RSL’s Expansion Draft protected list, explained

What will Real Salt Lake look in 2018? It’s hard to say, but the club’s protected list for the 2017 MLS Expansion Draft gives us a pretty good sense of what the core will look like.

Kyle Beckerman

This one’s only a little surprising, given the earlier news that he’s potentially in the middle of re-signing with Real Salt Lake. Beckerman returning makes a lot of sense for us, and protecting him in the middle of that will help keep our interests in play.

Justen Glad

We had to protect Glad because he’s a senior roster player, as only supplemental and reserve homegrown players were automatically protected.

David Horst

We’ll be a little thin defensively with Tony Beltran out for an extended period, so protecting Horst is a pretty sane move.

Luke Mulholland

Between him and Sunny, Mulholland’s probably the most feasible choice for LAFC, given he’s a bit more flexible in his positioning than Sunny.

Joao Plata

Yeah, there’s no option here, really. Plata’s got to stay.

Albert Rusnak

HA. Yeah, we’d leave Rusnak unprotected. OK.

Nick Rimando

The only thing I can make sense of here is that we’re expecting to sign Nick Rimando to a new contract — otherwise, we’d still be able to sign him by the free agency mechanism.

Sebastian Saucedo

I actually don’t think Saucedo was likely to be taken, so putting him on the list is more or less signifying that we intend for him to be an important player for us moving forward. He’s also not the highest-paid player, which could make him an attractive bench option for LAFC.

Jefferson Savarino

The kid’s a revelation. I can’t wait for 2018.

Luis Silva

One of the bright spots of 2017, Silva has really been a surprise for me. I don’t know what his ideal role is with the team, but you have to protect him if you want to use him in 2018.

Marcelo Silva

This guy’s awesome.

Automatically protected

• Danilo Acosta
• Jordan Allen
• Jose Hernandez
• Brooks Lennon
• Ricardo Velazco