Union leave Maurice Edu, Charlie Davies, Ray Gaddis open to expansion draft

Here are the players the Union left unprotected for Atlanta United and Minnesota United's expansion draft. Major League Soccer's two newest teams will make their choices Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.

F Charlie Davies

M Brian Carroll
M Maurice Edu
M Leo Fernandes
M Walter Restrepo

D Anderson Conceição
D Ray Gaddis
D Cole Missimo
D Ken Tribbett
D Taylor Washington

GK Matt Jones
GK John McCarthy

The big surprises on the list are McCarthy, the regular backup to starter Andre Blake; and Gaddis, who lost his starting spot but is prime trade bait because of it.

(That said, there's a slew of better goalkeepers up for grabs, including Toronto's Clint Irwin, Columbus' Steve Clark and Dallas' Chris Seitz. So the odds of McCarthy leaving are slim.)

Edu might seem an odd name to include, since he's a Designated Player and a key player in the team's midfield. But DPs are rarely taken in expansion drafts, because teams are looking for bargains instead of big contracts. It's not new for teams to gamble on losing a DP because they want to protect other players.

Davies is out of a contract, so if he's taken, the acquiring team would get only the right of first refusal to negotiate wtih him.

Perhaps the most surprising name on the Union's list of protected players is Eric Ayuk, who played only one league game in 2016. But the team didn't have a choice.

MLS required each current team to protect three international players, and players with green cards don't count toward that total. In the Union's case, that meant Andre Blake and Fabinho. The only international players left were Roland Alberg, Ayuk and Ilsinho.

The Union can lose only one player in the draft. And to be clear, that's one player total, not one player to each team. Atlanta and Minnesota each will make five picks.

Click here for the leaguewide list of players available for selection.

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