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MLS clubs had to have their protected lists for the upcoming MLS Expansion Draft in by 2 p.m. today. Columbus Crew SC made more surprises in the pre-draft half day open trade window - trading away Josh Williams and Bernardo Anor - than they did with their protected.
Here is a breakdown of who is protected and who is left exposed.
| Protected Players | Automatically Protected | Exposed |
| Steve Clark | Chad Barson | Jairo Arrieta |
| Ethan Finlay | Ross Friedman | Fifi Baiden |
| Waylon Francis | Matt Lampson | Adam Bedell |
| Romain Gall | Wil Trapp | Eric Gehrig |
| Federico Higuain | Matt Walker | Kevan George |
| Hector Jimenez | Matt Wiet | Daniel Paladini |
| Kei Kamara | Aaron Schoenfeld | |
| Justin Meram | Ben Speas | |
| Michael Parkhurst | Brad Stuver | |
| Emmanuel Pogatetz | Ben Sweat | |
| Tony Tchani | Agustin Viana | |
| Tyson Wahl |
All of Crew SC's automatically protected players are homegrown and a few of them - Friedman, Walker, and Wiet - are no longer with the team. Players whose contracts were not renewed following the 2014 season still are eligible for this draft and that is why the likes of Viana and Paladini are listed.
There were some notable names around the league left unprotected by their clubs. This includes D.C. United's Eddie Johnson, Sporting Kansas City's Claudio Bieler, the New York Red Bulls' Tim Cahill, the New England Revolution's Diego Fagundez, Real Salt Lake's Ned Grabavoy and Chris Wingert, and the Philadelphia Union's Zac MacMath.
The Expansion Draft will take place on Wednesday December 10 at 2 p.m. The draft will consist of 10 rounds and a team can lose no more than two players. If a player is selected, the club can protect an additional player and are given allocation money in exchange.