Sporting KC unveils list of protected players for MLS Expansion Draft

Major League Soccer announced on Monday that Sporting Kansas City has protected the following 11 players ahead of Wednesday's MLS Expansion Draft:

DEF: Matt Besler, Igor Juliao, Chance Myers, Ike Opara, Seth Sinovic
MF: Bernardo Añor, Benny Feilhaber, Jimmy Medranda, Paulo Nagamura, Graham Zusi
FWD: Dom Dwyer

Additionally, goalkeeper Jon Kempin (Homegrown), defender Kevin Ellis (Homegrown), defender Erik Palmer-Brown (Homegrown) and midfielder Mikey Lopez (Generation adidas) are automatically protected per the MLS Expansion Draft rules, which also required Sporting Kansas City to protect a minimum of three International Players (Añor, Juliao and Medranda).

The following players from Sporting KC’s 2014 roster will be eligible for selection:

GK: Andy Gruenebaum, Eric Kronberg
MF: Jorge Claros, Christian Duke, Michael Kafari, Victor Munoz, Lawrence Olum, Martin Steuble
FWD: Claudio Bieler, Antonio Dovale, Jacob Peterson, Soony Saad, Sal Zizzo

Of those players, two are under contract with the club for the 2015 season (Bieler and Claros). Sporting KC has extended offers to Peterson and Saad.

Eastern Conference expansion teams Orlando City SC and New York City FC will alternate selections in the 10-round Expansion Draft at 1 p.m. CT on Wednesday. Click here for a list of all draft-eligible players, released by Major League Soccer on Monday.

If a non-protected Sporting Kansas City player is claimed in the Expansion Draft, then Sporting KC is permitted to move a player from its non-protected roster to its protected roster. No more than two players may be selected from any one MLS team during the Expansion Draft and teams whose players are selected during the Expansion Draft will be compensated with allocation money.

Sporting Kansas City has had seven players taken all-time in MLS expansion drafts: