MLP’s Final Waiver Wire: Which Teams Will Make Last-Minute Changes?

The final MLP Waiver Wire period will take place on Wednesday, October 2nd, and Thursday, October 3rd.

Note: Originally, a fourth waiver period was scheduled after the Miami event, but upon review, it didn’t make sense for teams in the playoffs to switch their rosters so late in the season. This will now be the third and final waiver period of 2024.

The trade deadline on Sunday, September 29th, saw a flurry of activity. Be sure to check out the recap of all the transactions and my grades for each team at the deadline.

I believe this waiver period will be much quieter than the previous two, as the season is nearing its conclusion. The top teams in Challenger likely won’t want to change their rosters, and it’s tough for Premier teams to find viable free agents.

Details about the waiver wire

Premier Level: Begins Wednesday at noon ET. Each team will have a maximum of 15 minutes on the clock. There are two rounds of waivers.

Challenger Level: Begins Thursday at noon ET. Each team will have a maximum of 15 minutes on the clock. There are two rounds of waivers.

Waiver Wire Order

For the Premier Level:

1. Utah
2. Columbus
3. Arizona
4. Orlando
5. Los Angeles
6. Carolina
7. New York
8. D.C.
9. Texas
10. Dallas
11. St. Louis
12. New Jersey

For the Challenger Level:

1. California
2. Frisco
3. Florida
4. Las Vegas
5. Brooklyn
6. Bay Area
7. Atlanta
8. Chicago
9. SoCal
10. Miami

Best Available Players by Gender

Men

• Anderson Scarpa: Played for the Las Vegas Night Owls for most of the season.
• Mo Alhouni: Played for the Las Vegas Night Owls for most of the season.
• Patrick Kawka: Played for Bay Area in the first event and was dropped.
• Roscoe Bellamy: Played for Miami in the first two events and was dropped.
• Grayson Goldin: Played for Bay Area in the Mid-Season Tournament.
• Yates Johnson: Played for Florida Smash in multiple events and was dropped.
• AJ Koller: Played for AZ Drive in the Mid-Season Tournament.
• Robert Slutsky: Had some results in both singles and men’s doubles on the PPA Tour.
• Michael Loyd: Subbed for Frisco in MLP Virginia Beach for an injured John Cincola.

Women

• Genie Erokhina: Played for Atlanta Bouncers and California Black Bears this year; will be dropped by Utah during the waiver period.
• Rachel Rettger: Played for Bay Area in the first event and was dropped.
• Christine Maddox: Played for SoCal Hard Eights in the first two events and was dropped.
• Liz Truluck: Drafted to MLP Australia; has good results in both gender doubles and singles on the PPA Tour.
• Angie Walker: Played for Atlanta Bouncers for an extended period this year.
• Michelle Esquivel: Played for California Black Bears in the Mid-Season Tournament.
• Hannah Blatt: An up-and-coming player with good singles wins who is improving every day.
• Genie Bouchard: Has shown steady improvement with each event.

Here are the teams I believe may be considering roster changes during the final waiver period.

Premier Level

It’s a bit unusual that three Premier Level teams might be interested in the waiver period, but there are some extenuating injury and roster circumstances.

Columbus Sliders: The Sliders are without Jay Devilliers for the rest of the season. With only five matches left at MLP Las Vegas and no chance of making the playoffs, these matches are inconsequential. Columbus has two options:

• Purchase a player on loan from a Challenger team not competing in MLP Las Vegas, OR
• Pick up a player in the Waiver Wire and place Jay on IR.

I don’t see Columbus spending money to borrow a player for five relatively meaningless matches, especially with their newly revamped roster post-trade deadline.

Prediction: Columbus picks up AJ Koller for the final event at MLP Las Vegas.

LA Mad Drops: The Mad Drops are in a tough spot with Thomas Wilson’s medical situation.

First and foremost, everyone in pickleball is wishing the best for Thomas. His health is the top priority, and pickleball is secondary.

Back to the game—Thomas hasn’t played in nearly four months. LA has 11 matches remaining between MLP Vegas and MLP Miami and needs to average 2.1 points per match to make the playoffs, a tall order.

If Thomas remains on IR (there has been no indication otherwise), the Mad Drops could look to pick up a player for the last two events.

Prediction: LA picks up Yates Johnson (Hunter’s twin brother) for the last two events.

Utah Black Diamonds: The Black Diamonds are planning to waive Genie Erokhina, making her available for all Premier and Challenger teams during the Waiver Wire period.

UBD will miss Callie Smith. Good luck in Columbus. Utah will pick up a player off the waiver wire for our last event in 2024 and will look to add a new female to the roster next season.

Utah is completely out of playoff contention with just five matches left in Las Vegas. They are in a similar position as Columbus but need a woman player. I believe they will look for a strong local Utah player or an up-and-comer who hasn’t yet competed on the MLP stage.

Prediction: Utah picks up Rachel Rettger or Genie Bouchard.

Challenger Level

I’m fairly confident that the following teams will stay put: Miami Pickleball Club, Chicago Slice, SoCal Hard Eights, Bay Area Breakers, and Brooklyn Aces.

Teams that might consider one (or two) last roster changes include:

California Black Bears: The Black Bears are out of contention with only three matches remaining. Chris Haworth performed well in Virginia Beach, so I expect them to keep him. However, Brandon French could be on the move—not due to poor performance, but simply to give another up-and-comer a chance before 2025.

Prediction: The Black Bears pick up Grayson Goldin, a good friend of Chris Haworth, for the final event in Las Vegas.

Frisco Pandas: The Pandas have a situation with John Cincola. After a poor showing at MLP New York, he was subbed out for Michael Loyd in MLP Virginia Beach. However, Cincola is competing in PPA Virginia Beach this week, so his health remains unclear.

Frisco is essentially out of playoff contention with just four matches remaining.

Prediction: Frisco keeps John Cincola and looks to retain him for 2025.

Florida Smash: Currently in eighth place, the Smash are on the outside looking in. They picked up Gecheva in the last Waiver Wire period, and while she has played well overall, her Dreambreaker results (22-34, 39% win rate) have been underwhelming.

The Smash could consider one more roster change before their final four matches.

Prediction: Florida Smash pick up Genie Erokhina.

Las Vegas Night Owls: The Night Owls are in trouble. Their women are performing well, but the men? 0-7 in men’s doubles at MLP Virginia Beach. Rafa and Blaine combined for a 14-34 record (29% win rate) and went 23-24 in Dreambreakers.

Currently in seventh place, the Night Owls likely need six points from their final three matches to make the playoffs. I don’t see them achieving that with their current roster. However, ego will prevent them from picking up Alhouni or Scarpa again.

They can keep Rafa for next year but not Hovenier.

Prediction: The Night Owls drop Hovenier and pick up Patrick Kawka.

Atlanta Bouncers: The Bouncers are the only team currently in playoff position on this list. Going into MLP Virginia Beach, I wouldn’t have expected to see them here. However, Susannah Barr and Emily Cederquist went 0-6 in women’s doubles and ranked 27th and 34th in the event.

Despite this, I don’t think the Bouncers want to make a change with five regular season matches left. Management is motivated to reach the Premier Level and wants to win, but Barr and Cederquist have had success in the past.

Prediction: The Bouncers stay put, trusting that Cederquist and Barr will find their form.