MLS Expansion Draft 2011: San Jose Earthquakes Protected List

The San Jose Earthquakes are not a very good team and their protected list for the upcoming expansion draft makes that much very clear. Yup, that's Alan Gordon on their protected list. I'm pretty sure there's a league rule that if you protect Alan Gordon you are banned from the playoffs, not that they actually have to enforce that rule.

Interestingly, the Quakes chose to leave Anthony Ampaipitakwong unprotected. He struggled as a rookie, but was played out of position for much of the year and showed flashes when he got into his regular position. Ellis McLoughlin, a young player who looked good at times and is paid just $42,000 per year is also unprotected.

Protected List: Rafael Baca, Steve Beitashour, Jon Busch, Sam Cronin, Simon Dawkins, Alan Gordon, Jason Hernandez, Steven Lenhart, Justin Morrow, Khari Stephenson, Chris Wondolowski

Unprotected List: Anthony Ampaipitakwong, Nana Attakora-Gyan, Bobby Burling, Bobby Convey, Ramiro Corrales, Joseph Gjertsen, Maxwell Griffin, Chris Leitch, Matt Luzunaris, Ellis McLoughlin, Jacob Peterson, Brad Ring, Scott Sealy, Tim Ward, Andrew Weber