Commerce City, Colo. – The Colorado Rapids today protected the following 11 players from the MLS Expansion Draft, which is set to take place on Wednesday, November 23:

Conor Casey, Omar Cummings, Jeff Larentowicz, Pablo Mastroeni, Drew Moor, Brian Mullan, Matt Pickens, Marvell Wynne, and international players Jamie Smith, Danny Earls, and Joseph Nane.

The Montreal Impact, which become the League’s 19th team next season, will have a chance to pick at most one unprotected player from 10 MLS teams as they begin to build their team through the Expansion Draft.

The 17 Rapids players available to Montreal are:

GK: Stew Ceus, Ian Joyce

DEF: Kosuke Kimura, Tyrone Marshall, Anthony Wallace, Scott Palguta, Mike Holody, Eddie Ababio, and Miguel Comminges.

MID: Wells Thompson, Ross LaBauex, Steven Emory

FWD: Sanna Nyassi, Caleb Folan, Mac Kandji, Andre Akpan, Quincy Amarikwa,

Per MLS rules, teams were required to protect at least three international players if they had at least four on the roster. The Rapids protected Jamie Smith (Scotland), Danny Earls (Ireland), and Joseph Nane (Cameroon). The internationals exposed are Caleb Folan (Ireland), and Miguel Comminges (Guadeloupe).

By protecting three international players, the Rapids could then only protect eight other players. Midfielders Davy Armstrong and Josh Janniere were automatically protected due to their Home Grown Player status.

In the previous six Expansion Drafts, in which eight new MLS teams selected players, the Rapids had four players taken. In 2004, Chivas USA selected defenders Antonio de la Torre and Jeff Stewart, while Real Salt Lake did not pick a Colorado player. After not losing players to Toronto (2006), San Jose (2007), and Seattle (2008), the Philadelphia Union used their first pick on Rapids defender Jordan Harvey in 2009. Last November, the Portland Timbers selected Rapids defender Anthony Wallace with their 4th pick, though the Rapids re-acquired the left back in trade later in the day.