Texas Ranchers Make Bold Move as Major League Pickleball Waiver Period gets Underway

Thursday marks the first Waiver Wire period of 2024 in Major League Pickleball.

The Premier Level waiver wire period is Thursday and Friday will be the Challenger Level.

It's been a busy Thursday thus far ...

With the first selection

The Texas Ranchers moved up to the first waiver wire position Thursday morning and clearly had a plan in mind.

They not only maneuvered their roster to make room, but they also sent $100,000 to the Utah Black Diamonds for the top waiver spot.

And with that first selection, the Ranchers added Quang Duong to the squad.

Prior to the waiver wire period kicking off, Major League Pickleball announced three trades:

Trade No. 1

Bay Area Breakers (Challenger Level) trade Vivian Glozman to the D.C. Pickleball Team (Premier Level) for Allyce Jones and cash considerations

Why this trade makes sense for Bay Area: The Breakers are in first place in the Challenger Level and Glozman is a big reason for that. Owner Ritchie Tuazon is very close with Glozman and while he obviously wanted her on his team, he is looking out for her best interests as well by trading her to a very good Premier Level team.

Why this trade makes sense for D.C.: D.C. is in fifth place in the Premier Level and looking very solid. The women's doubles team was the only area where they needed to improve. D.C. gets an upgrade in Glozman in every facet of the game – mixed, women's, and singles.

Winner(s) of this trade: Vivian Glozman, D.C. Pickleball Team, Bay Area Breakers.

Loser(s) of this trade: Allyce Jones goes from Premier to Challenger Level.

Trade No. 2

The Brooklyn Aces (Challenger Level) trade Martin Emmrich and cash considerations to the Texas Ranchers (Premier Level) for Pablo Tellez

Trade No. 3

The Texas Ranchers (Premier Level) trade their Waiver Wire pick (Round 1, Pick 7) and cash considerations to the Utah Black Diamonds (Premier Level) for their Waiver Wire pick (Round 1, Pick 1)

I am considering these two trades one big trade, and here is why: Essentially, the Texas Ranchers wanted to replace Pablo Tellez with Quang Duong.

Instead of dropping Pablo, they worked the GM phone lines and found a partner who wanted Tellez in the Brooklyn Aces. Pablo is an upgrade over Martin Emmrich.

Texas also paid cash for the Black Diamond's first overall slot, because they plan to drop Martin Emmrich and pick up Quang Duong.

Why this trade makes sense for Brooklyn: The Aces get arguably the best lefty in the game and only had to pay some cash for him. Pablo paired with Daniel De La Rosa in Challenger is going to be a scary team.

Why this trade makes sense for Texas: Texas GM Ryan Dawidjian obviously saw enough of Quang Duong for him to think Duong is an upgrade over Pablo. While I tend to disagree, Ryan is extremely smart and has personal experience with Duong. Dawidjian also did a great job getting some money for Pablo rather than just dropping him.

Why this trade makes sense for Utah: Utah was not going to take Quang Duong for their team, so why not trade back for some cash? Makes a ton of sense if you weren't planning on picking someone up.

Winner(s) of this trade: Quang Duong, who isn't even technically a part of this trade, the Utah Black Diamonds, and the Brooklyn Aces.

Loser(s) of this trade: Martin Emmrich – who was dropped (I would be shocked if a Challenger Level team doesn't pick him up tomorrow in the Challenger Level Waiver Wire) – and Pablo Tellez, who goes down to Challenger.