| 1997 MLS Expansion Draft | |
| Date: | November 6, 1997 |
| Expansion Teams: | Chicago Fire Miami Fusion F.C. |
| Expansion Season: | 1998 |
| Next: | 2004 |
The 1997 MLS Expansion Draft was held November 6, 1997. Two teams participated, the Chicago Fire and Miami Fusion F.C., both expansion Major League Soccer clubs starting play in the 1998 season.
Each team in the league made ten players, including at least one foreign player, available for the Fire and Fusion to select. From this pool of available players, the two teams then selected twelve players. Although Paul Caligiuri of the Los Angeles Galaxy was listed as exposed, he had recently won a lawsuit against the league which forced the league to place him with the Galaxy as his original contract with the league had stipulated. Consequently, he was not available for selection. The Fire won the first selection through a coin toss.[1] The draft was held via conference call.[2]
| Pick | Selecting Team | Player | Position | Previous Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D | Los Angeles Galaxy | |||
| 2 | D/M | D.C. United | |||
| 3 | GK | Los Angeles Galaxy | |||
| 4 | M | D.C. United | |||
| 5 | M | MetroStars | |||
| 6 | D/M | D.C. United | |||
| 7 | M | Columbus Crew | |||
| 8 | D | Dallas Burn | |||
| 9 | M | Columbus Crew | |||
| 10 | GK | Dallas Burn | |||
| 11 | GK | MetroStars | |||
| 12 | M | Tampa Bay Mutiny | |||
| 13 | D | New England Revolution | |||
| 14 | D | Tampa Bay Mutiny | |||
| 15 | M | Kansas City Wizards | |||
| 16 | D | San Jose Clash | |||
| 17 | D | MetroStars | |||
| 18 | D | Colorado Rapids | |||
| 19 | D | Colorado Rapids | |||
| 20 | GK | Tampa Bay Mutiny | |||
| 21 | F | Columbus Crew | |||
| 22 | D | Dallas Burn | |||
| 23 | F | Colorado Rapids | |||
| 24 | F | Los Angeles Galaxy |
| Exposed | Protected | |
|---|---|---|
| Rafael Amaya (M) | Marcelo Balboa (D) | |
| Brian Bates (D) | Paul Bravo (M) | |
| Tote Castaneda (M) | Marcus Hahnemann (GK) | |
| Paul Grafer (GK) | Wolde Harris (F) | |
| Sean Henderson (M) | Chris Henderson (M) | |
| Tahj Jakins (D) | David Patiño (M) | |
| Matt Kmosko (D) | Ross Paule (M) | |
| Chris Martinez (D) | Adrián Paz (F) | |
| Steve Patterson (F) | Steve Trittschuh (D) | |
| Steve Rammel (F) | Peter Vermes (D) | |
| Joey DiGiamarino (M) |
| Exposed | Protected | |
|---|---|---|
| Marcelo Carrera (F) | Thomas Dooley (D/M) | |
| Mike Clark (D) | Ansil Elcock (D/M) | |
| Jason Farrell (M) | Brad Friedel (GK) | |
| Janusz Michallik (D) | Doctor Khumalo (M) | |
| Sergio Miguez (D) | Frank Klopas (F) | |
| Jorge Salcedo (M) | Mike Lapper (D/M) | |
| Rob Smith (M) | Brian Maisonneuve (M) | |
| Billy Thompson (F) | Brian McBride (F) | |
| A.J. Wood (F) | Robert Warzycha (M) | |
| David Winner (GK) | Todd Yeagley (D/M) | |
| Ubusuku Abukusumo (D/M) |
| Exposed | Protected | |
|---|---|---|
| Scott Garlick (GK) | Jeff Agoos (D) | |
| Ben Iroha (D/M) | Raúl Díaz Arce (F) | |
| Brian Kamler (M) | Marco Etcheverry (F) | |
| Kris Kelderman (D) | Mario Gori (D) | |
| Jesse Marsch (M) | John Harkes (M) | |
| Clint Peay (D) | Carlos Llamosa (D) | |
| John Maessner (M) | Jaime Moreno (F) | |
| Tom Presthus (GK) | Eddie Pope (D) | |
| Mark Simpson (GK) | Tony Sanneh (M) | |
| David Vaudreuil (D) | Richie Williams (M) | |
| Roy Wegerle (F) |
| Exposed | Protected | |
|---|---|---|
| Jeff Cassar (GK) | Damian (F) | |
| Eric Dade (D) | Mark Dodd (GK) | |
| Richard Farrer (F) | Ted Eck (M/F) | |
