Inter Miami

Here is list of which players Inter Miami protected from Tuesday’s MLS Expansion Draft

Inter Miami announced its protected player list for the 2020 MLS Expansion Draft, which takes place Tuesday at 6 p.m. and will give new club Austin FC the chance to add five players to its roster. Only one player can be drafted from a single club.

Austin FC already got one player from the Inter Miami roster — defender Ben Sweat, who was traded Sunday for $100,000 in general allocation money.

Protected from selection are the following 15 Miami players — 12 chosen by the club and the other three who are automatically protected due to Homegrown or Generation adidas status.

The 12 chosen by the club are: goalkeeper John McCarthy, defender Nico Figal, defender Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, defender Dylan Nealis, defender Andres Reyes, midfielder Blaise Matuidi, midfielder Lewis Morgan, midfielder Matias Pellegrini, midfielder Rodolfo Pizarro, midfielder Victor Ulloa, forward Julian Carranza, and forward Gonzalo Higuain.

The three automatically protected players are: goalkeeper Drake Callender, midfielder David Norman Jr and forward Robbie Robinson.

That leaves 14 players eligible for selection: goalkeeper Luis Robles, defender Mikey Ambrose, defender A.J. De La Garza, defender Denso Ulysse, defender Alvas Powell, defender Jairo Quinteros, midfielder Christian Makoun, midfielder Jay Chapman, midfielder Federico Higuain, midfielder Brek Shea, midfielder George Acosta, midfielder Wil Trapp, forward Juan Agudelo and forward Jerome Kiesewetter.

Most of those players had their contract options declined or are otherwise out of contract.

After having players selected by Inter Miami and Nashville SC in the 2019 Expansion Draft, the following clubs are exempt from having players chosen Tuesday: New York City FC, FC Cincinnati, Los Angeles Football Club, Columbus Crew SC, Seattle Sounders FC, Minnesota United FC, Portland Timbers, New England Revolution, Atlanta United, and Sporting Kansas City.

The remaining 16 MLS clubs can protect 12 players among their Senior, Supplemental and Reserve Roster. If a player’s contract expires at the end of 2020, he will still be considered part of the club’s roster. For a club that has a player claimed from their unprotected roster, that team will receive $50,000 in General Allocation Money for the selection.

Michelle Kaufman
Miami Herald
Miami Herald sportswriter Michelle Kaufman has covered 14 Olympics, six World Cups, Wimbledon, U.S. Open, NCAA Basketball Tournaments, NBA Playoffs, Super Bowls and has been the soccer writer and University of Miami basketball beat writer for 25 years. She was born in Frederick, Md., and grew up in Miami.
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