Expansion Draft: This is all about Austin FC, we were joined by their Head Coach late last week as we had a Zoom interview with Dwayne De Rosario, and Josh Wolff was good enough to join us in celebrating this milestone achievement for his teammate. The draft will be carried by the Facebook of Soccer Long Island Magazine from 6 p.m. ET tomorrow. Austin is able to chose from 160 players, a maximum of 5, fully 10 teams are unable to have a player picked as they had one so chosen with two teams entering in 2020 and made their selections.
End of Year Waivers: Wed at 1 p.m. ET those teams coming in last place get the first picks here are those players out of contract. This pool of players is usually young players without enough years of service for Free Agency or Re-Entry. FC Cincinnatti of course has he first selection, MLS Champs Crew #26 and Austin the 27th choice, closing out each round.
Free Agency: Also done on Dec. 16, jus after the Waivers. Players at least 24 years of age with at least 5 years in the league with either a declined option of out of contract. They may deal with any team, even their last with certain restrictions. Teams may ink any number of free agents. They may also partake in the re-entry draft.
Re-Entry Process: Staring Dec. 17 @ 1 p.m. ET, again in reverse order of 2020. Those eligible along with Free Agents are those option-declined players aged 22 or more with at least a year in the league. Stage 2 is the last item for rosters by the league, it will occur on Dec. 22, the list of players will be made known on Dec. 22 @ 11 a.m. E.T.
Given the length of the full list of players eligible for the various events, we will only list notable players and those with local ties:
EXPANSION DRAFT:
Chicago Fire: CJ Sapong
DC United: Federic Brillant, Felipe Martins, Yordy Reyna
FC Dallas: Kyle Zobeck
Inter Miami FC: Juan Agudelo, AJ DaLaGarza, Federico Higuain, Luis Robles, Brek Shea, Will Trapp
LA Galaxy: Joe Corona, Perry Kitchen
Montreal Impact: Clement Diop.
Nashville SC: David Accam
NYRB: Amro Tarek. Mandelo Egbo, David Jensen, Chris Lema, Kendall McIntosh, Ryan Meara, Sean Nealis, Jason Pendant, Marc Rzatkowski, Patrick Seagrist, Jared Stroud, Samuel Tetteh
Orlando City SC: Dom Dwyer
Philadelphia Union: Aurelien Colin, Lisinho
Real Salt Lake: Luke Mulholland, Giuseppe Rossi,
San Jose Earthquakes: Eric Calvillo
Toronto FC: Erickson Gallardo, Patrick Mullins, Pablo Piatti
Vancouver Whitecaps: Freddy Montero.
END of YEAR WAIVERS:
Ben Mines NYRB
FREE AGENTS:
Atlanta United: Jeff Larentowicz
Chicago Fire FC: CJ Sapong
Columbus Crew: Emmanuel Boateng
DC United: Felipe Martins
Inter Miami: AJ DeeLaGarza, Bek Shea, Federico oHiguain,m, Juan Agudelo, Luis Robles, Will Trapp
LAFC: Bradley Wright-Phillips, Dejan Jakovic
LA Galaxy:Perry Kitchen
Minnesota United: Kei Kamara, Osvaldo Alonso
New England Revolution: Diego Fagundez, Kelyn Rowe, Lee Nguyen, Tommy McNamara
NYCFC: Bad Stuver
Portland Timbers: Chris Duvall
Real Salt Lake: Kyle Beckerman, Luke Mulholland
San Jose Earthquakes: Chris Wondolowski
Sporting KC: Erik Hurtado, Matt Besler, Roger Espinoza
Toronto FC: Justin Morrow,
Vancouver Whitecaps: Fredy Montero
RE-ENTRY LIST:
FC Cincinnatti: Greg Garza
LA Galaxy: Joe Corona, Jonathan Klinsmann
NYRB: Chris Lema, Kendall McIntosh, Marc Rzatkowski, Patrick Seagrist, Samuel Tetteh
NYCFC : Gary Mackay-Steven, Gedion Zlalem
Portland Timbers: Andres Flores
Real Salt Lake: Giuseppe Rossi
Seattle Sounders: Miguel Ibarra
Toronto FC Pablo Piatti
Excluding the Expansion Draft, here are my thoughts on some of the players.
Ben Mines: Never got a shot to show in games, when I did see him in the rare minutes he did get, he did well, RBNY are known for keeping young, lower priced players, I trust he will get another look in the league.
Larentowicz: Great hard nosed player will be picked up no doubt.
CJ Sapong: Who has he not played for yet, he can play, no idea why he does not stick around. I would not be surprised if he is not picked up.
Brek Shea: Unless he goes back to the continent, he will be back.
Juan Agudelo: Still so much talent and young, he will return. Enjoy vacation in Colombia.
Luis Robles: This surprised me unless the injury is worse than I am aware.
Will Trapp: He is sure to latch on elsewhere.
BWP: Comeback player of the year, like Robles a mystery to me. Limited time, great production, a force to be reckoned with at all times. Great for a first year team or one with a weak offense.
Dejan Jokovic: Canadian International, good strong defender, ex-Cosmos player, he returns to the league.
Kei Kamara: No question he returns for me.
Diego Fagundez, Kelyn Rowe, Lee Nguyen: good, more than serviceable players, they will get picked up.
Tommy McNamara: If he is still looking to play, he is sure to .
Brad Stuver: As a player, no idea, I did not get to see much of him, good person, active at events for the team.
Dom Dwyer: It comes down to injury and what he has left, the ability is there.
Aurelien Collin: I have liked him as a player since his time in NY, his time in the Union had been greatly reduced. Need a reliable strong back, he is your guy.
Chris Duvall: Did well in NY, got a lot of time earlier in the year, he gets picked up.
Beckerman/Mullholland: Major pieces for some time in SLC, if they chose to play again, they will.
Wondolowski: #1 in goals in MLS, had a lot of drive and goals at the end, I expect him to return to the 'Quakes.
Roger Espinoza/Erik Hurtado: I fully expect both back in the league.
Matt Besler: In a press conference speaking of his leaving SKC, Vermes was moved, another who plays on should he choose.
Fredy Montero: Yes he plays on.
Greg Garza: I would think he returns to play.
Andres Flores. "El Ruso" another former Cosmos player. We did interview him before his El Salvador played the USA and he does want to stay and play here when I asked about elsewhere. Good smart player, should be back.
Giuseppe Rossi: We have met him and his family at the Steve Nash soccer event, he might be a great draw for NYRB, can still play at this level no doubt, bring him home Red Bulls.
Pablo Piatti: Very good player surprised to see him on this list, he may go elsewhere to play.