The Fire announced their list of 11 expansion draft protected players today. The players, who will be ineligible for selection by the Philadelphia Union in Wednesday's expansion draft, include the following:
GK: Jon Busch
DEF: Wilman Conde, C.J. Brown, Dasan Robinson, Tim Ward
MID: Justin Mapp, Marco Pappa, Logan Pause, John Thorrington
FWD: Brian McBride, Patrick Nyarko
So, not a whole lot of real surprises on this list for the Fire. The one name that didn't make the cut that I would like to see on the Fire is of midfielder/defender Mike Banner. Banner proved his versatility this year, filling in well on the flank in both the midfield and the defense. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Philly snapped him up on Wednesday and I think that would be a bit of a rough loss for the Fire.
Another Chicago player that Philly could take a flyer on would be defender Gonzalo Segares. It's pretty common knowledge that Gonzalo wants to go to Europe this offseason, but if he doesn't find a deal to his liking, the Union could get a huge steal in the Costa Rican left back.
The inclusion of Patrick Nyarko on the list confirms that he has graduated from the Generation Adidas program. His salary (which was $160,000 in 2009) will now count against the Fire's salary cap.
On another note, if the Fire can hold onto these 11 protected players, the starting lineup for next year doesn't look too shabby. Unfortunately, that is somewhat of a big "if," with Wilman Conde, C.J. Brown and Wilman Conde all possible departures this offseason.
You can check out the full list of protected players here. Some of the notable names not included on the protected lists include Toronto midfielder Amado Guevara (had a past fallout with new TFC Head Coach Preki) and Houston midfielder Ricardo Clark (could be moving to Europe).
22 Comments
Tom Dunmore said:
Pretty surprised Mapp was protected, and Baggio might be tempting to Philly.
Await some comment from the Fire on the choices, hope you'll be asking the questions soon Sam!
scaryice said:
Husidic almost certainly didn't graduate, or he would've been protected. The MLS press release listed way more players as graduating than those who actually did.
These are the names I've seen on protected lists and from team press releases (all except for Zayner, who's certainly not gonna get a 5th year):
Alston, Kevin
Beltran, Tony
Gonzalez, Omar
Hall, Jeremy
Igwe, Amaechi
Nyarko, Patrick
Seitz, Chris
Wallace, Anthony
Wallace, Rodney
Zakuani, Steve
Zayner, Jed
TKing said:
I concur. Mapp is not a good protection. He has shown nothing all year. At least lowry and baggio are younger and show promise
Tone said:
Baggio may still be gen adidas the list ives gave seemed incorrect
Sam Stejskal said:
I can't see any way that Baggio wouldn't still be Generation Adidas. He should be protected by that.
patrickhattrick said:
So, protecting Pappa doesn't mean he's staying, right?
Sam Stejskal said:
Correct. Only that Philadelphia can't take him.
Sam Stejskal said:
The correct Generation Adidas graduate list just came out. Here's the full list:
Alston, Kevin
Beltran, Tony
Gonzalez, Omar
Hall, Jeremy
Igwe, Amaechi
Nyarko, Patrick
Seitz, Chris
Wallace, Anthony
Wallace, Rodney
Zakuani, Steve
Pretty similar to the list scaryice provided above, with Zayner being the only omission.
NaperSteve said:
Who the f!@# does Mapp have pictures of and what the f!@# could they be doing in them?
Overpaid, under-producing, no effort, SOB and they protect him?
Unbelievable!!!!
Janjo said:
Mapp? Really?
Tom Dunmore said:
MLS Communications...Fail.
patrickhattrick said:
BTW, no doubt they'll pick Banner. Look at how good the Fire were last draft, Sounders took Stephen King.
Fireman451 said:
I'm hoping that Klopas protected Mapp so we could at least get something in trade for him rather than give him away for nothing (possibly).
Otherwise, why would you protect him when Banner or Lowry can provide the same or better service as Mapp for a whole lot less money.
notabbott said:
Bobby Convey is from Philadelphia, plays left mid, and wasn't protected. And while Banner played some left back, Todd Dunivant is a better choice at that position, so I think Banner will be staying. If we lose somebody -- and with ten rounds, there's no guarantee we will -- it will probably be Austin Washington or Peter Lowry.
Joe said:
You cant seriously think Nowak is going to take Austin Washington. Close the the worst player I have seen in a Fire shirt.
kaca said:
the protection of mapp confirms how screwed up the front office is. who would trade for mapp and his large salary when he hasn't shown he is deserving of any pay check? losing mapp in the draft would have been the only way the fire could rid themselves of the girlie man and his undeserving fat salary.
Joe said:
The Fire sees something in Mapp that none of us see. That is why they keep giving him more money and more years. They just signed the guy to an extension so there is no reason why they wouldn't save him. They're not going to take Banner. They will take Lowry because of his salary. The same reason Seattle took King. In the expansion draft, teams look to get vet talent and young, low salaries.
Adam25 said:
Why protect players that are probably not coming back. CJ, Pappa, McBride, Conde, makes no sense to me. Mapp doesn't desever to be on that list. I'll take Lowry or Woolard or Mapp any day. I think Lowry or Banner will go.
InFireWeTrust said:
How is everyone so certain that C.J., Pappa, McBride and Conde are not coming back? Did I miss something. I know the obvious Rolfe and Segares. With 1Mil in allocation $ as an expansion team it could be very likely they would choose Mapp and then get nothing for him.
ChicagoFire8 said:
Bye Bye Banner :(
Waamsy said:
Darn it, and I was starting to like Banner a lot too.
Janjo said:
Remind me to invite the Fire office to my next poker night. ;)
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