Philadelphia Union unscathed again in MLS Expansion Draft

Orlando City, Inter Miami, New England Revolution, FC Cincinnati and New York Red Bulls had players taken in St. Louis City’s expansion draft Friday

Five Eastern Conference teams had players drafted by St. Louis City SC in the 2022 MLS Expansion Draft but none were named the Philadelphia Union.

St. Louis drafted Nicholas Gioacchini from Orlando City, Indiana Vassilev from Inter Miami, Jon Bell from New England Revolution, John Nelson from FC Cincinnati and Jake LaCava from New York Red Bulls in the draft on Friday night. Those teams will receive $50,000 in general allocation money.

LaCava was quickly traded to Inter Miami for allocation money and Tim Parker was acquired from Houston for $500,000 in general allocation money.

Pedro Ribeiro remains the answer to the trivia question of last player taken from the Union in an expansion draft for another year. Ribeiro was taken by Orlando City in the 2014 expansion draft.

Though there was some concern that Alejandro Bedoya being left unprotected could entice St. Louis, Sporting Director Lutz Pfannenstiel — a former colleague of Ernst Tanner at Hoffenheim — made it clear he was going for youth in the draft. The players drafted range in age from 21 to 25.