MLS Moves: Six more clubs reveal roster decisions

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Nov 28, 2018

Six more teams announced their roster moves made by the Monday deadline regarding players not already contracted for the 2019 season.

Among the players not retained were a pair of players who went to the 2018 World Cup: Costa Rican Marco Urena (LAFC) and Panamanian Adolfo Machado (Houston).

All the teams eliminated from the MLS playoffs have announced their moves except D.C. United, NYCFC and San Jose.

Colorado. Kellyn Acosta was among four players whose options were picked up. They give the Rapids 18 players under contract for 2019. Eight players had their contract options declined, while two more are out of contract. Colorado didn't exercise the purchase option on former U.S. national team defender Edgar Castillo’s contract from Monterrey, but negotiations were ongoing.

2019 Roster (18 players):
Goalkeepers (2): Tim Howard, Zac MacMath.
Defenders (7): Kortne Ford, Marlon Hairston, Axel Sjoberg, Tommy Smith, Sam Vines, Danny Wilson, Deklan Wynne.
Midfielders (7): Kellyn Acosta, Cole Bassett, Nana Boateng, Johan Blomberg, Sam Nicholson, Jack Price, Dillon Serna.
Forwards (2): Shkelzen Gashi, Niki Jackson.

Houston. Honduran internationals Boniek Garcia, a member of the Dynamo since 2012 and its last trip to MLS Cup, and Romell Quioto were among 10 players whose contract options were picked up. Adolfo Machado, a member of Panama's 2018 World Cup team, and five other players had their options declined. Arturo Alvarez, DaMarcus Beasley, Philippe Senderos and Andrew Wenger are all out of contract, while Luis Gil's loan from Queretaro in Mexico is set to expire on Dec. 31.

2019 Roster (20 players):
Goalkeepers (4): Tyler Deric, Chris Seitz, Joe Willis, Michael Nelson
Defenders (5): Alejandro Fuenmayor, Adam Lundkvist, Kevin Garcia, A.J. DeLaGarza, Erik McCue.
Midfielders (7): Juan David Cabezas, Eric Alexander, Memo Rodriguez, Tomas Martinez, Darwin Ceren, Eric Bird, Boniek Garcia.
Forwards (4): Mauro Manotas, Romell Quioto, Alberth Elis, Ronaldo Pena.

LAFC. LAFC exercised contract options on goalkeeper Tyler Miller, midfielders Mark-Anthony Kaye, Lee Nguyen and Josh Perez and forward Shaft Brewer, Jr. They give the club 16 players under contract for the 2019 regular season. Costa Rican World Cup forward Marco Urena (photo) was the most notable of the seven players who had contract options declined. Defenders Jordan Harvey and Walker Zimmerman and midfielder Benny Feilhaber, who all started in the 3-2 loss to RSL in the Knockout Round, and Dejan Jakovic will be out of contract. Loan agreements for goalkeeper Luis Lopez, defender Danilo Silva, another playoff starter, and midfielder Aaron Kovar (with Seattle) expired.

2019 Roster (16 players):
Goalkeeper (1): Tyler Miller
Defenders (4): Steven Beitashour, Tristan Blackmon, Joao Moutinho, Eddie Segura.
Midfielders (5): Eduard Atuesta, André Horta, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Lee Nguyen, Josh Perez.
Forwards (6): Latif Blessing, Shaft Brewer, Jr., Adama Diomande, Christian Ramirez, Diego Rossi, Carlos Vela.

Orlando City. The Lions picked up options on nine players, including rookie Chris Mueller, who led the team in appearances with 32. They give Orlando City 21 players under contract. Joe Bendik, the starting goalkeeper for much of the season, and former U.S. national team defender Jonathan Spector were among eight players who had their options declined. The contract of keeper Earl Edwards, Jr. has expired.
 
