fulham – England)
Brad Evans (Expansion Draft)
Nate Jaqua (Expansion Draft)
Stephen King (Expansion Draft)
Jeff Parke (Expansion Draft)
James Riley (Expansion Draft)
Jarrod Smith (Expansion Draft)
Khano Smith (Expansion Draft)
Nathan Sturgis (Expansion Draft)
Peter Vagenas (Expansion Draft)
Tyson Wahl (Expansion Draft)

Outgoing:

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Toronto FC
Incoming:

Outgoing:
Hunter Freeman (IK Start – Norway)
Tim Regan (Retired)
Jarrod Smith (Seattle Sounders FC – Expansion Draft)

(EDIT: Sorry for the delay in this, traveling yestery kept me from being able to post this as these results came down while I was in the air. Plus I wasn’t done with my flying until late, but never late than never)

Here is the list of players chosen by Seattle:

• Nate Jaqua (Houston)

• Brad Evans (Columbus)

• Stephen King (Chicago)
• Jeff Parke (New York
• James Riley (San Jose)
• Khano Smith (New England)
• Jarrod Smith (Toronto FC)
• Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake)
• Peter Vagenas (Los Angeles)
• Tyson Wahl (Kansas City)\

The first couple shockers are Vagenas and Jarrod Smith. Neither really seemed like likely picks before this draft by anyone. Not knocking Smith as I am a fan of him (he was a WVU guy). The rest of the picks were pretty expected though. Wahl from KC wasn’t a shocker, same with King from Chicago. The rest I pretty much had in my predictions.

Word is that New York will replace Jeff Parke with Mike Pekte. I’m still pretty sure they will make a deal or two here as Seattle picked a hand full of central midfielders.

So what did you all make of this draft? Any shockers from it?

Of course there will be a couple trades tomorrow in the draft. A lot of early speculation surrounding a couple picks are already filling the rumor mill. A lot of talk that Seattle has already squared a trade or two with LA for a couple defenders. But until we see those trades come down we can predict who Seattle will take in their 10 selections.

1. Brandon Prideaux (Chicago)
2. Lawson Vaughn (Chivas)
3. Brad Evans (Columbus)
4. Tim Ward (Colorado)
5. Francis Doe (DC)
6. Aaron Pitchkolen (Dallas)
7. Nate Jaqua (Houston)
8. Khano Smith (New England)
9. Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake)
10. Kelly Gray (Toronto)

No picks from LA, New York, Toronto, and Kansas City.

We’ve said all along Seattle would go fairly defensive in this draft but looking out there I kind of think they will still pick a couple offensive players. Jaqua is an obvious choice even with his higher salary ($156,000). Should they not pick Smith from New England, they may go with a younger guy like Pat Phelan or even a Wells Thompson from the Revs.

For the most part though I see them taking a lot of fairly cheap guys here. Most on this list make less than $50,000 with only Jaqua, Sturgis ($75,000) and Prideaux ($72,000) making more than that mark. Getting solid talent at a decent price is always the way to go in any event.

They have a shot at getting some real deals in this draft but some of the bigger names out there won’t be selected due to their current price-tag (ie a Ante Razov or a Carlos Ruiz).

Who do you see Seattle taking tomorrow? Place your predictions below.

A few good names out there, some they will select and others they won’t like Ante Razov or Ronnie O’Brien. But as far as guys they could select there is Nate Jaqua, Khano Smith, Pat Phelan, Wells Thompson, Ryan Pore, Aaron Pitchkolen, Eddie Gaven, Pat Noonan, and Terry Cooke to name a few. I know some are from the same team but the Sounders FC will only get one from each club.

