The Major League Pickleball (MLP) 2025 off season has already seen a ton of drama! Trade Window #1 has seen players and teams making moves.
Trade Window #1 began on Wednesday, January 22nd ends at 10pm EST on Saturday, February 15th.
Teams have until Sunday, February 16th, at 7pm EST to submit their keepers for the year. MLP is planning on announcing the keepers on Tuesday, February 18th.
For a full list of players for every team and my thoughts on what each team will do, check out my player transaction article:
Erik Tice
Let’s get into the action!
February 15 - Premier Level and Challenger Levels - New Jersey 5s and Brooklyn Aces
The New Jersey 5s receive Amanda Hendry and cash considerations, and Brooklyn Aces receive Mari Humberg.
Keeper Costs
- Mari Humberg - $49,000
- Amanda Hendry - $0 - has to be dropped
Analysis
Essentially, New Jersey gets cash for Mari Humberg, who it seems they were going to drop anyway. Brooklyn now has an EXTREMELY good Challenger Level roster in Mari Humberg, Andrea Koop, and Daniel De La Rosa.
This is obviously a very good trade for Brooklyn. It stinks for Mari, getting traded to a Challenger Level team. I think there will be 5-6 lefties available in the upcoming draft, so Brooklyn will look to snag one of them to play with Mari and Daniel.
In my opinion, this is a headscratcher for the 5s. I don't think many teams are going to be dropping top 20 women in this mandated drop period. So they are going to have to have a woman in mind to play mixed doubles with Zane and women's doubles with Anna Leigh. There is going to be slim pickins in the draft for high level women. Beyond the first 3-5 women available, the level is really going to drop off.
I think there were other options out there for the 5s to do, and now they are hoping a surprise woman was dropped to pick up in the draft.
New Rosters
- New Jersey 5s (Premier) - Anna Leigh Waters, Zane Navratil, Will Howells, and Amanda Hendry (drop)
- Brooklyn Aces (Challenger) - Mari Humberg, Andrea Koop, Daniel De La Rosa, and Blaine Hovenier (drop)
Grades
- New Jersey 5s - C-
- Brooklyn - B+
February 15 - Premier Level - 3 Team Trade involving the Hard 8s, Carolina Pickleball Team, and Las Vegas Night Owls
SoCal Hard 8s:
- Receive Judit Castillo from Las Vegas
- Send Yana Newell to Carolina
- Pay cash considerations to Las Vegas
Carolina Pickleball Club:
- Receive Yana Newell from SoCal
- Receive cash considerations from Las Vegas
- Send Brooke Buckner to Las Vegas
Las Vegas Night Owls:
- Receive Brooke Buckner from Carolina
- Send Judit Castillo to SoCal
- Send cash considerations to Carolina
- Receive cash considerations from SoCal
Keeper Costs
- Yana Newell - $0 - has to be dropped
- Judit Castillo - $0
- Brooke Buckner - $5,000
Analysis
Essentially, SoCal gets Judit Castillo, who they can keep for free. They send Yana Newell to Carolina (must drop her because she is not UPA signed). Carolina sends Buckner to Las Vegas (Challenger Level), to play with her normal PPA partner, Zoey Wang. And a bunch of cash got thrown around.
Vegas easily has the best Challenger team right now and it's not close: Pablo Tellez, Brooke Buckner, and Zoey Wang.
SoCal did a good job in getting Judit - she is very underrated IMO, and they couldn't keep Yana.
Carolina made some $$$ to use in the upcoming "free agency draft" thingy.
New Rosters
- Carolina Pickleball Club (Premier) - Ben Johns, Kaitlyn Christian, Collin Johns, and Yana Newell (drop)
- SoCal Hard 8s (Premier) - Erik Lange, Irina Tereschenko, Judit Castillo, Max Manthou (drop)
- Las Vegas Night Owls (Challenger) - Pablo Tellez, Brooke Buckner, Zoey Wang, and Chris Haworth (drop)
Grades
- Las Vegas - A-
- SoCal - B+
- Carolina - Incomplete (I don't know how much money they received)
February 15 - Premier Level - NY Hustlers and Atlanta Bouncers
The Atlanta Bouncers receive Vivian Glozman and the NY Hustlers receive Susannah Barr and cash considerations.
Keeper Costs
- Vivian Glozman - $0
- Susannah Barr - $0 - has to be dropped
Analysis
With hours to go in the trade deadline, NY and Atlanta make a deal! This marks the third trade that NY makes in Trade Window #1. One theme - they all have involved NY getting cash in the deals. They made money bringing IN Vivian Glozman AND shipping her to Atlanta. They also got money from Columbus. If NY was looking to hit the reset button in the off season, they did so masterfully.
For Atlanta, this makes a ton of sense. They can't keep either of their women, so trading for another woman who they CAN keep AND is Premier Level AND costs $0 to keep, is huge. I don't know how much cash is involved, but even if it's the max of $200,000, this trade is good for Atlanta.
New Rosters
- NY Hustlers - Jack Sock, Riley Newman, Lea Jansen, and Susannah Barr (drop)
- Atlanta Bouncers - Jaume Martinez Vich, Todd Fought, Vivian Glozman, and Emily Cederquist (drop)
Grades
- NY Hustlers - A-
- Atlanta Bouncers - A+
February 14 - Premier Level - Columbus Sliders and Phoenix Flames
The Columbus Sliders receive Andrei Daescu and the Phoenix Flames receive Jay Devilliers and cash considerations.
Keeper Costs
- Andrei Daescu - $265,000
- Jay Devilliers - $67,500
Analysis
This is the most puzzling trade in Trade Window #1 for me. Don't get me wrong - Jay is playing great recently off his minor knee surgery. Andrei is playing some of the best pickleball of his career and is in the conversation for a top 5 player, overall.
This trade doesn't make the Phoenix Flames any better. In fact, this trade makes the team worse. Columbus, on the other hand, gets a LOT better with this trade.
Columbus was one of the biggest underperforming teams in 2024, and it seemed like going into the offseason, 2025 was going to be more of the same. The team that finished 2024 was Riley Newman, Jay Devilliers, Callie Smith, and Parris Todd.
New Rosters
- Phoenix Flames - Tyson McGuffin, Meghan Dizon, Jay Devilliers, and Jessie Irvine
- Columbus Sliders - Andrei Daescu, CJ Klinger, Parris Todd, and Callie Smith
Grades
- Phoenix Flames - F
- Columbus Sliders - A
February 14 - Challenger Level - California Black Bears and Las Vegas Night Owls
The California Black Bears receive Rafa Hewett and the Las Vegas Night Owls receive Chris Haworth and cash considerations.
Keeper Costs - Neither player costs anything to keep
Analysis
Chris Haworth is not a UPA signed player and cannot be kept or play MLP in 2025. The Night Owls essentially got cash for Rafa Hewett. Since I am unsure how much cash, I can't properly grade the trade. Rafa spent the majority of 2024 on the Black Bears and is very familiar with the franchise.
Both teams win from this. Las Vegas gets some cash for Rafa and now the Black Bears have three very good Challenger Level players for 2025. I assume the Night Owls just took this cash and used it to buy Pablo Tellez (next trade listed).
At the beginning of the trade window, California had Lina Padegimaite as the only player they were allowed to keep. They made moves, and will have three keepers going into the "free agency" draft.
New Rosters
- California Black Bears - Layne Sleeth, Lina Padigamaite, Rafa Hewett, and Brandon French (French has to be dropped)
- Las Vegas Night Owls - Pablo Tellez, Chris Haworth (drop), Judit Castillo, and Chao Yi "Zoey" Wang
Grades
Large caveat - I am assuming California sent less than $25k to Las Vegas. If so, these are the team's grades:
- California Black Bears - A
- Las Vegas Night Owls - B+
February 14 - Challenger Level - Brooklyn Aces and Las Vegas Night Owls
The Brooklyn Aces receive Blaine Hovenier and cash considerations, and the Las Vegas Night Owls receive Pablo Tellez.
Keeper Costs
- Pablo Tellez - $6,500
- Blaine Hovenier - $0 - must be dropped
Analysis
Las Vegas probably used cash acquired for trading away Rafa Hewett to upgrade their lefty guy from Hewett to Pablo Tellez. Blaine had to be dropped anyway. This makes sense for both franchises.
New Rosters
- Brooklyn Aces - Daniel De La Rosa, Andrea Koop, Amanda Hendry (drop), and Blaine Hovenier (drop)
- Las Vegas Night Owls - Pablo Tellez, Chris Haworth (drop), Judit Castillo, and Chao Yi "Zoey" Wang
Grades
- Brooklyn Aces - B
- Las Vegas Night Owls - A-
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February 13 - Challenger Level - California Black Bears and Brooklyn Aces
The Brooklyn Aces receive Amanda Hendry and cash considerations, and the California Black Bears receive Layne Sleeth.
Keeper Costs - Neither player costs anything to keep
Analysis
Hendry is not a UPA signed player and cannot be kept. The Black Bears liked the upside of Sleeth and know that she will be better than some of the Premier Level women, so they paid cash for her. Essentially, this is just a cash for Sleeth deal because Hendry cannot be kept.
For Brooklyn, I am sure they are good taking the cash, as they also got cash for Pablo. They only need to pick up two players in the Challenger Level "free agency" draft, because they have Koop and De La Rosa.
New Rosters
- California Black Bears - Brandon French (drop), Chris Haworth (drop), Lina Padegimaite, Layne Sleeth
- Brooklyn Aces - Daniel De La Rosa, Amanda Hendry, Andrea Koop, Pablo Tellez
Grades
As I have said before, this one is tough to grade. I assume California paid between $15k-$25k for Layne, and my grades below reflect that. If I am off on that assumption, then the grades below change.
- Brooklyn Aces - B
- California Black Bears - A-
February 11 - Premier Level - Phoenix Flames and Orlando Squeeze
The Orlando Squeeze receive Dylan Frazier and Lacy Schneemann, and the Phoenix Flames receive Tyson McGuffin, Meghan Dizon, and cash considerations.
Keeper Costs
- Dylan Frazier - $177,500
- Lacy Schneemann - $20,500
- Tyson McGuffin - $145,000
- Meghan Dizon - $150,000
Analysis
I actually posted on X about this one:
Good question from Zane - Who won the trade between Orlando and Phoenix?
— Erik Tice (@azetice) February 13, 2025
Phoenix gets:
- Tyson McGuffin
- Meghan Dizon
- $25k
Orlando gets:
- Dylan Frazier
- Lacy Schneemann
Let's look at this from 3 perspectives:
1. Value
This is how much each player costs the team to keep:… https://t.co/IU8fpWTWid
New Rosters
- Orlando Squeeze - Vivienne David, Dylan Frazier, Lacy Schneemann, Federico Staksrud
- Phoenix Flames - Andrei Daescu, Meghan Dizon, Jessie Irvine, Tyson McGuffin
Grades
- Orlando Squeeze - B+
- Phoenix Flames - B
January 27 - Premier Level - D.C. Pickleball Team, Columbus Sliders and NY Hustlers
The D.C. Pickleball Team receive Jackie Kawamoto and the NY Hustlers receive Vivian Glozman and cash considerations.
The Columbus Sliders receive CJ Klinger and the NY Hustlers receive Riley Newman and cash considerations.
Keeper Costs
- Jackie Kawamoto - $142,500
- Vivian Glozman - $0
- CJ Klinger - $1,000
- Riley Newman - $275,000
Analysis
NY made two moves in one day - opting to trade for Riley Newman and Vivian Glozman. From New York's perspective, I believe this to be a salary dump. Jackie was going to cost $142 and Viv G costs nothing to keep. They got cash in both trades, so they are getting money to be ready for the "free agency" draft. I suspect they will not keep any of their players.
D.C. paid for Jackie to pair with Rachel Rohrabacher. Jackie makes sense because she played for D.C. in 2023. From a pure trade perspective, I think this one depends on how much cash is involved.
Columbus is able to pick up CJ Klinger for cash, which is huge. He is only $1,000 to keep and is a very good player. Even if they paid over $100,000 for him, I think this is a huge win for Columbus.
New Rosters
- NY Hustlers - Vivian Glozman, Lea Jansen, Riley Newman, Jack Sock
- D.C. Pickleball Team - Dekel Bar, James Ignatowich, Jackie Kawamoto, Rachel Rohrabacher
- Columbus Sliders - Jay Devilliers, CJ Klinger, Callie Smith, Parris Todd
Grades
- NY Hustlers - A-
- D.C. Pickleball Team - B-
- Columbus Sliders - A+
