Offseason Priorities Part Two: Take My Roster...Please

Looking at our current roster strikes me as a good news/bad news sort of situation. The good news is we have a solid core group of young players (Pontius, Wallace, Jakovic, Tino). The bad news is that a lot of our key players are getting too old. The decisions about the veteran players have got to be the most painful for the club to make. This is especially true for legendary guys like Jaime and Benny.
The first roster decision that the Front Office must make concerns the upcoming Expansion Draft for the Philadelphia Union. The reports that I have read indicate that the protected list (of eleven players) must be submitted the day after MLS Cup and that the actual draft will occur three days later. So who do we protect? Here's my breakdown;

No Brainers
Pontius, Wallace, Jakovic, Namoff (get well soon), Quaranta, Simms, Jacobson (yes, that is a short list)

Questions
Szetela (was his benching because of a issue with Tommy or is he a problem case?)
Burch (I say protect him assuming we play a four man backline, which we should)
McTavish (decent utility player, very cost effective)
Every goalie on the roster (this is not meant as a knock on the guys we have, but I think some other teams goalies will be more attractive to the Union than ours). I am also curious to see if Cronin fits in to the mix.
Vaughn (has room for improvement, but with the right coaching could be a solid player)
Khumalo (some much needed speed, the touch needs a lot of work)

Don't know (have not seen enough)
Habarugira, Allen, DiRaimondo, Barklage

Not Protected
Fred (nice guy, but ineffective and expensive)
Gomez (expensive, can't go 90, a sentimental favorite to be sure)
Emilio (not worth the DP money)
Janicki (no comment necessary)
John (dont think he's be an attractive target for an expansion club)
N'Silu (just not impressed with what I saw from him)
Shipalane (did not see much except the crossover move)

The only two players I have not included are Jaime and Benny. I am absolutely torn on these two. If (and this is a very big if), Jaime is willing to accept a pay cut and a reduced role (think super sub), he should be protected. That is asking a lot from a player with Jaime's resume. I am leaning towards protecting Benny. He has stated that he wants to play next year and, especially with a new coach, he brings a lot more to this team than just his play on the field. With his ankle issues, it would be a major risk for the Union to pick him.

One final topic, the ongoing labor negotiations. How is a front office supposed to make plans for retooling a roster when they dont know what the ground rules are? This is especially true for a team (like ours) that could see significant roster turnover. How many roster spots will there be? How many DP spots will there be? What will the salary cap be? Add to these questions the possibility that there could be a strike or lock out of the players next spring? What does Kevin Payne or Dave Kasper say to some player's agent when they are trying to convince another South American that DCU is the right club for him? Good luck with that, fellas.