With D.C. United having announced a press conference for Tuesday in which Ben Olsen will announce his retirement, at the very least we know he won’t be one of United’s 11 protected players in the MLS expansion draft later this week.
Speaking of Olsen, the Washington Wizards will honor him and his work in the community tomorrow night when the 76ers are in town, at the end of the third quarter. D.C. United fans can also get tickets to the game for $14 — a nice touch.
Back to the expansion draft. Here’s my approximation of the squad that United will put the shackles on: Santino Quaranta, Clyde Simms, Bryan Namoff, Dejan Jakovic, Chris Pontius, Julius James, Marc Burch, Boyzzz Khumalo, Milos Kocic, Danny Szetela, Devon McTavish.
Key players to not make the cut: Josh Wicks, due to the two surgeries that don’t make him very desirable at the moment; Fred, Luciano Emilio and Christian Gomez, whose contracts vs. performance don’t make them attractive pick-ups; Jaime Moreno, for the same reason though it’s more likely he’s back next season than Emilio, Gomez or Fred; and Andrew Jacobson, Lawson Vaughn, John DiRaimondo, and Brandon Barklage. These last four are attractive for a draft like this, with Jacobson the leading contender, given his contributions. Vaughn joined United as a free agent, so that speaks to his value, and DiRaimondo and Barklage aren’t valuable enough to take with an expansion pick. Jacobson comes in behind Szetela, and then becomes expendable given the over-abundance of defensive midfielders. He’s also who I would most expect the Philadelphia Union to choose, depending on who else is available throughout the league.
