Shortly after Union coach and general manager Peter Nowak made the draft announcement at the team's offices in Chester, the Washington Post reported the Union had acquired Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Chris Seitz, 22, in exchange for allocation money and the Union's promise not to select a player from the reigning MLS champions' roster in yesterday's draft.

Seitz played for Nowak on the U.S. under-23 national team that competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Union also drafted a goalie, Brad Knighton, 24, of the New England Revolution.

Allocation money is cash clubs receive from Major League Soccer to acquire players. Expansion teams receive the highest allocation and can use the money or trade it.

In the draft, the Union selected one player from 10 of the 15 MLS rosters. Teams were able to protect 11 players. The average age of the Union's selections is 25.

"We believe they have a lot to prove," Nowak said. "We have a couple of veterans in this player selection, which is going to give us, from the start, a good line for the youngsters we have all around them and are going to provide some leadership from the beginning."

The Union did not select players from Real Salt Lake, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, Kansas City Wizards, or Toronto FC.

"It was not an easy process to select this team," Nowak said. "The war room was really, really hot. . . . At some point, we had some very tense moments, but we all had great ideas, and we were all just trying to find the right formula."

The Union, which is allowed to renegotiate contracts with its drafted players, would not comment on financial details.

However, the combined 2009 base salaries of the 10 drafted players, plus Seitz, was nearly $690,200, according to an MLS player salary survey released Sept. 15 by the Major League Soccer Players Union.

The highest-paid of the expansion draftees in 2009, according to the survey, were Moreno ($132,300), Chivas USA defender Shavar Thomas, 28, ($104,500), and Seattle Sounders defender Sebastian Le Toux, 25, ($100,000).

The lowest-paid were New York Red Bulls forward Nick Zimmerman, 22, a developmental player who made $20,100, and three players who made the league minimum of $34,000 for senior roster players.

An MLS team's salary budget for the 2009 season under the current collective bargaining agreement - which runs through Jan. 31 - was a little more than $2.3 million, according to a league source.

That number can be exceeded, as each team with a 24-player roster is allowed two "designated" players, such as the Galaxy's David Beckham ($5.5 million base in 2009), whose salaries may fall partially outside of the salary budget.

Union Aquisitions

This is the roster of the Philadelphia Union so far:

Acquired by draft

Player                Age    Position          Former team

Brad Knighton          24       G        New England Revolution

David Myrie          21       D                    Chicago Fire

Shavar Thomas       28       D                    Chivas USA

Jordan Harvey         25       D              Colorado Rapids

Shea Salinas          23       M          San Jose Earthquakes

Stefani Miglioranzi   32       M             Los Angeles Galaxy

Andrew Jacobson    24       M                    D.C. United

Nick Zimmerman       22       F             New York Red Bulls

Alejandro Moreno      30       F                 Columbus Crew

Sebastian Le Toux   25      F              Seattle Sounders

Acquired by trade

Chris Seitz             22       G                 Real Salt Lake