The Houston Dynamo have officially protected 11 players in advance of Tuesday's MLS Expansion Draft, the club announced today. By protecting the players, they cannot be selected by FC Cincinnati, Major League Soccer's newest team. The Expansion Draft is scheduled for Tuesday, December 11 at 1 p.m. CST.
Houston Dynamo Protected Players:
MF Juan David Cabezas
MF Darwin Cerén
DF A.J. DeLaGarza
FW Alberth Elis
DF Alejandro Fuyenmayor
DF Adam Lundkvist
FW Mauro Manotas
MF Tomás MartÃnez
FW Ronaldo Peña
FW Romell Quioto
GK Joe Willis
Additionally, goalkeeper Tyler Deric, defender Erik McCue and midfielder Memo Rodriguez are classified as Homegrown Players and are not eligible for selection, and therefore did not have to be included on the list of protected players.
FC Cincinnati may select up to five players from the eligible MLS player pool in Tuesday's draft. Only a single player can be drafted from any one club. The five teams who had players selected by the Los Angeles Football Club during the 2017 MLS Expansion Draft are exempt from the 2018 Expansion Draft. Those clubs are Seattle Sounders FC, Sporting Kansas City, the San Jose Earthquakes, Columbus Crew SC and Toronto FC.
