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With the deadline for submission today, the Portland Timbers have released their list of players who will be protected in Wednesday's Expansion Draft for Orlando City SC and New York City FC.
On the list are Fanendo Adi, Nat Borchers, Diego Chara, Will Johnson, Darlington Nagbe, Alvas Powell, Liam Ridgewell, Maximiliano Urruti, Diego Valeri, Rodney Wallace, and Ben Zemanski. This leaves Gaston Fernandez and Jorge Villafana as the two players that were widely expected to be protected for the Timbers, who are instead available for selection.
While the core of the list is as expected, this morning's trade for Nat Borchers forced the Timbers to make a tough decision on who to leave off the list. Protecting Johnson and Ridgewell forced the Timbers to leave Villafana and Fernandez exposed.
Despite Diego Valeri's injury, Fernandez's current contract talks make him look like a much less likely target than if he was already signed and on a known wage. Villafana, meanwhile, is in a tough position with the recent signing of largely unknown new arrival Jeanderson.
Here is the Timbers' full protected list:
PORTLAND TIMBERS
Available Players
Alhassan, Kalif
Fernandez, Gaston
Jewsbury, Jack
Kah, Pa Modou
McKenzie, Rauwshan
O'Rourke, Danny
Paparatto, Norberto
Ricketts, Donovan
Villafana, Jorge
Fochive, George
Gallego, Bryan
Gleeson, Jake
Nanchoff, Michael
Peay, Taylor
Weber, Andrew
Protected Players
Adi, Fanendo
Borchers, Nat
Chara, Diego
Johnson, Will
Nagbe, Darlington
Powell, Alvas
Ridgewell, Liam
Urruti, Maximiliano
Valeri, Diego
Wallace, Rodney
Zemanski, Ben
Homegrown Players exempt from selection
Evans, Steven
Generation adidas Players exempt from selection
Tshuma, Ntokozo