Sporting Kansas City’s Seth Sinovic, Benny Feilhaber set for free agency
With MLS free agency set to begin Monday, Sporting Kansas City has declined contract options for three players. And another three, including Krisztian Nemeth, are also now out of contract with the club.
Kansas City declined options for defender Seth Sinovic, who has spent nine years with the team, as well as midfielders Benny Feilhaber and Gedion Zelalem.
Sporting KC has also allowed the contracts of forward Nemeth and defenders Nico Hasler and Rodney Wallace to expire.
Kansas City exercised contract options for goalkeeper Eric Dick, defender Graham Smith and forwards Gerso Fernandes, Erik Hurtado and Daniel Salloi for the 2020 season.
Sinovic, 32, headlines the list of players set to head to free agency. Featuring 257 times for Sporting KC, the product of Rockhurst High in Kansas City was a club stalwart through its 2013 MLS Cup victory and 2015 and 2017 U.S. Open Cups. But Sinovic saw decreased action in the latter half of the 2019 season following the summer signing of Luis Martins.
Feilhaber’s second stint in Kansas City also looks to be coming to a close. He rejoined the club on May 9, brought in from the Colorado Rapids after Wallace suffered a season-ending injury: a hip problem that sidelined him for the second half of the season.
Because Feilhaber was a replacement following another player’s season-ending injury, Kansas City only had to pay $250,000 of his contract for the 2019 season. The Rapids picked up the remaining $163,400 of his base salary.
Zelalem disappointed in his sole season in Kansas City after arriving from Arsenal’s youth academy in England. The 22-year-old made nine appearances for Kansas City, registering no goals or assists.
Sporting KC is also set to let go of Hasler, Wallace and Nemeth. All three will be eligible for the MLS Re-Entry Draft on Nov. 26 and Dec. 3, as will Feilhaber and Sinovic.
The MLS Re-Entry Draft allows teams to select players who have not agreed to a new contract with their current club, with the team lowest in the standings of the previous season picking first.
Sporting KC will have the third pick but will not be allowed to select its own draft-eligible players until, and if, all other clubs have declined to select them by the end of the second round on Dec. 3.
Zelalem will enter the end-of-year waivers process, which is reserved for players not eligible for the Re-Entry Draft. Kansas City will once again have the third pick in that draft, and any players not selected following the process on Nov. 26 will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Sporting KC currently has 21 players under contract for the 2020 season. Here is that list.
Goalkeepers (2): Eric Dick, Tim Melia
Defenders (7): Botond Barath, Matt Besler, Andreu Fontas, Jaylin Lindsey, Luis Martins, Graham Smith, Graham Zusi
Midfielders (7): Gianluca Busio, Cameron Duke, Roger Espinoza, Felipe Gutierrez, Felipe Hernandez, Ilie Sanchez, Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal
Forwards (5): Gerso Fernandes, Tyler Freeman, Erik Hurtado, Johnny Russell, Daniel Salloi
This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 9:50 AM with the headline "Sporting Kansas City’s Seth Sinovic, Benny Feilhaber set for free agency."