2014 MLS Expansion Draft Results

The 2014 Major League Soccer Expansion Draft is in the books so fans waiting to hear who your team lost, you can breathe now. Expansion sides Orlando City SC and New York City FC each made 10 selections via conference call on Wednesday, a maximum of two players per other league club could be drafted before that team was "eliminated" from the drafting procedure. There were some interesting picks and judging by each team's picks, there was a clear winner.

New York City FC looks like they could have a very strong team to start based on their picks on Wednesday. Former Real Salt Lake head coach Jason Kreis did not wait long to pick from his past club selecting midfielder Ned Grabavoy with NYCFC's first selection. Grabavoy was one player that most of the media agreed would be selected when the protected player lists came out on Monday.

The club selected another player who was surprisingly left off of his team's protected list in New England Revolution forward/midfielder Patrick Mullins. The 11th overall selection in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft appeared in 24 matches between the regular season and playoffs scoring four goals, all during a four-match stretch in May.

NYCFC boosted their defensive skill with three very solid defender picks taking Jason Hernandez from the San Jose Earthquakes with their third pick, FC Dallas centerback George John will their seventh pick, and Real Salt Lake left back Chris Wingert with their final pick. Hernandez and Wingert will likely occupy starting spot to begin with while John is still recovering from knee surgery in late July. When healthy though, John is expected to be the anchor of the backline.

Orlando City SC, meanwhile, made some very interesting selections starting with their first one. The club selected goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts of the Portland Timbers. He is likely just a short term solution between the posts while Tally Hall recovers from a late-season ACL tear. Even then though, he is a very expensive short term solution having made $260,000 in 2014. It is a very confusing selection when you consider that Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Zac MacMath, a player who is 14 years younger, $140,000 cheaper, and brings a potentially higher trade value, was also available. 

Youth was the story of the next three picks for Orlando City as they selected Colorado Rapids midfielder Tony Cascio, Seattle Sounders FC defender Jalil Anibaba, and Philadelphia Union utility man Pedro Ribeiro. We should note that rumors are circulating that Anibaba will be traded to Sporting Kansas City but those are unconfirmed as of now.

One pick that this writer did like for Orlando City was their selection of Heath Pearce from the Montreal Impact. That could give them a very solid centerback pairing with Pearce and Aurelien Collin in 2015. They do also have Amobi Okugo on the squad but he will likely return to the midfield with the Pearce acquisition.

Here is a full list of the players selected: