Bulls Abroad: Andrew Jean-Baptiste named to Haiti's preliminary squad for Gold Cup 2015

The New York Red Bulls' Andrew Jean-Baptiste has been named to Haiti's 35-man preliminary squad for the 2015 Gold Cup.

The player has yet to make a first team appearance for RBNY this season. However, with Kemar Lawrence, Karl Ouimette and Roy Miller all potential Gold Cup absentees, AJB's best chance of MLS minutes seemed likely to be those moments when players higher on the depth chart were summoned for international duty. He too may now be part of the Bulls Abroad contingent in July.

If selected to Haiti's 23-man squad for the tournament, AJB would likely only be unavailable to RBNY for a handful of MLS games: Les Grenadiers are in a tough group, including USMNT, Panama and Honduras. As such, they are not favorites to progress to the knockout rounds of the tournament.

The Red Bulls have two scheduled games that clash with the Gold Cup group stage: the July 4 match against Columbus Crew (Gold Cup starts on July 7; players will certainly be with their national teams) and the July 11 fixture against New England Revolution. Timing of national team camps prior to the tournament may also affect player availability for the June 28 game against NYC FC. And possibly the Jun 24 fixture against Real Salt Lake.

Inconvenience for RBNY aside, the call-up is of course an honor for Jean-Baptiste, not least because he has not been playing in MLS at all recently. The 22-year-old has made appearances for the US Under-18 Men's National Team, but has no senior international caps for either USA or Haiti. If selected to the final 23, he would potentially be starting a senior international career as a New York Red Bull: a compliment both to him and to his club.

Congrats on the (preliminary) call-up, AJB!

Haiti list 35 players #GoldCup2015 pic.twitter.com/Jqc5oA9IbX

— Haiti Futbol (@HaitiFutbol) June 5, 2015