Sounders poised to fill out roster

Seattle Sounders FC is a day away from adding 10 players to its roster, as general manager Adrian Hanauer and technical director Chris Henderson prepare to select more players for the fledgling franchise Wednesday morning in the Major League Soccer expansion draft.

The team, which has four players under contract, has its pick of one player each from 10 of the 14 MLS teams. Each team was required to submit a list of 11 protected players that are off-limits; the rest are fair game.

The Sounders already have veterans Kasey Keller, a goalkeeper, and midfielder Freddie Ljungberg, as well as promising young midfielders Sebastien Le Toux and Sanna Nyassi. So Hanauer and Henderson could be looking for forwards and defenders with a mix of experience.

One person of interest is 19-year-old midfielder Jorge Flores of Chivas USA, who won a spot on the team through open tryouts in 2007 and scored three goals in 11 games in 2008. Chivas USA's Ante Razov, a 34-year-old forward and U.S. national team veteran, is also available. Razov is among the top goal-scorers in MLS history.

Preston Burpo, a former United Soccer Leagues Seattle Sounders goalkeeper, now with the Colorado Rapids, is unprotected. Burpo platooned in goal and had three shutouts in 13 games.

A pair of midfielder-forwards from the Columbus Crew, Eddie Gaven and Brad Evans, combined to start 40 regular-season games for the 2008 MLS champion team, and are in their early 20s. Gaven was 16 when he debuted in 2003 for the MetroStars of MLS (now the New York Red Bulls).

"We may look at a certain guy and find that his character and his passion and his drive and his work ethic will make him improve as a player faster than someone else," Hanauer said on the team's Web site. "We're not going off of gut; I would call that due diligence and information. Some things are not quantifiable."

Thirty-two-year-old defender Duilio Davino, a veteran of the Mexican national team, was left unprotected by FC Dallas. So was Nik Besagno of Real Salt Lake, a Maple Valley product Hanauer knows well after he was loaned to the USL Sounders earlier this year.

Salary-cap concerns could factor into Seattle's decisions, though it can renegotiate contracts. Midfielder Marcelo Gallardo, his team's first-ever designated player, was left unprotected by D.C. United after being slowed by injury this season. Gallardo made $1.87 million in 2008.

Sounders FC has the option to draft a player, then trade that player back to his team in exchange for draft choices.

Nate Jaqua, a 6-foot-3 forward from Eugene, is available from the Houston Dynamo. He started 11 games in 2008. There is talk that a deal between Seattle and Houston has been worked out so that Jaqua was left unprotected, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Former MLS Most Valuable Player Carlos Ruiz, a 30-year-old forward for Toronto FC, is available.

In 2009, MLS teams are allowed 24 players.

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com