Below is the full list of unprotected players:

Chivas USA
Chiles, Kraig
Curtin, Jim
Ebert, Eric
Ferreira, Dejair
Flores, Jorge
Hamilton, Anthony
Kennedy, Dan
Mayen, Gerson
Nurse, Roberto
Paladini, Daniel
Parker, Lance
Razov, Ante
Savage, Keith
Suarez, Claudio
Talley, Carey
Thornton, Zach
Vaughn, Lawson
Victorine, Sasha
Wicky, Raphael
Zotinca, Alex

Chicago Fire
Banner, Michael
Brown, C.J.
Carr, Calen
Frankowski, Tomasz
Herron, Andy
Kasiguran, Kai
Kettering, Tyler
King, Stephen
Lowry, Peter
Marmol, Lider
Noble, Nick
Pappa, Marco Pablo
Prideaux, Brandon
Washington, Austin
Woolard, Daniel

Colorado Rapids
Burciaga, Jose
Burpo, Preston
Cooke, Terry
Dalby, Greg
DiRaimondo, John
Erpen, Facundo
Grazier, Brian
Harvey, Jordan
Hughes, Justin
Keel, Stephen
Kimura, Kosuke
McManus, Tom
Petke, Mike
Sarkodie, Kwame
Ward, Tim
Zambrano, Cesar

Columbus Crew
Burns, Kevin
Elenio, Cory
Evans, Brad
Garey, Jason
Gaven, Eddie
Gruenebaum, Andy
Josten, George
Junge, Ryan
Lenhart, Steven
Miglioranzi, Stefani
Moffat, Adam
Noonan, Pat
Nyazamba, Stanley
Oughton, Duncan
Peterson, Andrew
Pierre-Louis, Ricardo
Plotkin, Brian
Schoeni, Kenny

FC Dallas
Burse, Ray
Daniels, Andrew
Davino, Duilio
Dello-Russo, Michael
Pitchkolan, Aaron
Rowland, Jeff
Sikora, Victor
Wadsworth, Spencer
Wagenfuhr, David
Watson, Jamie
Wileman, Chase

D.C. United
Carroll, Jeff
Carroll, Pat
Cordeiro, Ryan
Crayton, Louis
Doe, Francis
Dyachenko, Rod
Gallardo, Marcelo
Kirk, Quavas
Koroma, Ibrahim
Martinez, Gonzalo
Mediate, Domenic
Miller, Ryan
Olsen, Ben
Peralta, Gonzalo
Thompson, Craig
Thorpe, James
Vide, Joseph
Wells, Zach
Zaher, Michael

Houston Dynamo
Alcaraz, Johnny
Ashe, Corey
Barrett, Wade
Brown, Kyle
Caig, Tony
Chabala, Michael
Hatzke, Nick
Hayden, John Michael
Ianni, Patrick
Jaqua, Nate
Mulrooney, Richard
Onstad, Pat
Ustruck, Erik
Waibel, Craig
Waller, Corbin
Wondolowski, Chris
Wondolowski, Stephen

Kansas City Wizards
Hartman, Kevin
Hohlbein, Aaron
Kraus, Michael
Kronberg, Eric
Marquess, Matt
McKenzie, Rauwshan
Morsink, Kurt
Pardo, Boris
Pizarro, Nelson
Pore, Ryan
Thompson, Abe
Trujillo, Ivan
Wahl, Tyson
Watson, Lance

Los Angeles Galaxy
Adzemian, Vardan
Alamo, Charles
Allen, Ely
Barlow, Jeremy
Cronin, Steve
Dominguez, Eduardo
Franchino, Joe
Gavin, Michael
Kirovski, Jovan
Klein, Chris
Munoz, Mike
Randolph, Michael
Saunders, Josh
Tudela, Josh
Vagenas, Peter
Valentin, Julian
Wicks, Josh

New England Revolution
Angulo, Jose
Badilla, Gabriel
Brill, Samuel
Flood, Gary
Germanese, Joe
Knighton, Brad
Manzonelli, Brandon
Matamoros, Mauricio
Phelan, Pat
Smith, Khano
Thompson, Wells
Tierney, Chris
Tyler, Brandon
Warren, Doug
Zapata, Argenis Fernandez

New York Red Bulls
Borman, Danleigh
Echeverry, Oscar
Gilkerson, John
Jimenez, Diego
Kljestan, Gordon
Leitch, Chris
Magee, Mike
Mbuta, Andongcho
Mendes, Carlos
Palacio, Michael
Parke, Jeff
Patterson, Caleb
Pietravallo, Juan
Roth, David
Touray, Sainey
Wolyniec, John

