Bunbury, Agudelo among 11 players protected for Tuesday's expansion draft

The Revolution have released their protected list for Tuesday’s MLS Expansion Draft, leaving six under-contract players unprotected for possible selection by league newcomers FC Cincinnati. New England is one of 18 teams that have made players available.

The Revs' lists are as follows:

Protected: Juan Agudelo, Teal Bunbury, Brandon Bye, Luis Caicedo, Antonio Delamea, Diego Fagundez, Andrew Farrell, Michael Mancienne, Cristian Penilla, Kelyn Rowe, Matt Turner

Unprotected: Brad Knighton, Jalil Anibaba, Brian Wright, Cody Cropper, Wilfried Zahibo, Gabriel Somi.

As Isaac Angking, Scott Caldwell, and Zachary Herivaux are off-budget, Supplemental roster Homegrown players, they are automatically protected. Newly-signed Homegrown midfielder Nicolas Firmino is also exempt, as he was not on the 2018 Supplemental or Reserve roster.

In addition, 2018 Revolution players who did not have options picked up last month — Femi Hollinger-Janzen, Mark Segbers, Nico Samayoa, Claude Dielna, Guillermo Hauche, and Cristhian Machado — are also available for selection. Chris Tierney is also listed, but he has retired.

The full list of unprotected players across the league is here.

The Expansion Draft is slated for Tuesday at 2 p.m., with the proceedings taking place on MLSSoccer.com.

BSJ Analysis

My list from Friday is pretty much spot-on, with two differences: Bunbury and Agudelo are protected by the Revs, while I had them unprotected. In addition, I had Anibaba and Knighton protected.

Agudelo’s protected status surely means the club is working on a new deal for the former US international. So if that deal gets done, the core group from 2016-18 will return.

Now… if I were Cincinnati general manager Jeff Berding and manager Alan Koch, would I pick a Revolution player as one of my five picks? Sure. Why the heck not? Knighton and Anibaba are veterans and can bring some immediate stability in the back. Wright is young, full of potential, and Cropper may need a change of scenery after only making a handful of squads for The Boys In Blue in 2018. FCC signed a goalkeeper over the weekend, and they’ll need another.

But on the other hand, there is so much talent that MLS clubs left unprotected that it might be difficult for Berding and Koch to choose. I don’t envy them, especially when there are some solid talents — including internationals — that would make FCC relevant without it even kicking a ball.

Sweens’ five headed to the Queen City:

Brad Knighton
Marco Urena
Perry Kitchen
Haris Medunjanin
Kei Kamara