Toronto FC's Steven CaldwellThe Canadian Press
Toronto FC has left captain Seven Caldwell and three other starters unprotected for Wednesday's MLS expansion draft.
Caldwell, the leader of Toronto's defence, was made available to Orlando City SC and New York City FC along with fullback Mark Bloom, Brazilian midfielder Jackson and Ghanaian midfielder-forward Dominic Oduro.
MLS teams were allowed to protect 11 players, with Homegrown players also exempt.
Orlando and New York City will each select 10 players from the 18 other MLS clubs.
A club can lose no more than two players in the draft. If a team has a player claimed, it can protect an additional player.
Toronto is no doubt hoping that the age and salary of Caldwell will deter the two expansion teams. The 34-year-old Scot's salary was listed at US$364,166 last season.
But the protected lists do not always tell the whole story. Often deals are made with expansion teams to return talent.
Veteran Canadian international Dwayne De Rosario, whose 2015 option was not picked up, is also available on Toronto's unprotected list. Bloom, a bargain starter at $48,825, may get some attention Wednesday along with promising young TFC winger Daniel Lovitz.
Montreal didn't protect Canadian international midfielder Issey Nakajima-Farran, who criticized the team for being too predictable in post-season remarks, and defender Heath Pearce, who started 20 regular-season games in 2014.
The Impact have said they would not sign 35-year-old defender Matteo Ferrari and 33-year-old goalie Troy Perkins, who are both unprotected.
Montreal did protect 35-year-old Canadian midfielder Patrice Bernier, who is still in contract talks with the club.
The Whitecaps' unprotected list includes Mamadou Diouf, Sebastian Fernandez, Gabriel Mezquida, Carlyle Mitchell, Andy O'Brien, and Mauro Rosales. The club said it "remains in contact" with O'Brien about a possible return. Rosales is eligible for the MLS re-entry process which starts Friday. Vancouver said Diouf will be invited to training camp if he clears Wednesday's waiver draft.
The Whitecaps also shipped out Omar Salgado and made Matias Laba's loan deal permanent. Vancouver dealt Salgado to New York City FC for future considerations, with New York sending the 21-year-forward to an unidentified international club pending agreement of personal terms and a physical.
The first overall pick in the 2011 draft, Salgado had a rocky road in Vancouver that seemed to end with a training ground incident in October the last straw.
He said his goodbyes via social media a month ago.
"Vancouver, its been unreal. Thank you to the club, the fans, and the city for making this my home for the past 4 years."
Salgado, who had a brief stint with Mexico's Tigres club this season, scored one goal in 29 career appearances with the Whitecaps.
"Omar is a good player with potential. However, both the club and Omar agreed that now is the right time to go in another direction and we wish him all the best," Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson said in a statement.
The move was made so Vancouver could get something for Salgado, rather than losing him in the expansion draft or having to protect him, thus making another player available.
Toronto FC got money from Vancouver to complete the Laba transaction. The stylish Argentine midfielder was loaned to Vancouver in February when Toronto ran out of space for designated players. It was expected he would remain on the West Coast, with Toronto trying to see the best of the deal.
"Finalizing terms and acquiring funds will assist us as we continue with our strategic planning at both the youth– and first-team levels," Toronto GM Tim Bezbatchenko said in a statement. "This could be used to help the financing of current or future designated players as well as other initiatives to improve our club."
With a question mark over the future of English striker Jermain Defoe, Toronto could be in the market for a third DP sooner than later.
The Whitecaps re-signed striker Caleb Clarke and exercised the 2015 contract options on nine players.
The New York Red Bulls left unprotected designated players Tim Cahill and Thierry Henry, the French star who said recently he was leaving MLS. The 35-year-old Cahill made $3.65-million last season.
Portland made veteran goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts ($260,000) available and Seattle opted not to protect veteran striker Kenny Cooper ($265,625). New England has dangled 19-year-old Uruguayan forward Diego Fagundez.
D.C. United made available Canadian international defender Nana Attakora and midfielder Kyle Porter, as well as former Montreal Impact midfielder Davy Arnaud.