Supplemental roster players given slight reprieve in Expansion Draft

The official 2014 Expansion Draft rules have come raining down from the league, and while we covered the rules in some depth earlier — they're not too changed from what we expected there — one rule from the official release stands out.

That rule? Supplemental roster players that are selected must be offered a senior roster position, and they have to remain there until the roster compliance date.

If NYCFC or Orlando City SC selects a Supplemental Roster Player, it must offer him a Senior Roster position and he must remain on the Senior Roster as of Roster Compliance Date.

What does that mean for Real Salt Lake players? Our supplemental roster gains a little more protection. While our homegrown players, who are certainly on it already, will be exempt from the draft, players lower on the roster get a chance. That list probably includes the likes of Sebastian Velasquez, John Stertzer, Devon Sandoval, and Aaron Maund — all players who don't make too much money.

For those players, if they're selected, they'll be part of the senior roster, their jobs will be more assured, and they'll be paid a minimum of $48,500 (or something like that — that's the case for 2014, but nobody really knows what the CBA will bring.) While we wouldn't want to lose any of them, it's reassuring that they wouldn't simply be cast aside.

It does perhaps also make them less lucrative for selection. There are only 20 senior roster spots, and one would naturally suspect those would be more focused toward players that can make an immediate impact. Few supplemental players check that box.