Tomorrow the MLS off-season begins in earnest when the newest franchise joining MLS, St. Louis City FC, will draft five players from around the league in the latest edition of the Expansion Draft. As such, Charlotte FC has released its list of protected players that St. Louis cannot draft; each MLS squad participating in the draft could protect 12 players + any Homegrown or Generation Adidas players.

Here’s the list of player’s Charlotte protected:

• Brandt Bronico

• Nathan Byrne

• McKinze Gaines

• Kamil Jozwiak

• Kristijan Kahlina

• Adilson Malanda

• Vinicius Mello

• Daniel Rios

• Nuno Santos

• Karol Swiderski

• Kerwin Vargas

• Anton Walkes

• Ben Bender (Generation adidas)

• Chris Hegardt (Homegrown)

• Derrick Jones (Homegrown)

• Jaylin Lindsey (Homegrown)

• Brian Romero (Homegrown)

This means that the following players have been left unprotected and one of them could potentially be drafted tomorrow and if I think they could be taken:

• Jordy Alcivar - 50% chance

  • Didn’t perform at a high level, considered a Young Designated Player which complicates a roster build or requires a high amount of allocation money to buy down

• Adam Armour - 5% chance

  • Coming off of long-term injury, no telling what level he’ll perform at in 2023

• Guzman Corujo - 33% chance

  • Also coming off a major injury that required surgery, but was performing at a high level and has proven he can peform and help lead an expansion side

• Christian Fuchs - 0% chance

  • Big contract that ends in 2023, performances weren’t consistently impressive, not sure if he’s better suited at center back or left back any more

• George Marks - 25% chance

  • Young(er) goalkeeper that could continue to develop while proving he could serve as a main backup, but doesn’t seem like type of player you draft

• Quinn McNeill - 0% chance

  • Not good enough quality, technically out of contract as far as we know

• Joseph Mora - 66% chance

  • A good, not great, left back with a long tenure in the league and has proven to perform well on an expansion team’s backline; contract isn’t a stopper if they need the depth at position

• Yordy Reyna - 33% chance

  • Has his obvious talents, but not a consistent performer for a very high contract

• Andre Shinyashiki - 75% chance

  • Just re-signed a new contract at end of 2022 season, but wasn’t logging consistent minutes; versitile across the entire frontline and can score goals when given the opportunity

• Paolo Sisniega - 66% chance

  • If one of Charlotte’s backup keepers gets drafted, it would be Sisniega; more proven talent, performed well when called on, not too expensive

• Jan Sobocinski - 10% chance

  • Limited minutes so not sure his talent level, takes an international spot, isn’t the cheapest contract

There’s a short list of players I would be upset if they were taken by St. Louis: Alcivar, Corujo, Shinayashiki, Mora. There’s some that I wouldn’t be mad at all if they took because it would get their contracts off our books: Fuchs and Reyna. The rest, I could take or leave.

The Expansion Draft is live tomorrow at 7:00 pm EST on MLS’ socials and YouTube pages. If a Charlotte player is picked, I’ll react to it first thing Saturday morning.