Orlando City takes Ricketts first in expansion draft; No DPs get picked

2015 MLS expansion teams New York City FC and Orlando City SC took big steps toward building their inaugural rosters Wednesday, with each selecting 10 players

2015 MLS expansion teams New York City FC and Orlando City SC took big steps toward building their inaugural rosters Wednesday, with each selecting 10 players in the league's expansion draft. 

The likes of Designated Players Tim Cahill, Eddie Johnson, Claudio Bieler and Rais M'Bolhi and goalkeeper Zac MacMath were available for selection, but weren't chosen. NYCFC manager Jason Kreis was able to get two of his former players from Real Salt Lake, while both sides opted to blend young players with upside with veterans.

It's important to remember that just because a player was selected by Orlando or New York doesn't mean he will wind up there. For example, clubs can use expansion draft pieces in future deals, and others just might not make the cut when it comes to the start of the season. 

Here's how the draft unfolded (and here's our mock draft for comparison's sake):

1st ROUND

Orlando City - Donovan Ricketts, GK, Portland Timbers (Portland protects Jorge Villafana)

New York City FC - Ned Grabavoy, M, Real Salt Lake (RSL protects Carlos Salcedo)

2nd ROUND

Orlando City - Tony Cascio, M, Colorado Rapids (Colorado protects Marc Burch)

New York City FC - Patrick Mullins, F, New England Revolution (NE protects Steve Neumann)

3rd ROUND

Orlando City - Jalil Anibaba, D, Seattle Sounders (Seattle protects Zach Scott)  The Kansas City Star reports Anibaba has been dealt to Sporting KC as part of the Aurelien Collin trade.

New York City FC - Jason Hernandez, D, San Jose Earthquakes (San Jose protects Ty Harden)

4th ROUND

Orlando City - Pedro Ribeiro, F, Philadelphia Union (Philadelphia protects Michael Lahoud)

New York City FC - Daniel Lovitz, M, Toronto FC (Toronto protects Mark Bloom)

5th ROUND

Orlando City - Lewis Neal, M, D.C. United (D.C. protects Davy Arnaud)

New York City FC - Tony Taylor, F, New England Revolution (Rest of the Revolution's unprotected players are off limits)

6th ROUND

Orlando City - Jairo Arrieta, F, Columbus Crew (Columbus protects Ben Speas)

New York City FC - Mehdi Ballouchy, M, Vancouver Whitecaps (Vancouver protects Nicolas Mezquida)

7th ROUND

Orlando City - Heath Pearce, D, Montreal Impact (Montreal protects Donny Toia)

New York City FC - George John, D, FC Dallas (FCD protects Stephen Keel)

8th ROUND

Orlando City - Danny Mwanga, F, Colorado Rapids (Rest of the Rapids' unprotected players are off limits)

New York City FC - Tommy McNamara, M, D.C. United (Rest of D.C. United's unprotected players off limits)

9th ROUND

Orlando City - Mark Sherrod, F, Houston Dynamo (Houston protects Joe Wills)

New York City FC - Sal Zizzo, M, Sporting Kansas City (Sporting KC protects Jacob Peterson)

10th ROUND

Orlando City - Eric Gehrig, D, Columbus Crew (Rest of the Rapids' unprotected players are off limits)

New York City FC - Chris Wingert, D, Real Salt Lake (end of the draft)

Orlando City SC	New York City FC
Donovan Ricketts	Ned Grabavoy
Tony Cascio	Patrick Mullins
Jalil Anibaba	Jason Hernandez
Pedro Ribeiro	Daniel Lovitz
Lewis Neal	Tony Taylor
Jairo Arrieta	Mehdi Ballouchy
Heath Pearce	George John
Danny Mwanga	Tommy McNamara
Mark Sherrod	Sal Zizzo
Eric Gehrig	Chris Wingert