LaxTV Forums | A Forum About The MCLA

Major MLL Trade Involves Six Teams and 24 Players

April 21, 2006 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL), the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, announced today an historic trade involving six teams and 24 players and draft picks. It is believed to be the largest trade in sports history and comes one week before MLL begins training camp in preparation for its sixth campaign.

"This trade came together very quickly considering the intricacies of the deal and I credit the unprecedented amount of cooperation and communication between the teams to pull it off," said MLL Commissioner David Gross. "I applaud the spirit in which these teams worked together, but more importantly this trade addressed the needs of all the teams involved and strengthens each of them. We feel this makes the 2006 campaign even more compelling and we will see the most competitive and exciting season MLL history."

This blockbuster trade includes some of the biggest names in Major League Lacrosse and six of the first 10 picks in the 2006 Collegiate Draft. The biggest name to be dealt belongs to attackman Ryan Powell, who was the first MVP in league history, who moves to the San Francisco Dragons after playing the first five years of his MLL career for the Rochester Rattlers. Powell has 123 goals and 111 assists for a total of 234 points in his MLL career, which ranks fourth on MLL's all-time points list. Reigning Rookie of the Year attackman Brodie Merrill moves from the Baltimore Bayhawks to the Rochester Rattlers while two-time all star midfielder Jeff Sonke moves from the Bayhawks to the Denver Outlaws.

The Outlaws have dealt MLL all-star midfielder David Curry to the Bayhawks. Curry is ninth on MLL's all-time list for assists with 58. The Rochester Rattlers now have the first, tenth and 30th overall picks in the 2006 MLL Collegiate Draft. Baltimore now has the second, fourth and fifth overall picks in the 2006 MLL Collegiate Draft.

How the trade breaks down team by team:

Baltimore Bayhawks trade (A) Brodie Merrill, (M) Jeff Sonke, (G) Trevor Tierney, and the 20th and 30th overall picks in the 2006 Collegiate Draft and receive (M) Ben DeFelice, (D) Ronnie Staines, (M) David Curry, (D) Michael Howley, (G) Scott Schroeder and the fourth and fifth overall selections in the 2006 Collegiate Draft.

Chicago Machine trade the first pick in the 2006 Collegiate Draft as well as the 21st overall and receive (D) Tom Fallon and the third and seventh selections in the 2006 Collegiate Draft.

Denver Outlaws trade (M) David Curry, (D) Michael Howley, (G) Scott Schroeder, (M) Ryan Marshall and the fifth pick in the 2006 Collegiate Draft and receive (M) Jeff Sonke, (G) Trevor Tierney and the 20th pick in the 2006 Collegiate Draft.

Los Angeles Riptide trade (D) Ronnie Staines and the 24th overall pick in the 2006 Collegiate Draft for (M) Sean Lindsay.

Rochester Rattlers trade (A) Ryan Powell, (D) Eric Martin, (M) Sean Lindsay and the fourth and seventh overall picks in the 2006 Collegiate draft and receive (A) Brodie Merrill and the first, tenth and 30th overall picks in the 2006 Collegiate Draft as well as a 2007 Conditional 1st Round Collegiate Draft Pick (from San Francisco).

San Francisco Dragons trade (M) Ben DeFelice, (D) Tom Fallon and the third and tenth overall picks in the 2006 Collegiate Draft as well as a 2007 Conditional 1st Round Collegiate Draft Pick for (A) Ryan Powell, (D) Eric Martin, (M) Ryan Marshall and the 21st and 24th overall picks in the 2006 Collegiate Draft.

San Francisco Acquires Ryan Powell, Eric Martin, and Ryan Marshall

San Francisco, CA - The San Francisco Dragons announced today they have acquired attackman Ryan Powell and defenseman Eric Martin from the Rochester Rattlers, and midfielder Ryan Marshall from the Denver Outlaws in a six-team trade agreed to on Friday. In addition, the Dragons acquired the 21st selection in the 2006 college draft from the Chicago Machine and the 24th overall selection from the Los Angeles Riptide. In return San Francisco traded its 3rd overall selection in the college draft and defenseman Tom Fallon to the Chicago Machine, the 10th overall selection in the 2006 college draft and a conditional second round college draft pick in the 2007 draft to the Rochester Rattlers and midfielder Ben DeFelice to the Baltimore Bayhawks.

Powell comes to San Francisco after having spent the past five years with Rochester. During that time he amassed 123 goals, 111 assists and 234 total points. His 234 points rank him as the 4th all-time points leader in Major League Lacrosse, and his 111 assists ranks him 3rd all-time assists leader in the MLL. This past season Powell scored 21 goals and added 15 assists in eight games. He was named the MLL Most Valuable Player in 2001 after leading the league in scoring with 63 points. Powell leaves the Rattlers as the teams all-time leader in goals (123), assists (111) and points (234). He is also currently a member of the Portland Lumberjax of the National Lacrosse League (NLL), and previously played for the Anaheim Storm.

"Ryan is simply one of the best lacrosse players in the world, and we are absolutely thrilled he will be playing in San Francisco in our inaugural season," commented General Manager Doug Locker. "The fans in the Bay Area are in for a real treat to be able to watch Ryan play this year for the San Francisco Dragons," said Locker.

Eric Martin played the past two seasons in Rochester, playing in 12 games registering 49 groundballs and scoring a goal as the Rattlers advanced to the MLL Semifinals. As a rookie in 2004, he appeared in 6 games with 12 groundballs. Martin recently completed his second season with the San Jose Stealth (NLL) where he led the Stealth in loose balls, while scoring 12 points on the year. In addition, he currently serves as Defensive Coordinator for the men's lacrosse team at Notre Dame de Namur University (Belmont, CA).

"We feel Eric is one of the top defensemen in the MLL and will look to him to lead our defense in the coming season. He plays with great intensity and skill, and is going to continue to get better with each passing year," said Locker. "He is a player we've been seeking since the fall and we are fortunate to have been able to acquire him this year."

Ryan Marshall currently is finishing off his rookie season with the Portland Lumberjax of the NLL. He is a member of Team Canada and will compete in this summer's World Games. Collegiately, Marshall played at Duke where he graduated from in 2005.

"Ryan is the type of player who we feel can contribute for us right away as both an offensive and defensive midfielder," said Locker. "He has tremendous tools and will bring a two-way presence to our midfield unit".

"We are very excited to add these three players to our roster. However, at the same time we realize we gave up two good men and players in Ben (DeFelice) and Tom (Fallon). We wish them well with their new teams and hope that they have great success in the MLL for years to come," said Locker.