| Jorge Flores (M) | Gerell Elliott (M/F) | |
| Brian Haynes (F) | Jason Kreis (M) | |
| Garth Lagerwey (GK) | Brandon Pollard (D) | |
| Joey Martinez (D) | Jorge Rodríguez (D) | |
| Daniel Peinado (M) | Mark Santel (D/M) | |
| Tom Soehn (D) | Alain Sutter (M) | |
| Temoc Suarez (F) | Dante Washington (F) | |
| Wade Webber (D) | Juan Sastoque (F) |
| Exposed | Protected | |
|---|---|---|
| Jake Dancy (D) | Mike Ammann (GK) | |
| John DeBrito (F) | Sean Bowers (D) | |
| Diego Gutierrez (D/M) | Mark Chung (M) | |
| Brian Johnson (M) | Mo Johnston (M/F) | |
| Steve Pittman (D) | Pete Marino (F) | |
| Edmundo Rodriguez (D) | Matt McKeon (D) | |
| Dionysius Sebwe (D) | Uche Okafor (D) | |
| Chris Snitko (GK) | Preki (M) | |
| Scott Uderitz (D) | Vitalis Takawira (F) | |
| Paul Wright (M/F) | Ryan Tinsley (M) | |
| Nino Da Silva (M) |
| Exposed | Protected | |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Caligiuri (D) | Chris Armas (M) | |
| Ezra Hendrickson (D) | Dan Calichman (D) | |
| Kevin Hartman (GK) | Jorge Campos (GK) | |
| Guillermo Jara (F) | Mauricio Cienfuegos (M) | |
| Steve Jolley (M) | Robin Fraser (D) | |
| Harut Karapetyan (F) | Eduardo Hurtado (F) | |
| Peter Lak (D) | Cobi Jones (M) | |
| Gerardo Laterza (M) | Martín Machón (M) | |
| Danny Pena (D) | Greg Vanney (M) | |
| Bryan Taylor (F) | Welton (F) | |
| Jose Vasquez (D) | Jose Botello (F) |
| Exposed | Protected | |
|---|---|---|
| Brian Bliss (D) | Shaun Bartlett (F) | |
| Braeden Cloutier (M) | Antony de Ávila (F) | |
| Cristian da Silva (D) | Rhett Harty (D) | |
| Matt Knowles (D) | Miles Joseph (F) | |
| Manny Lagos (M) | Brian Kelly (M) | |
| Andrew Lewis (D) | Tony Meola (GK) | |
| Joao Luiz (D) | Tab Ramos (M) | |
| Zach Thornton (GK) | Giovanni Savarese (F) | |
| Jeff Zaun (D) | Mark Semioli (D) | |
| Kerry Zavagnin (D) | Mike Sorber (M) | |
| Carlos Parra (M) |
| Exposed | Protected | |
|---|---|---|
| Jeff Causey (GK) | Imad Baba (M) | |
| Scott Coufal (GK) | Mike Burns (D/M) | |
| Giuseppe Galderisi (F) | Ted Chronopoulos (D/M) | |
| Erik Imler (D) | Alejandro Farias (M) | |
| Rob Jachym (F) | Paul Keegan (F) | |
| John Kerr (M) | Alexi Lalas (D) | |
| Steve Klein (M) | Ivan McKinley (M) | |
| Alberto Naveda (M/F) | Joe-Max Moore (M) | |
| Francis Okaroh (D) | Leonardo Squadrone (D) | |
| Darren Sawatzky (M/F) | Walter Zenga (GK) | |
| Evans Wise (M) | Brian Dunseth (D) |
| Exposed | Protected | |
|---|---|---|
| Ramiro Corrales (D) | Jeff Baicher (F) | |
| Zico (M) | Ronald Cerritos (M/F) | |
| Oscar Draguicevich (D) | Curt Onalfo (D) | |
| Dominic Kinnear (M) | John Doyle (D) | |
| Tim Martin (D) | Michael Emenalo (D) | |
| Shawn Medved (M) | David Kramer (GK) | |
| Michael Emenalo (D) | Eddie Lewis (M) | |
| Dave Salzwedel (GK) | Lawrence Lozzano (F) | |
| Christopher Sullivan (M/F) | Eric Wynalda (F) | |
| István Urbányi (M) | Troy Dayak (D) | |
| Esmundo Rodriguez (M) |
| Exposed | Protected | |
|---|---|---|
| Derek Backman (M) | Mike Duhaney (D) | |
| Scott Budnick (GK) | Gilmar (M/F) | |
| Chiquinho Conde (F) | Frankie Hejduk (D) | |
| Mark Dougherty (GK) | Roy Lassiter (F) | |
| Marco Ferruzzi (M) | Steve Ralston (M) | |
| Adam Frye (D) | Carlos Valderrama (M) | |
| Sam George (M) | Martín Vásquez (M) | |
| Bill Harte (D) | Frank Yallop (D) | |
| Cle Kooiman (D) | Joao Batista (M) | |
| Alan Prampin (F) | Jacek Ziober (F) | |
| Musa Shannon (M/F) | Eric Quill (F) | |
| Nelson Vargas (M) |