Union makes expansion draft selections

After much deliberation ­– that lasted until 5 a.m. Tuesday morning – the "war room" emptied at Philadelphia Union headquarters, and the team's coachees and staff were ready to make their Expansion Draft picks.

In no order, the 10 players selected were Brad Knighton (goalkeeper, New England Revolution), David Myrie, (defender, Chicago Fire), Shavar Thomas (defender, Chivas USA), Jordan Harvey (defender, Colorado Rapids), Stefani Miglioranzi (midfielder, Los Angeles Galaxy), Andrew Jacobson (midfielder, D.C. United), Nick Zimmerman (forward, New York Red Bulls), Alejandro Moreno (forward, Columbus Crew) and Sebastian LeToux (forward, Seattle Sounders FC).

A young crop ­– the average age is 25 – head coach Peter Nowak's first group bodes well for getting talent that's hungry. And while Nowak wouldn't divulge exact numbers, bodes even better for getting them cheap.

"The number one pick is the team, first and foremost," said Nowak at the Union's offices yesterday. "We think these are the guys we need moving forward here, but it's up to them to prove themselves."

Some of the names that stick out are Moreno and Miglioranzi, who at 32, can boast international club experience playing briefly for English Premier League clubs Portsmouth and Everton, before returning to the MLS' Columbus Crew, aiding in the Crew's first MLS cup title in 2008. But there are some names ­– most notably 24-year-old goalkeeper Brad Knighton, that needed to be explained, given two top goalkeepers in Kevin Hartman (Kansas City Wizards) and the Houston Dynamo's Pat Onstad were on the list of the unprotected.

"With all due respects to Kevin and Pat Onstad, we just felt that Knighton was the better fit for us going forward," said Nowak. "He's not scared of competition, and he is young. Brad will definitely compete for that starting spot."

It appears that Knighton will be fighting for that starting position with Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Chris Seitz. The Washington Post reported Wednesday evening that the Union acquired Seitz for allocation money from Major League Soccer and the promise that Salt Lake would be one of the five teams that would go without a player selected in the expansion draft. Seitz, 22, was on the roster of Nowak's 2008 U.S. Olympic Team in Beijing.

According to a survey on the MLS players' union Web site released on Sept. 15, the combined 2009 base salary was $615,199.96 for the ten players selected. That number goes up $75,000 to $690,199.96 with the addition of Seitz.

In all, this is just a start of the Union's soon-to-be 28-man roster that'll be in place in time for the team's inaugural kick on March 25 in Seattle. Moving forward the team will have a chance to scout the upcoming MLS player combine, and find that potential "diamond in the rough" at its open tryout sessions.

"Over the next month or so we will go back to looking at the market, go back and evaluate guys in the combine, prepare for the SuperDraft [on Jan. 13] and try to build on what we have," Nowak said. "This is an exciting time moving forward."