Per the Twitter feed of ubiquitous reporter Caitlin Murray, Portland Timbers may have excused themselves from the 2018 MLS Expansion Draft, thanks to a mid-year deal with FC Cincinnati:
The #MLS expansion draft is tomorrow and my understanding is Cincinnati has agreed not to pick any Timbers players as part of the July trade for Fanendo Adi. #RCTID
— Caitlin Murray (@caitlinmurr) December 10, 2018
Adi is (still) FC Cincinnati’s biggest-name signing to date. He was signed in July 2018 to a Designated Player contract, in a deal that cost FCC close to $1 million in assorted MLS allocation monies.