On Thursday, LA Galaxy announced the trade of 29-year-old center back Derrick Williams to D.C. United for $180,000 in 2024 General Allocation Money (GAM). The Irish defender entered the final guaranteed year of his LA Galaxy contract in 2022.
“Derrick has been an important member of the team over these past two seasons, and we’d like to thank him for his contributions and wish him and his family all the best moving forward,” said LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney. “The move provides the club roster and budget flexibility moving into a new season.”
The Galaxy frees up $821,458 of his Guaranteed Compensation to use on a different player. Williams had begun the season as a starter but lost his spot as Vanney preferred the duo of Sega Coulibaly and Martín Cáceres. Although he was a great third-choice center back, his hard hit on the cap may have convinced the Galaxy to move on.
In two seasons with the LA Galaxy, Williams logged four assists in 51 games played (46 starts) across all competitions. One of his assists was a slide tackle which led to Chicharito scoring the first goal of El Trafico in 2021.
Williams's last appearance was in a cameo during the Galaxy’s playoff loss to LAFC in the 2022 Western Conference Semifinals.
Expansion Draft List
With St. Louis City SC entering the league in 2023, MLS will hold its Expansion Draft on Nov. 11. St. Louis may select up to five players from the eligible pool of players, claiming only a single player from any one club. Each MLS club will have 12 players protected, while the rest are eligible for selection. Once one player is selected from a club’s unprotected roster, that club is removed from the remainder of the Expansion Draft and may not have a second player selected.
Here are the LA Galaxy players left unprotected, who can be selected by St. Louis SC:
- Jonathan Klinsmann (G)
- Richard Sanchez (G)
- Martín Cáceres (D)
- Nick DePuy (D)
- Chase Gasper (D)
- Kelvin Leerdam (D)
- Jorge Villafaña (D)
- Eriq Zavaleta (D)
- Daniel Aguirre (M)
- Carlos Harvey (M)
- Sacha Kljestan (M)
- Victor Vazquez (M)
- Farai Mutatu (F)
- Douglas Costa (F)
Douglas Costa is a notable player on this list. He was brought in as Designated Player at the start of the 2022 season. He scored four goals last season and recorded two assists in 27 games played. Martín Cáceres, Eriq Zavaleta, Chase Gasper, and Kelvin Leerdam were acquired during the 2022 season; all except Cáceres are backup players on the roster.
Daniel Aguirre, Carlos Harvey, and Richard Sanchez all primarily played last season for the Galaxy’s USL affiliate, LA Galaxy 2, in 2022. Farai Mutatu was the Galaxy’s first-round pick in last season's MLS SuperDraft.
The MLS expansion draft take place Friday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. ET. The broadcast of the draft will be on St. Louis City SC's YouTube page and simulcast nationally on MLSsoccer.com, the MLS app, as well as MLS's YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch.