The Houston Dynamo have announced a number of roster moves as the club begins preparations for the 2018 season.

The club picked up contract options on seven players for the 2018 season – DF Kevin Garcia, DF Leonardo, DF George Malki, MF Charlie Ward, MF Memo Rodriguez, DF Philippe Senderos and FW Andrew Wenger.

The club declined contract options on 11 players – DF Jalil Anibaba, GK Calle Brown, MF Ricardo Clark, DF A.J. DeLaGarza, GK Tyler Deric, MF José Escalante, MF Boniek García, MF Joe Holland, DF Taylor Hunter, MF Christian Lucatero and FW Vicente Sánchez.

Five players’ contracts expired following the conclusion of the 2017 season – MF Alex, MF Eric Alexander, DF DaMarcus Beasley, DF Dylan Remick and GK Joe Willis.

Finally, the loans for MF Juan David Cabezas (Deportivo Cali, Colombia) and FW Alberth Elis (CF Monterrey, Mexico) are set to expire on December 31. Houston has until that date to negotiate a full transfer or extend the loan for each player.

“We’d like to thank our group for their hard work on a successful 2017 season qualifying for the playoffs and ending the year as one of the final four teams in the league,” Dynamo Vice President and General Manager Matt Jordan said. “We are in ongoing discussions with several players from the 2017 roster as we prepare for 2018.”

Including the players whose contract options were picked up, players on loan and players to whom the club has made bona fide offers, the Dynamo now have 14 players under contract for the 2018 season.

HOUSTON DYNAMO PLAYERS CURRENTLY UNDER CONTRACT

DEFENDERS (5) No. Player Pos. MLS Exp. Age Ht. Wt. FIFA Nationality 3 Adolfo Machado DF 1 31 6-0 160 Panama 4 Philippe Senderos DF 1 32 6-2 181 Switzerland 16 Kevin Garcia DF 1 26 6-0 185 USA 21 George Malki DF 1 24 5-10 160 USA 22 Leonardo DF 8 29 6-2 185 Brazil MIDFIELDERS (4) No. Player Pos. MLS Exp. Age Ht. Wt. FIFA Nationality 5 Juan David Cabezas* MF 1 25 6-0 175 Colombia 18 Memo Rodriguez MF 1 21 5-8 145 USA 25 Tomás Martínez MF 1 22 5-9 145 Argentina 28 Charlie Ward MF 1 22 5-8 168 England FORWARDS (5) No. Player Pos. MLS Exp. Age Ht. Wt. FIFA Nationality 9 Erick Torres FW 5 24 5-11 168 Mexico 11 Andrew Wenger MF 6 26 6-0 185 USA 12 Romell Quioto FW 1 25 5-11 170 Honduras 17 Alberth Elis* FW 1 20 6-0 165 Honduras 19 Mauro Manotas FW 3 22 6-0 155 Colombia

* On loan from another club.

TRANSACTIONS: The Houston Dynamo picked up 2018 contract options on DF Kevin Garcia, DF Leonardo, DF George Malki, MF Charlie Ward, MF Memo Rodriguez, DF Philippe Senderos and FW Andrew Wenger. The club declined 2018 contract options on DF Jalil Anibaba, GK Calle Brown, MF Ricardo Clark, DF A.J. DeLaGarza, GK Tyler Deric, MF José Escalante, MF Boniek García, MF Joe Holland, DF Taylor Hunter, MF Christian Lucatero and FW Vicente Sánchez.