FC Dallas submitted their expansion list yesterday and much to the surprise of most observers, Dax McCarty was left exposed by the club. FC Dallas Technical Director Barry Gorman spoke today about the club's process. "Our thinking during the playoffs was let’s not cloud any issues and have the players focus entirely on the game. There were about 15-16 players that we would have loved to have protected and it was very frustrating," Gorman said. "But a lot of thought goes into it. It’s got to be by position, by age, by salary and who we think somebody might take. So, Dax wasn’t the only one that we had to leave unprotected. It was things that were forced on us by the situation, the rules and regulations at this time.”

"We met with Dax today because we really didn’t have a chance to meet with the players before we got the list in with the game being so late on Sunday night," Gorman explained, adding that McCarty wasn't phased. "Dax is a pro and he understands the situation. He understands what’s going on. He has his contract and his contract is what it is for next year. That’s not an issue. He understands there are two new teams coming in and they get pickings. We had to protect three internationals. We explained to him all the ins and outs of the makeup of the whole situation and he understands. He handled it like a pro and a player beyond his years.”

Instead of protecting McCarty, FC Dallas protected rookie non-starters Eric Alexander and Zach Loyd Alexander in particular was drawing interest around the league. “Again, that’s one of the ones that you look at. We had a lot of inquiries about Eric Alexander," Gorman admitted. "He has shown a lot of promise and he came on very well. At his numbers, he’s very attractive to an awful lot of teams. We knew that if we left an Eric Alexander unprotected and if we left a Zach Loyd unprotected at their numbers they’d be gobbled up. It’s not just a matter of the two expansion teams because we know they’re doing deals with other clubs.”

There is a window in which players can be moved prior to the expansion draft. Exposed players are sometimes traded with a caveat that no further players are taken from a club. McCarty could be one of those players, but Gorman says lots of things get discussed. "There’s always that possibility. We’ve been in touch with one of the expansion clubs today and talking about different things. They approach us and say we’re interested in x, y, and z and ask if we’re interested in moving any of these guys? They know they’re in a position of holding a lot of cards. There’s a lot of wheeling and dealing done. You’ll see players go somewhere and then they’ll be traded to somebody else.”

Either way tomorrow should be an interesting one for FC Dallas who may lose a terrific young play in the form of Dax McCarty to another team.