Real Salt Lake
Besagno, Nik
Cutler, Kenny
Deuchar, Kenneth
Horst, David
Joy, Ian
Kirby, Dustin
Kovalenko, Dema
Mathis, Clint
Nunez, Tino
Reiman, Kevin
Reynish, Kyle
Sturgis, Nathan
Tennelle, Brennan
Williams, Andy

San Jose Earthquakes
Arce, Miguel
Ayres, Jay Michael
Cunliffe, John
Denton, Eric
Ghebru, Michael
Glinton, Gavin
Grabavoy, Ned
Gray, Kelly
Gustavson, Michael
Hatzke, Matt
O’Brien, Ronnie
Riley, James
Roberts, Jamil
Smarte, Adam
Somma, Davide

Toronto FC
Attakora-Gyan, Nana
Elkinson, Kilian
Freeman, Hunter
Gala, Gabe
Gaudet, Derek
Melo, Joey
Ricketts, Rohan
Rosenlund, Tyler
Ruiz, Carlos
Smith, Jarrod
Smith, Johann
Sutton, Greg
Velez, Marco

Even with the window closed don’t be shocked to hear of some trades in the next couple of days. Expansion drafts usually bring out a slew of trades that were made on or before that trade window by the league.

Seattle will pick their 10 players but don’t be shocked to see one or two of them traded away for picks or allocation.

Speaking of Seattle, they still have yet to name a coach. Columbus Crew head coach Sigi Schmid is still considered a front-runner for that job but I’ve heard word from a source in Columbus that the Crew have indeed offered Schmid a new deal that promises to keep him there. No word yet on if he has actually taken it. It will definitely have to be a good offer to keep him. I still think a Paul Mariner or a John Spenser finally get their due this winter. I feel one of those two will get this job if it doesn’t go to Brian Schmetzer (USL Sounder coach).

I figure we will see a couple trades as some rumors are going through the mill right now for a few clubs.

One guy to keep an eye on that I’ve said to watch out for in the trades for a while now is RSL’s Chris Seitz. The US youth international hasn’t seen much PT for RSL but he is an enormous talent for the club. He won’t be getting PT due to solid play out of veteran Nick Rimando anytime soon so expect Jason Kreis to make a play to sell him this year. A couple clubs rumored for Seitz are LA (obviously they need help there), Toronto (another duh in my book), and Chivas USA (decent right now but not solid).

If Seitz isn’t dealt on Wednesday during the Expansion draft, expect it to happen before or at the SuperDraft in January (remember even more trades happen around that time period). I just don’t see him backing up Rimando next year. He’s too much talent to waste on the bench.

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The LA Galaxy will probably make a play on a defender real soon in the league. Expect them to trade for one and sign another from abroad this winter. I figure the one from abroad may be more of a defensive midfielder but it remains to be seen where exactly the players will come from this winter for LA. We do know manager Bruce Arena was in Jamaica scouting last week and was talking like he found a couple good prospects.

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New York Red Bulls are also said to be interested in a couple defenders from inside the league as well. Not surprising as they were a decent defender away from maybe actually winning yesterday. Maybe they should sign the right and left post from Rio Tinto Stadium, that proved to be their best defender all playoff long.

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We all know what a success Guillermo Barros Schelotto has been for the Columbus Crew and MLS. But he may also pay off in terms of getting more standout Argentine players to the league. Various reports suggest that players like Hugo Ibarra and Martín Palermo (Boca Juniors), Ariel Ortega (Independiente), Juan Sebastián Verón (Estudiantes) and Kily Gonzalez (Rosario) all have possible offers from MLS clubs that they could very well take. Now I know Veron didn’t work out last winter for DC United and Ortega was linked to Dallas at one point but we never say never here on players like that. I think a Palermo would be huge though, he’s fun to watch.

