MLS announced the date for it's 2012 MLS Expansion Draft today; it will be held November 23, 2011. This is a 10 round draft where the Montreal Impact will chose 10 players from a pool of current MLS players. MLS clubs are allowed to protect eleven players from their roster, as well as any Generation Adidas or HomeGrown players on the off-budget roster.
The only HomeGrown player the Galaxy have is Jack McBean. Brian Perk was never Generation Adidas, though it's occasionally reported that he was. The rest of the supplemental roster will be made available so that means:
Brian Perk, Sean Alvarado, Paolo Cardozo, Hector Jimenez, Bryan Jordan, Daniel Keat, Dustin McCarty, Dasan Robinson and Ryan Thomas will all be available in the draft.
The rule regarding international players is funny. Clubs may only make available a number of international players equal to their total international players minus three. The Galaxy have 8 international players, so I imagine they'll protect:
David Beckham, Robbie Keane, Juninho
Which would make avilable:
Chris Birchall, Leonardo, Miguel Lopez (Daniel Keat and Paolo Cardozo already available as non-budget roster players)
Miguel Lopez is a Galaxy discovery player, but all that means is they discovered him (like Columbus) desired him, and thus were ensured him should the league sign him.
The last thing to say about international players, is that their loan agreements are with MLS, not with individual teams. So if Cardozo or Leonardo were to get snatched up, the loan agreement wouldn't change.
That still leaves eight more players to protect, with Gregg Berhalter retiring. Likely:
Landon Donovan, Omar Gonzalez, Donovan Ricketts, AJ DeLaGarza, Todd Dunivant, Sean Franklin, Mike Magee and an eighth player who could really be anyone amongst the remaining roster:
Chad Barrett, Adam Cristman, Frankie Hejduk, Jovan Kirovski, Josh Saunders, Michael Stephens
Last year's protected roster is the same as the one I proposed here, except last year Edson Buddle and Chris Birchall were protected (Buddle bolted to Europe; Birchall's on the off-budget roster now) as was Michael Stephens.I flipped Keane and Birchall, Magee in Buddle's spot, then there's the fifth protected player. It could well be Mike Stephens again. Chad Barrett was on Toronto FC's roster this time last year, but he was exposed, as was Adam Cristman on DC United.
So, who do you think gets the last protected spot? Or do you think I'm wrong, perhaps the Galaxy will protect another international, say Leonardo, and make someone else available? Keep in mind, a team can only lose one player in the draft. With 17 teams entering players, and just ten being selected by Montreal, it's possible the Galaxy might not lose anyone (which is what happened last year). However, with Josh Saunders advertising himself all year, it's likely he could go (and there's little chance the Galaxy protect two keepers). WIth Brian Perk in the wings, this might not be the worst thing.