LA Galaxy make Sean Franklin, others, available for Re-Entry Draft

Today the LA Galaxy placed Sean Franklin, Colin Clark, Lauren Courtois, and Pablo Mastroeni on the list of players available for the MLS Re-Entry process. Clubs are still allowed to sign their Re-Entry eligible players through 5pm Eastern on December 11th. Contract options were declined on Clark, Franklin, and Courtois while Mastroeni is out of contract.

Franklin is a big name be allowed to explore other options, with a Rookie of the Year award and two MLS Cups to his name. However, his contract grew increasingly expensive and there is another option at his position in A.J. DeLaGarza. A fixture with the club since his arrival as a first round pick in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft, Arena tried him out in the midfield as well as on the back line this season with mixed results.

The rest of the players were acquisitions during the 2013 season that simply didn't pan out. Clark was a bust almost from the beginning, and his lack of form was a factor in the Galaxy going after Robbie Rogers. Courtois came in as Arena tried to find a solution on the right side of the midfield, while Mastroeni gave LA depth in the central midfield.

Franklin isn't the only big name available in the upcoming Re-Entry Draft. He's joined by names like Dwayne DeRosario, Kenny Cooper, Kevin Hartman, Fabian Espindola, and Heath Pearce. He's also joined by some recent Galaxy players in Josh Saunders and Chad Barrett.

The Galaxy will have the fourteenth pick in the Re-Entry Draft with DC United, Chivas USA, and Toronto FC at the top. Whether they'll pull the trigger on any of these MLS household names gives this upcoming draft a bit of intrigue.

In some ways these players are in a tough situation where teams push salaries toward the max for consistent contributors then have to cut them for cap room. It's easy to argue that Franklin is too expensive for LA to keep him on, but it's also easy to argue that team should have more cap room to keep the players they reward for continued service. Something that will surely come up in the CBA negotiations next year.