FC Dallas releases Expansion Draft protection list

We now know who will and won’t be available for selection in Tuesday’s Expansion Draft, which will allow new MLS franchise FC Cincinnati to choose five players from the pool of over 250 players. Here’s a look at the list for FC Dallas:

Protected (11 Players)

• Pablo Aránguiz
• Dominique Badji
• Michael Barrios
• Jesse Gonzalez
• Carlos Gruezo
• Matt Hedges
• Jimmy Maurer
• Santiago Mosquera
• Victor Ulloa
• Jacori Hayes
• Ryan Hollingshead

Unprotected (10 Players)

• Abel Aguilar
• Aníbal Chalá
• Cristian Colmán
• Maynor Figeuroa
• Moises Hernandez
• Roland Lamah
• Marquinhos Pedroso
• Adonijah Reid
• Reto Zeigler
• Kyle Zobeck

In addition to those 11 protected players, an additional nine are automatically protected as Generation Adidas players who did not graduate at the end of the 2018 season and Homegrown players on a club’s off-budget roster are except from the list. Those players were Francis Atuahene, Reggie Cannon, Jesus Ferreira, Paxton Pomykal, Bryan Reynolds, Chris Richards, Thomas Roberts, Brandon Servania and Ema Twumasi.

If FC Dallas has a player selected in the draft, they’ll receive $50,000 in General Allocation Money.

Significant Selections

At first look, a couple of the most-notable players not protected are 2018 starters Marquinhos Pedroso and Reto Ziegler, both of whom played more minutes than protected players Jacori Hayes and Ryan Hollingshead. It’s likely that factors like the low salaries of Hollingshead and Hays gave them the nod over Pedroso and Ziegler, who cost significantly more and also both occupy international slots on the roster. Ziegler, for example, is already 33 years-old and garners a salary of $800,000, tenth-most among MLS defenders.

You can find the full list of who’s included on the Expansion Draft selection list here and you can tune into the draft on MLSSoccer.com Tuesday, December 11 at 1 p.m. CT.