Determining which players to protect for one of the worst teams in the league isn’t terribly difficult - one simply needs to protect those players that were effective during the season. The first nine were the easiest: AJ Soares, Benny Feilhaber, Shalrie Joseph, Rajko Lekic, Chris Tierney, Matt Reis, Milton Caraglio, Monsef Zerka, Darrius Barnes.
MLS Mock Expansion Draft, 2011: Projected New England Revolution Protected List
Some of the above, like Joseph, Lekic, Feilhaber, and Reis, have age or salary concerns, but a total lack of better-performing options land them solidly on the list. Ryan Guy and Kevin Alston made it off the bubble, Guy for his stellar play in the close season and Alston because his speed and attacking potential remain attractive and, out of all the names left, he is most likely to be picked up by Montreal.
New England Revolution: AJ Soares, Benny Feilhaber, Rajko Lekic, Chris Tierney,Milton Caraglio, Monsef Zerka, Darrius Barnes, Shalrie Joseph, Matt Reis, Kevin Alston, Ryan Guy. Automatically protected: Diego Fagundez.
Steve Stoehr is the managing editor of Revolution blog The Bent Musket. Follow him on Twitter at @Stoehrst.
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