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A couple guys to keep an eye out on the international market from MLS are Chad Marshall and Bakery Soumare. Both are reportedly getting a few offers from various clubs overseas. Why do I get a feeling that Marshall will be picked up by some Scandinavian club this winter. We already know he is going to Europe but did he really have a good enough year to land in one of the bigger leagues?

Soumare will get looked at not only because of his size but because of that lovely French passport that he carries, most Euro clubs would love to get a hold of him because of that. Less work to get him on a roster with that passport.

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More to come…I should have the protected/unprotected lists by the end of the day or the start of tomorrow.

Who Columbus protects is a big question, protect the expensive or the cheaper young guns? (Getty Images)

The final installment of our Expansion Draft lists today. I had been waiting for each club to finish out their season before I would do this but I figured since both New York and Columbus finish on Sunday and their protected lists have to go to the league office the very next day I would go ahead and knock these lists out today (and yesterday).

The Crew are still the heavy favorite in this weekend’s MLS Cup. But they like the other 13 clubs will have a lot to figure out right after this weekend’s game. As mentioned before you should expect to see an expansion club pick apart the best teams in the league for talent that is available. I see Seattle picking someone off the Crew’s roster that is left unprotected because of their success this year.

Here is a look back on each of the other clubs: Chicago, Chivas USA, Colorado, DC, Dallas, Houston, LA, Kansas City, New England, New York, Real Salt Lake, San Jose and Toronto.

And of course, to recap about the rules, go here.

The Protected:

1. Guillermo Barros Schelotto – There is really no need to explain this one.
2. Brian Carroll – A big part of their midfield and their defense, no way on earth they let him go.
3. Robbie Rogers – Some say he will go back to Europe after this year but I kind of think that won’t happen until next summer.
4. Chad Marshall – Another that really needs little explanation.
5. Alejandro Moreno – Their best striker has to be protected as well.
6. William Hesmer – I think Hesmer is the one keeper that has to be protected by any club in this draft. He has a cheap contract and he would be a big trade bait material for Seattle.
7. Danny O’Rourke – A guy that really started to come up big this year.
8. Frankie Hejduk – It would be tough to imagine Frankie playing for someone else at this point.
9. Eddie Gaven – He really came into his own this year, I see him having an even better campaign in 2009.
10. Emmanuel Ekpo – Showed he has the talent to be a big player for this club.
11. Andy Iro – Another young player on their backline that will be the future of this defense.

Not Protected, Could Be Taken:

1. Brad Evans – A young talent that could be a good addition.
2. Duncan Oughton – A midfielder that could use some more PT in a new location.
3. Adam Moffat – I wanted to place this kid on the protected list but I couldn’t figure out who would need to be off the list for him to be on it.

Not Protected, Probably Won’t Be Taken:

1. Gino Padula – They may end up protecting him over a guy like Iro but I just don’t think Seattle would take on his contract or take up an international spot with him. Expansion clubs typically don’t take internationals.
2. Pat Noonan – Big time contract ($175,000), no way Seattle will take it on.

Columbus has some work in front of them for this draft. Even if they lose one guy in this draft they will still have a solid core of players for next year. I see them going out heavily in the offseason to make sure they don’t flame out due to the schedule conjestion next year with the SuperLiga and CCL games on the menu. Thing we have to wonder is if Columbus will take the risk by protecting some of their younger, cheaper talent instead of protecting their more expensive starters.

The Red Bulls reached their first Cup, but the next day they will have to figure out who to protect. (Getty Images)

When I first started doing these list I kind of expected to be doing this club fairly early in the count. Turns out they shocked us all by reaching the MLS Cup on Sunday. Even with the Cup this weekend they still have to look to next week’s Expansion Draft. Their protected list will have to be into the league office the very next day so I decided to go ahead and do their list (along with the Crew’s tomorrow).

With the amount of internationals and my honest lack of knowledge about the Red Bulls I can already tell you I am probably going to be way off on some of these picks. Feel free to bash them as much as you want, but keep it clean in the process.

As always to get caught up on who we’ve gone through so far, here are those clubs: Chicago, Chivas USA, Colorado, DC, Dallas, Houston, LA, Kansas City, New England, Real Salt Lake, San Jose and Toronto.

