MLP Trade Window #2 Opens, Teams Announce Early Roster Moves

MLP has opened Trade Window #2 for the 2026 season, posting, "Following the draft:Trade Window #2 will open on Monday, March 2, at 10 a.m. ET." The league set a transactional deadline of July 15, 2026 at 10:00 p.m. ET, and Crown Pickleball and the MLP live-tracker began publishing updates the week of March 2–3, with the live blog noting, "This article will be updated throughout the MLP season, until the trade deadline of July 15th."

Trade Window #1 closed Feb. 15, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET, the keeper deadline when teams declared keepers and dropped at least one player, and the 2026 Player Draft ran Feb. 27, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET as an Auction Draft to fill rosters. TheKitchenPickle noted a structural change for 2026: "New this season, teams can use all six players on their roster in a match. That means we will likely see teams use their picks for their 5th/6th players to draft 'singles specialists.' We also could see instances where one player only plays men's doubles and not mixed doubles, or other flexible roster configurations." TheKitchen also reported that the final 38 picks were aimed at open 5th and 6th slots, with 18 female and 20 male selections.

Early transactional activity stretches back into Trade Window #1. MajorLeaguePickle's Feb. 15 update listed a multi-team swap where Bay Area Breakers received Pablo Tellez from Las Vegas, Las Vegas Night Owls received Blaine Hovenier from SoCal, and SoCal Hard Eights received Ivan Jakovljevic and cash from Bay Area Breakers. The same MLP post showed Trade #2 with Palm Beach Royals receiving Dekel Bar and Brooklyn Pickleball Team receiving cash considerations, but that excerpt was truncated in the provided feed.

The post-draft, early Trade Window #2 moves were cataloged by The Dink and picked up in social posts. The Dink reported March 3 Trade #1: Brooklyn Pickleball Team receive Christian Alshon and Luca Mack, and Texas Ranchers receive Dylan Frazier, Matthew Barlow and cash. The Dink tweet read, verbatim, "Big move to open up the second @MajorLeaguePB trade window... Brooklyn Pickleball team receive: -Christian Alshon -Luca Mack Texas Ranchers receive: -Dylan Frazier -Matthew barlow -Cash Follow for more MLP updates. pic.twitter.com/U2P6gCttG6" The Dink supplied keeper values alongside that series: Christian Alshon, $265,000, can be kept through 2026; Dylan Frazier, $170,000, can be kept through 2028; Matthew Barlow, $11,000, can be kept through 2028; Luca Mack, $26,000, can be kept through 2028.

Additional moves followed. The Dink listed Trade #2 on March 3 with Texas Ranchers receiving Layne Sleeth and California Black Bears receiving Sahra Dennehy and cash, with keeper fees Layne Sleeth - $0 - can be kept through 2026 and Sahra Dennehy - $35,000 - can be kept through 2028. On March 4 The Dink posted Trade #5: Brooklyn Pickleball Team receive Chris Haworth and California Black Bears receive Luca Mack and cash, with keeper fees Chris Haworth - $30,000 - can be kept through 2028 and Luca Mack - $26,000 - can be kept through 2028. After those transactions The Dink printed new rosters: California Black Bears, Kiora Kunimoto, Sahra Dennehy, Anouar Braham, Luca Mack, Michael Loyd, Emma Nelson; Brooklyn Pickleball Team, Christian Alshon, Riley Newman, Jackie Kawamoto, Rachel Rohrabacher, Chris Haworth, Hannah Blatt.

Sources differ on a few calendar points: Forbes reported the post-draft trade window "opens right after the Draft on 3/1/26," while MLP's official post and Crown Pickleball's live blog mark March 2 as the opening; MLP lists the 2026 season beginning in Dallas, TX, May 22-25, and Forbes frames the regular season as nine weeks starting the May 24 weekend and wrapping up Aug. 2 in Orlando. Forbes also outlined four waiver periods at May 5, June 2, June 23, and July 14, 2026.

Valuations from auction and keeper lists underline why teams are moving aggressively: Christian Alshon at $265,000 and Dylan Frazier at $170,000 sit well above mid-tier keeper prices such as Luca Mack at $26,000 and Chris Haworth at $30,000. With the six-player match rule and the live-tracker active, the transactional window that runs through July 15, 2026 sets the stage for more multi-step deals and roster shuffling in the weeks ahead.