San Jose Earthquakes unlikely to have player taken in Austin FC’s expansion draft

2021 MLS expansion team Austin FC will hold their expansion draft on Tuesday, and while a San Jose Earthquakes player could technically be selected, it is unlikely.

Sunday’s trade that saw Nick Lima go from San Jose to Austin for $500,000 in general allocation money likely included a handshake agreement between the teams that no Quakes players would be taken in the expansion draft. No, that is not official, but the timing of the trade, coming just before the expansion draft, and league history with similar deals means it would be a surprise if another Quakes player heads to Austin via expansion draft.

Officially, San Jose had to submit a protected list of players who cannot be selected. That means one of the following players could technically be selected by Austin FC, if there is no handshake agreement in place:

• Matt Bersano
• Eric Calvillo
• Luis Felipe
• Danny Hoesen
• Guram Kashia
• Paul Marie
• Vako
• Jack Skahan

Of course, Luis Felipe, Hoesen, Kashia and Vako are all out the door. Technically Austin could take one of them and try and negotiate for a return, but they’re likely looking for a new situation already.

Also, like I said, this is all likely moot anyway. It’s probably going to be a quiet day Tuesday for the Quakes in relation to the expansion draft. If that changes we’ll let you know.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.