And of course, to recap about the rules, go here.

The Protected:

1. Juan Pablo Angel – Duh.
2. Danny Cepero – Who has been a bigger part of their magical run, Cepero or Angel? I’d almost go with Cepero.
3. Macoumba Kandji – He’s on loan from a club that won’t exist in a matter of a couple months. My bet is he will become a full member of the club very, very soon.
4. Dave van den Bergh – The real MVP of this club in my opinion. I felt he was more of a MVP than Angel this year.
5. Dane Richards – The speedster is finally healthy and is showing off the skills.
6. Jorge Rojas – Showed signs of why Osorio brought him on here and there this year. I think a full year with him next year will really show off his stuff.
7. Carlos Mendes – One of their better defenders, gotta protect the defense.
8. Danleigh Borman – Early part of the year this kid showed some real promise for the future. Get him and Richards on the wings and that is a lot of speed.
9. Luke Sassano – Another young guy I think they need to keep for the future.
10. Mike Magee – One of the few guys I actually like on New York.
11. Kevin Goldthwaite – A defender that they would not likely part with this easy.

Not Protected, Could Be Taken:

1. Sinisa Ubiparipovic – I went back and forth on this one but he would be a solid pickup as I don’t think the Red Bulls will protect him with all the younger talent that they will need to keep.
2. Chris Leitch – A verteran defender, would be a good pickup.
3. Andrew Boyens – I thought about putting him on the protected list and he very well may end up there but he could be a decent pick for Seattle.

Not Protected, Probably Won’t Be Taken:

1. John Wolyniec – No need to protect his veteran and no need for Seattle to pick him up.
2. Jon Conway – I think his time in New York is done with how Cepero has been playing as of late.
3. Gabriel Cichero/Juan Pietravallo/Oscar Echeverry – Seattle won’t take too many internationals and with the amount that New York has they don’t have to protect them all. I honestly wonder what will happen to these three.

Again, I am probably wrong with most of this roster. The amount of internationals is tricky along with the younger players that have stepped up recently makes it even tougher. I think in the end New York won’t have a player picked from their roster. Sure you always want talent that gets to a MLS Cup on your roster but some of the values that New York has won’t be good enough for Seattle starting out. If they do it will be a defender that is left open. Most of their midfield is composed of interntionals and guys that will get protected.

Real Salt Lake enjoyed a decent campaign in 2008, will they be able to save the right guys for 2009? (Getty Images)

Some fans expected that once Real Salt Lake hosted a playoff game that could send them to the MLS Cup that they would be well on their way to that very promise land of a game. Instead they crashed and burned this past  to the New York Red Bulls in the 1-0 loss on Saturday.

Now they are stuck at home for the MLS Cup and will have to begin figuring out who to protect in the upcoming Expansion Draft.

As always to get caught up on who we’ve gone through so far, here are those clubs: Chicago, Chivas USA, Colorado, DC, Dallas, Houston, LA, Kansas City, New England, San Jose and Toronto.

And of course, to recap about the rules, go here.

The Protected:

1. Javier Morales – No way on Earth Morales gets left unprotected.
2. Jamison Olave – Unsung hero of the defense this year for RSL.
3. Kenny Deuchar – To keep the Doctor or not to keep the Doctor, that will be the question. I think they will protect him though either way.
4. Kyle Beckerman – The rock in the middle of the field for RSL, when he is on his game he shows signs of being on of the best in the league.
5. Robbie Findley – Another forward with a bright outlook on his future, can’t see RSL giving him up that easily.
6. Nat Borchers – Another defensive star for RSL. He really did help improve their defense this year.
7. Will Johnson – The offense started to click a little more with Johnson in the line up.
8. Yura Movsisyan – When he is on his game he truly could be one of the next good strikers in MLS. Just waiting for it to remain consistent.
9. Robbie Russell – A decent part to the puzzle this year for RSL.
10. Nathan Sturgis – When healthy he shows very good promise for the future.
11. Chris Wingert – A solid defender most of the time, one that I wouldn’t want to give up in an expansion draft at least.

