Who do you protect during the MLS Expansion Draft?

It seems like a very simple question, but like most things MLS, it becomes very complicated the more you think about it.

I asked the staff here at Brotherly Game that question a couple months back and then once I got confirmation from MLS that there was going to be an Expansion Draft this year, I posed it again. The rules are simple:

For our exercise, we excluded Andre Blake, Josh Yaro, and Fabian Herbers due to their Generation adidas status and Derrick Jones and Auston Trusty due to their status as Homegrown Players. Like all things MLS though, it gets complicated. We don’t know whether or not Andre Blake will continue to be a Generation adidas player after this season. Our decision not to count him was based on the following criteria:

Based on this, we felt Blake would be considered Generation adidas long enough not to take up a protected spot in the Expansion Draft.

Also of note, while Designated Players are not exempt, some may have clauses requiring protection during an Expansion Draft. Since this information isn’t available, we went under the guise that neither Alejandro Bedoya nor Maurice Edu had that clause and required protection.

The voting tally looked like this. The percentage after a player’s name is the percent of staff that elected to keep the player.

Roland Alberg – 100%
Tranquillo Barnetta – 100%
Alejandro Bedoya – 100%
Keegan Rosenberry – 100%
Chris Pontius – 100%
Charlie Davies – 94%
Richie Marquez – 94%
CJ Sapong – 94%
Maurice Edu – 81%
Fabinho – 75%
Ilsinho – 50%
Eric Ayuk – 38%
Ken Tribbett – 31%
Brian Carroll – 19%
Warren Creavalle – 13%
Ray Gaddis – 6%
Leo Fernandes – 6%

Everyone was in agreement on five players, and those five players make the most sense as they’re either the players who have contributed the most or in Bedoya’s case, is a new arrival that came at a hefty price. Davies, Marquez, and Sapong fit those descriptors as well. From there, it starts to flag a bit. Only 81% voted to keep Edu – while he’s the team captain he’s also been on the injured list for over a year. Fabinho’s a solid 75%, but the dropoff from there is steep. Not everyone was sold on Ilsinho, the promise of Eric Ayuk or Ken Tribbett, or the veteran leadership of Brian Carroll.

We want to know who you’d protect. Fill out the form below, and we’ll reveal the results next week.