2019 Roster (21 players):
Goalkeepers (2): Adam Grinwis, Mason Stajduhar
Defenders (6): RJ Allen, Mohamed El-Munir, Victor “PC” Giro, Shane O'Neill, Lamine Sane, Amro Tarek.
Midfielders (11): Carlos Ascues, Josue Colman, Pierre Da Silva, Cristian Higuita, Will Johnson, Sacha Kljestan, Cam Lindley, Chris Mueller, Dillon Powers, Uri Rosell, Yoshi Yotun.
Forwards (2): Dom Dwyer, Stefano Pinho.

Real Salt Lake. Forwards Corey Baird, Sebastian Saucedo and Jefferson Savarino, who combined for 18 goals and 11 assists, were among the six players whose options were picked up to go along with the 15 whose contracts were already guaranteed for the 2019 season. RSL declined the contract options on 11 players, including Luke Mulholland and Sunny, who split time starting in midfield in the playoffs.

2019 Roster (21 players):
Goalkeepers (3): Alex Horwath, Andrew Putna, Nick Rimando.
Defenders (8): Danilo Acosta, Nick Besler, Justen Glad, Adam Henley, Aaron Herrera, Brooks Lennon, Nedum Onuoha, Marcelo Silva
Midfielders (4): Kyle Beckerman, Damir Kreilach, Pablo Ruiz, Albert Rusnak.
Forwards (6): Jordan Allen, Corey Baird, Joao Plata, Sebastian Saucedo, Jefferson Savarino, Julian Vazquez.

Toronto FC. Drew Moor, who started on the MLS Cup 2017 championship team but played only eight games in 2018 because of injuries, was one of eight players whose contract options Toronto FC exercised. Goalkeeper Clint Irwin and forward Tosaint Ricketts had their contract options declined, while Jason Hernandez and Jordan Hamilton will both be out of contract at the end of the year. Loan deals for Auro Jr. and Lucas Janson will both expire on Dec. 31. In addition, Spanish midfielder Ager Aketxe's contract was terminated by mutual consent.

2019 Roster (22 players):
Goalkeepers (2): Alex Bono, Caleb Patterson-Sewell.
Defenders (8): Julian Dunn, Nick Hagglund, Chris Mavinga, Drew Moor, Ashtone Morgan, Justin Morrow, Gregory van der Wiel, Eriq Zavaleta.
Midfielders (8): Michael Bradley, Jay Chapman, Aidan Daniels, Marky Delgado, Liam Fraser, Jonathan Osorio, Ryan Telfer, Victor Vazquez.
Forwards (4): Ayo Akinola, Jozy Altidore, Jon Bakero, Sebastian Giovinco.

Already announced ...

Chicago
2019 Roster (15 players):
Goalkeepers (2): Stefan Cleveland, Richard Sanchez
Defender (3): Jorge Corrales, Nicolas Del Grecco, Grant Lillard
Defender/Midfielder (1): Nicolas Hasler
Defender/Midfielder/Forwards (2): Diego Campos, Raheem Edwards
Midfielders (5): Mo Adams, Brandt Bronico, Aleksandar Katai, Dax McCarty, Djordje Mihailovic
Forwards (2): Elliot Collier, Nemanja Nikolic.

Colorado
2019 Roster:
Goalkeepers (2): Tim Howard, Zac MacMath.
Defenders (7): Kortne Ford, Marlon Hairston, Axel Sjoberg, Tommy Smith, Sam Vines, Danny Wilson, Deklan Wynne.
Midfielders (7): Kellyn Acosta, Cole Bassett, Nana Boateng, Johan Blomberg, Sam Nicholson, Jack Price, Dillon Serna.
Forwards (2): Shkelzen Gashi, Niki Jackson.

Columbus
2019 Roster (22 players):
Goalkeepers (3): Jon Kempin, Ben Lundgaard, Zack Steffen.
Defenders (7): Lalas Abubakar, Harrison Afful, Alex Crognale, Connor Maloney, Jonathan Mensah, Gaston Sauro, Josh Williams.
Midfielders (10): Luis Argudo, Artur, Niko Hansen, Federico Higuain, Hector Jimenez, Justin Meram, Edward Opoku, Pedro Santos, Eduardo Sosa, Wil Trapp.
Forwards (2): Patrick Mullins, Gyasi Zardes.