Not Protected, Could Be Taken:

1. Ian Joy – Thought about leaving him as a protected player but I feel that he is a high risk-high reward type guy for any defense.
2. Nikolas Besagno – He should be graduating from the GA class this year before this draft. I think a relocation would be a wise move for this kid.
3. Kenny Cutler – He’s a guy I am not sure about. One second I think he will be protected and another second I think not. For me it really came down to him and Wingert for that final spot.

Not Protected, Probably Won’t Be Taken:

1. Chris Seitz/Tony Beltran/Alex Nimo – All GA contracts make them protected.
2. Nick Rimando – keeping up with the unprotected keepers theme.
3. Fabian Espindola – The one international that I think will get left unprotected here.
4. Clint Mathis/Dema Kovalenko – Two high risk-high reward type guys. I just don’t see them protected or taken here in this draft due to higher contracts and age.

RSL is actually one of the few clubs that I feel are in a good position either way in this draft. If they play their cards right they should be able to not have to give up much in this draft, if anything at all. They have a good foundation of veteran players that won’t get picked due to contracts that may be too high for Seattle’s liking and enough young guys worth protecting. I may be wrong to some about leaving a couple veterans unprotected but they have enough youth that has to be protected here for the future. Also I really wonder if they will ever do anything with Chris Seitz, maybe a move this offseason? We will see.

Can the Fire find a way to keep Conde? (Getty Images)

If losing in the Eastern Conference final wasn’t bad enough, the Chicago Fire now have the fun reality of figuring out what is next for their club. The season is over and that means they have to turn their attention to the Expansion Draft that is coming up in a matter of only a couple more weeks.

Chicago has a good mix of veteran and young players. Some solid internationals and a couple guys that are probably looking to bolt now that their season is done.

As always to get caught up on who we’ve gone through so far, here are those clubs: Chivas USA, Colorado, DC, Dallas, Houston, LA, Kansas City, New England, San Jose and Toronto.

And of course, to recap about the rules, go here.

The Protected:

1. Cuauhtemoc Blanco – He’s coming back for another year from what was said last night.
2. Brian McBride – He showed he still is one of the best this year.
3. Marco Pappa – A young international that I really believe will be one of the best wingers in 2009.
4. John Thorrington – A personal favorite, I’d hate to see him leave Chicago.
5. Gonzalo Segares – One of the better defenders in the league, I had him as the best this year, no way Chicago would give him up that easily.
6. Chris Rolfe – One of the young guns on this offense.
7. Logan Pause – I started to come around to linking this guy towards the second half of the year.
8. Wilman Conde – Even though they say he wants out, and he probably will leave,  I believe he will be protected regardless.
9. Andy Herron – The presky international rules will make them have to protect Herron.
10. Stephen King – One of the younger guys that showed plenty of promise this year.
11. Justin Mapp – A real no brainer really.

Not Protected, Could Be Taken:

1. Mike Banner- Another young guy that may be left unprotected that would be a decent pickup.
2. Calen Carr – At times showed real talent, and at times showed skills on the bench.

Not Protected, Probably Won’t Be Taken:

1. Jon Busch – Seattle doesn’t need a keeper, even if Busch is the best in the league right now I just don’t see them protecting him when they need to protect some other young players.
2. C.J. Brown – Veteran defender would be a good pickup I just don’t know about Brown being that candidate.
3. Diego Gutierrez – Kind of in the same boat as Brown. Gutierrez is set to retire after this season.
4. Patrick Nyarko/Bakery Soumare – GA contracts. Thing is I’m not sure if this is the year that Sourmare graduates from the GA program. If he is then you have to put him at the top in the protected list.

The Fire are an interesting bunch. They have either a bunch of older veterans or a bunch of young developmental players. Which makes it pretty tough to figure out who they will and will not protect. I know Conde is said to be as good as gone with the club but I have a hunch they will protect him anyways and try to get him to stay one more year. As for guys like Rolfe and Mapp, I don’t know if they have any ideas of going to Europe at this time but that shouldn’t matter as they will be protected.