The 2014 MLS Expansion Draft featuring New York City FC and Orlando City FC has come to a close. Who came out on top, and who took a step back?

Winners

New York City FC

NYCFC got a very good core group of players from the expansion draft. In their first two picks, they nabbed a veteran midfielder (Ned Grabavoy) and a very promising young forward in the form of Patrick Mullins. Mullins was drafted in the first round, 11th overall, in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft.

Mehdi BallouchyGeorge John, and Sal Zizzo were picked 6th, 7th, and 9th respectively. NYCFC was also able to get Grabavoy's RSL teammate, veteran defender Chris Wingert with their last pick. There is a concern about the health of some of the NYCFC picks, but only time will tell if they'll be healthy for the beginning of the 2015 season.

Orlando City SC

Orlando raised some eyebrows with their picks in the expansion draft, especially by selecting Donovan Ricketts with the first overall pick. Despite some questionable picks, Orlando managed to pick up two of the best players available in Jairo Arrieta and Heath Pearce, and also a lot of trade fodder. Pearce, formerly of the Montreal Impact, is a veteran MLS journeyman who will pair in Orlando next to newly acquired Aurelien Collin.

With their third pick, Orlando selected Jalil Anibaba, formerly of the Seattle Sounders. Soon after, it was announced Anibaba would be traded to Sporting Kansas City to complete their trade for Aurelien Collin. The last two picks for Orlando also were made to trade away. Mark Sherrod was selected 9th from Houston, and will be traded to San Jose to be reunited with his former coach Dom Kinnear. Eric Gehrig was the 10th and final pick by Orlando, and will be traded to the Chicago Fire.

Portland Timbers

The Portland Timbers left two of their best players from last year (Jorge Villafana and Gaston Fernandez) unprotected, and had an influx of goalkeepers at the start of the expansion draft. When OCSC selected Donovan Ricketts with the first overall pick, they were able to kill two birds with one stone. Ricketts was likely to be the odd man out at goalkeeper in Portland with the new signing of Ghanaian keeper Adam Kwarasey. Ricketts was one of the highest paid Timbers, and his arrival in Orlando freed up money and made the goalkeeper decision in Portland an easy one.

With the Ricketts selection, Portland was able to protect Jorge Villafana. Villafana was one of the only constants in Portland's defense last year and many thought he was a probable choice in the expansion draft. With Villafana protected, Portland fans held their breath that Fernandez would not be picked. 20 rounds later, fans exhaled. Gaston Fernandez is currently out of contract with the Timbers, but will most likely be resigned with the loss of Diego Valeri for the early portion of the 2015 season.

Losers

Real Salt Lake

It's been a tough week for Real Salt Lake. After losing Nat Borchers to Portland, they lost two other veteran players to NYCFC in the expansion draft. Ned Grabavoy was selected first by NYCFC, and Chris Wingert last. The two veterans will be reunited with former RSL head coach, Jason Kreis, who will lead NYCFC in their first year in MLS.

Losing two veteran defenders in a position where many think they're already thin is cause for concern. Many people thought that last year, which was RSL's first year without Jason Kreis, was going to be their rebuilding year. Maybe this is the year they reconsider rebuilding.

Montreal Impact

The Montreal Impact finished last in MLS last season with 28 points and were third last in the league in goals against. During the expansion draft, they lost arguably their best defender, Heath Pearce.

Pearce arrived in Montreal last year by way of the New York Red Bulls to try and help a bleeding Montreal defense. Montreal have a very young backline with loads of potential, but are a few years away from being able to safely rely on said backline. Don't expect the defense to be any better next season unless they make some serious offseason acquisitions.

Colorado Rapids

The Colorado Rapids could be either in the winner or loser category, but I'm opting to put them in the loser category. They're winners because they offloaded arguably the biggest MLS bust of all time, the first overall pick in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft, Danny Mwanga. They're losers, because they lost one of their better young talents in Tony Cascio. Both Mwanga and Cascio were loanees in 2014; Mwanga to NASL side New York Cosmos, and Cascio to the Houston Dynamo in the league’s first ever intraleague loan. For a team that was worst in the league in goals against, losing a versatile midfielder does not bode well for confidence in changing that trend.

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About the author
Joe Wielgus
Portland Timbers beat writer for VAVEL USA. Portland Timbers, AS Monaco FC, and Milwaukee Bavarians supporter