The 2014 MLS Expansion Draft was a draft for the Major League Soccer expansion teams New York City FC and Orlando City SC that took place between November 19 and December 10, 2014. The first two rounds of the draft (which were known as the 2014 MLS Dispersal Draft) were held to distribute players who were formerly contracted with Chivas USA, which was dissolved by the league in October 2014 shortly after the end of the 2014 MLS season.
As determined by a "priority draft" that was conducted on September 24, 2014, Orlando City SC selected first in the expansion draft, which was held via conference call at 2:00 pm EST (UTC-5) on December 10, 2014. The order of the dispersal draft was conducted through a random weighted draw that took place on November 14, 2014. The league confirmed on November 7, 2014 that Chivas USA striker Erick Torres would not be made available in the dispersal draft.
Draft format Existing teams were allowed to protect 11 players from their rosters. Generation Adidas players and Homegrown Players on supplemental rosters were automatically protected, though players who graduated from the program to the senior roster at the end of the 2014 season were not. Once a player was claimed from a club’s non-protected roster, that club was allowed to move a player from its non-protected roster to its protected roster. Once two players were claimed from a team’s non-protected roster, that team was eliminated from the expansion draft and not allowed to lose any further players.
Player selection
Round 1 Pick # Drafting team Player Position 1 FC Dallas Dan Kennedy Goalkeeper 2 New York City FC Matt Dunn Midfielder 3 Sporting Kansas City Pass 4 D.C. United Thomas McNamara Midfielder 5 New England Revolution Pass 6 Montreal Impact Donny Toia Defender 7 Orlando City SC Pass 8 Colorado Rapids Caleb Calvert Forward 9 San Jose Earthquakes Kris Tyrpak Forward 10 Real Salt Lake Pass 11 Houston Dynamo Pass 12 Portland Timbers Pass 13 Chicago Fire Pass 14 Toronto FC Marco Delgado Midfielder 15 Columbus Crew SC Pass 16 Los Angeles Galaxy Pass 17 Philadelphia Union Pass 18 New York Red Bulls Pass 19 Seattle Sounders FC Pass 20 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Pass
Round 2 Pick # Drafting team Player Position 1 FC Dallas Pass 2 New York City FC Pass 3 D.C. United Pass 4 Montreal Impact Pass 5 Colorado Rapids Pass 6 San Jose Earthquakes Pass 7 Toronto FC Pass
Expansion draft Pick MLS team Player Previous team1 Orlando City SC Donovan Ricketts Portland Timbers2 New York City FC Ned Grabavoy Real Salt Lake3 Orlando City SC Tony Cascio Colorado Rapids4 New York City FC Patrick Mullins New England Revolution5 Orlando City SC Jalil Anibaba Seattle Sounders FC6 New York City FC Jason Hernandez San Jose Earthquakes7 Orlando City SC Pedro Ribeiro Philadelphia Union8 New York City FC Daniel Lovitz Toronto FC9 Orlando City SC Lewis Neal D.C. United10 New York City FC Tony Taylor New England Revolution11 Orlando City SC Jairo Arrieta Columbus Crew12 New York City FC Mehdi Ballouchy Vancouver Whitecaps FC13 Orlando City SC Heath Pearce Montreal Impact14 New York City FC George John FC Dallas15 Orlando City SC Danny Mwanga Colorado Rapids16 New York City FC Tommy McNamara D.C. United17 Orlando City SC Mark Sherrod Houston Dynamo18 New York City FC Sal Zizzo Sporting Kansas City19 Orlando City SC Eric Gehrig Columbus Crew20 New York City FC Chris Wingert Real Salt Lake
Five teams lost two players in the draft: Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew, D.C. United, New England Revolution, and Real Salt Lake. Three teams did not lose any players: Chicago Fire, LA Galaxy, and New York Red Bulls. The remaining teams lost one player each.
Unselected players The following players were on the final roster of Chivas USA but were not selected in the first two rounds of the draft. This list does not include players who were on loan to Chivas USA.
No.PositionNationPlayer
Other Chivas USA assets Two draft picks held by Chivas USA at the time of its contraction were deleted from the 2015 MLS SuperDraft and not made available for selection in the dispersal draft. These two deleted draft picks were Chivas USA's natural third-round and fourth-round selections. Had Chivas USA not been contracted these would have been overall selections #48 and #69 in the 2015 SuperDraft.
Prior to being contracted, Chivas USA had already traded away its natural 2015 SuperDraft round 1 (pick #6 to Toronto FC) and round 2 (pick #27 to Seattle Sounders FC) selections. It had also acquired a round 4 pick from D.C. United but Chivas had later traded this pick to Colorado Rapids. These picks, along with a round 2 selection in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft traded to Columbus Crew SC, remained with the clubs which acquired them.
As of August 2015, the league had not announced the fate of the extra permanent international roster slot acquired by Chivas USA from Real Salt Lake in November 2004.
References