The next step in the 2025 MLP season is the March 2 auction draft for Premier teams (Challenger is March 3). Every Premier team will have to bid on and draft players to get their rosters up to six players, three men and three women. While rosters will have six players, only four will play each match. Thus, the players in the fifth and sixth spots are unlikely to play much, barring injury.

 

The auction draft will consist of the teams bidding on draft slots; the highest bid wins the slot, beginning with the first pick, and going on down. Minimum bid is $10,000. The money goes to the league, and has nothing to do with player salary.

 

There are 16 Premier teams this year. That is 64 starters. The 16 teams currently have 41 players on their rosters, meaning they have 23 starters to replace in the auction. The simple fact is that there are not enough high-quality players to go around, especially on the women’s side. Some of these Premier teams are going to be very bad. In any event, here is the situation for each team and a recommended strategy for the auction.

 

 

 

Atlanta is the one team moving up from Challenger that has a chance to compete. They have Jaume Martinez Vich, Todd Fought, and Vivian Glozman. There are four higher quality women in the auction, Callie Smith, Viv David, Kate Fahey, and Lea Jansen. The question for Atlanta is, do you want to bid high to get one of the four? If not, they could look for a cheaper option like Genie Bouchard or Genie Erokhina. Either way, Atlanta is likely to be no better than middle of the pack.

 

 

Ben Johns, Collin Johns, and Kaitlyn Christian are holdovers. Again, look for them to target one of the “big four” women. Another option is to trade with one of the six Challenger teams after the auction. There are some quality women stuck in Challenger, who belong in Premier, including Zoey Wang, Mari Humberg, Brooke Buckner, Allyce Jones, Andrea Koop, Lina Padegimaite and Ewa Radzikowska. The key to this team either way is whether the Johns brothers put forward a good effort. If not, personnel is irrelevant.

 

 

Chicago has no UPA signed players, so they have a completely open roster. I expect they will bid low, try to pick up and coming players, and just accept that they will be in the basement. I could see them trying to take a flyer on Jack Sock; he is not a top 30 doubles player, but he has a big name so he could be picked up from a marketing standpoint and he should come cheap.

 

 

Columbus is the most improved team in the offseason. They now have Andrei Daescu, CJ Klinger, and Parris Todd. If they can hit on their pickup of a second woman, this team can challenge for a playoff spot. The problem is that Todd is best on the right, and all good players remaining are so-so on the left. David and Fahey need to play right side. Smith can play left but is the weakest of the “big four”. Jansen can play left and is the best option ability-wise, but New York had chemistry issues with Jansen and Columbus may be reluctant to add her. Their best move would be to trade for Wang or Humberg, both of whom can play left and would pair well in mixed with Klinger. If Columbus has a smart GM, they go out and get Wang or Humberg and then this is a playoff team.

 

 

This is the first team we get to that was a 2024 playoff team and needs to add a man. They have Dekel Bar, Rachel Rohrabacher, and Jackie Kawamoto. The best men available are a “top five” consisting of Riley Newman, James Ignatowich, Augie Ge, Quang Duong, and Noe Khlif. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder here, but if i was DC, I would want Newman or Ge as the best fits.

 

 

Dallas is in a similar position to DC, with JW Johnson, Jorja Johnson, and Tyra Black on the roster. I expect they want Ge back. Newman or Khlif would work well too. As long as Dallas gets one of the top men (and they will), they will be in contention again.

 

 

LA enters the auction with Hunter Johnson, Catherine Parenteau, and Jade Kawamoto. They are another team likely to target the “big five” men. If they added Duong, it would give them a pretty wild Dreambreaker team. They will be a borderline playoff team if they get any of the top five men.

 

 

Miami has Eric Oncins and Milan Rane. If they bid big and get one of the top women and one of the top men, they would be competitive. But it would be very costly, so i do not see that happening. Look for them to add next-tier players like Roscoe Bellamy and Angie Walker or Alex Walker.

 

 

 

They start with Anna Leigh Waters, Will Howells, and Zane Navratil. I suspect they may have a trade in place already to get Humberg back; don’t be surprised if that happens. Otherwise, they need Fahey, but she will be the subject of a bidding war. David makes the most sense as another option. Jansen is possible, but I don’t see it on chemistry grounds.

 

 

New York waved the white flag, dropping everyone on their roster. They will bid low in the auction and will have a bad team.

 

 

Orlando starts with a solid base in Federico Staksrud, Dylan Frazier, and Lacy Schneemann. This is another team where Fahey is a perfect fit. Getting Viv David back seems to make sense, but it did not work last year. If this team does not get Fahey, I see it as Jansen’s best spot.

 

 

Phoenix starts with Tyson McGuffin, Meghan Dizon, and Jessie Irvine. McGuffin is super versatile, so any of the top five men would work here. But, they are stuck with two right side women, so the team is likely to be no better than average no matter what they do in the auction. This is yet another team that needs to trade for Wang or Humberg.

 

 

The former home of Fahey returns a solid three with Anna Bright, Hayden Patriquin, and Gabe Tardio. They are likely to bid high and early for Fahey. I’m not sure what their fallback strategy would be. I don’t see any of the other “big four” women as good fits. A good sleeper for this team would be Genie Erokhina. She is very underrated, and plays a solid right side. She would fit well with the rest of the roster.

 

 

The fourth and last team moving up from Challenger has a starting roster of Erik Lange, Judit Castillo, and Irina Tereschenko. The team is going nowhere, no matter who they pick. They should save their money and just pick up someone who is reasonably good but will go cheap, like Jay Devilliers.

 

 

Texas starts with Christian Alshon, Etta Tuionetoa, and Tina Pisnik. They will 100% go after one of the “big five” men. Most people would have them target Duong, as he did well with Texas in 2024. But, the smart play here is to get Newman. The Newman/Alshon duo has won MLP before. Newman has fallen some in the rankings, but he is a solid mixed player, and he meshes very well with Alshon. If this team gets Newman, they are a championship contender, possibly even the favorite.

 

 

Utah has Tyler Loong, Connor Garnett, and Alix Truong. The team started slow but improved as the year went along. If Callie Smith falls, she could go here. Getting Genie Bouchard back is also a possibility. Expect Utah to wait in the auction and pick their spot.

 

Overall, expect there to be two battles early in the auction. One battle is over Kate Fahey. St. Louis will want her back, but she is also a good fit with Carolina, New Jersey, or Orlando. Columbus may also bid for Fahey although it would not be their best strategy. The only question concerns how much each team is willing to spend on a player they will have to release next year. Anything above $100,000 is a lot to spend on a one-year rental.

 

The second battle is over the top men. DC and Texas could be the big bidders here, with maybe LA and Phoenix joining in. You will be able to tell who a team is bidding for by which team is bidding. For example, if St. Louis is bidding on the #1 pick, it is 100% to get Fahey. If it is Texas, it is to get Duong or Newman. Teams need to know the roster needs of every other team, as that is their guide to how to strategically bid.

 

Finally, will any of the four teams moving up from Challenger be a high bidder? I don’t think so, but you never know. I think we will see 3-4 high bids ($100k or higher) and then a steep dropoff, with most bids closer to $10k than $100k.

 

March 2 will be fun to see. After the smoke clears, we will have early predictions on which teams are likely to be playoff contenders.

 

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