Major League Soccer's 2008 Expansion Draft,
which is an important step in the Seattle Sounders FC's process of stocking
it's roster for the 2009 season, took place on Wednesday.
The 10 players selected from the league's other 14 teams will join
goalkeeper Kasey Keller, midfielders Freddie Ljungberg and Sanna Nyassi and
forward Sebastien Le Toux, who were already inked to contracts with the 2009
MLS expansion club.
"We feel like we got a great mix of players," Sounders FC General Manager
Adrian Hanauer said. "We got an experienced veteran who has been there in the
trenches and played lots of MLS games in Peter Vagenas. We got mid-tier
experienced guys in [Jeff] Parke, [Nate] Jaqua and Khano Smith. We're very
excited about the young players we were able to select.
"We weighted the draft a little more defensively, rather than the attack. We
feel very good about our expansion draft players as they complement our
existing four players. Together, they comprise a very solid core."
Six of the new Sounders FC players, who average 24.9 years old, started at
least half of their teams' league games in 2008.
Below is the complete list of players selected in the draft:
Nate Jaqua (Houston Dynamo)
Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake)
Jeff Parke (New York Red Bulls)
Jarrod Smith (Toronto FC)
Khano Smith (New England Revolution)
Peter Vagenas (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Tyson Wahl (Kansas City Wizards)
James Riley (San Jose Earthquakes)
Stephen King (Chicago Fire)
Brad Evans (Columbus Crew)
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