FC Dallas
2019 Roster (25 players):
Goalkeepers (3): Jesse Gonzalez, Jimmy Maurer, Kyle Zobeck.
Defenders (6): Reggie Cannon, Matt Hedges, Moises Hernandez, Ryan Hollingshead, Marquinhos Pedroso, Reto Ziegler.
Midfielders (9): Pablo Aranguiz, Michael Barrios, Carlos Gruezo, Jacori Hayes, Santiago Mosquera, Paxton Pomykal, Thomas Roberts, Brandon Servania, Victor Ulloa.
Forwards (7): Francis Atuahene, Dominique Badji, Cristian Colman, Jesus Ferreira, Bryan Reynolds, Ema Twumasi, Maxi Urruti.

LA Galaxy
2019 Roster (16 players):
Goalkeepers (2): David Bingham, Justin Vom Steeg.
Defenders (4): Jorgen Skjelvik, Tomas Hilliard-Arce, Hugo Arellano, Daniel Steres.
Midfielders (6): Romain Alessandrini, Jonathan dos Santos, Perry Kitchen, Joao Pedro, Sebastian Lletget, Bradford Jamieson IV.
Forwards (4): Zlatan Ibrahimovi, Ola Kamara, Giovani dos Santos, Efrain Alvarez.

Minnesota United
2019 Roster (16 players):
Goalkeeper (1): Bobby Shuttleworth.
Defenders (5): Michael Boxall, Francisco Calvo, Brent Kallman, Carter Manley, Wyatt Omsberg.
Midfielders (7): Ethan Finlay, Miguel Ibarra, Romario Ibarra, Collin Martin, Kevin Molino, Rasmus Schuller, Darwin Quintero.
Forwards (3): Abu Danladi, Mason Toye, Angelo Rodriguez.

Montreal
2019 Roster (24 players):
Goalkeepers (5): Jason Beaulieu, Evan Bush, Maxime Crépeau, Clement Diop, James Pantemis.
Defenders (7): Victor Cabrera, Rudy Camacho, Zakaria Diallo, Chris Duvall, Daniel Lovitz, Michael Petrasso, Jukka Raitala.
Midfielders (8): Michael Azira, Mathieu Choiniere, Ken Krolicki, Ignacio Piatti, Samuel Piette, Shamit Shome, Saphir Taider, Jeisson Vargas.
Forwards (4): Quincy Amarikwa, Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Matteo Mancosu, Alejandro Silva.

New England
2019 Roster (18 players):
Goalkeepers (3): Cody Cropper, Brad Knighton, Matt Turner.
Defenders (6): Jalil Anibaba, Brandon Bye, Antonio Delamea, Andrew Farrell, Michael Mancienne, Gabriel Somi.
Midfielders (6): Isaac Angking, Scott Caldwell, Diego Fagundez, Zachary Herivaux, Kelyn Rowe, Wilfried Zahibo
Forwards (3): Teal Bunbury, Cristian Penilla, Brian Wright.

Philadelphia
2019 Roster (17 players):
Goalkeepers (1): Andre Blake
Defenders (6): Jack Elliott, Olivier Mbaizo, Mark McKenzie, Matt Real, Keegan Rosenberry, Auston Trusty
Midfielders (8): Brenden Aaronson, David Accam, Alejandro Bedoya, Ilsinho, Anthony Fontana, Derrick Jones, Haris Medunjanin, Fafa Picault
Forwards (2): Cory Burke, CJ Sapong

Vancouver
2019 Roster (17 players):
Goalkeeper (1): Sean Melvin.
Defenders (5): Marcel de Jong, Doneil Henry, Brett Levis, Jake Nerwinski, Kendall Waston.
Midfielders (8): Michael Baldisimo, Simon Colyn, Felipe, Efrain Juarez, Nicolas Mezquida, David Norman Jr., Yordy Reyna, Russell Teibert.
Strikers (3): Theo Bair, Anthony Blondell, Erik Hurtado.