[MIJB#19]

Maassluis Merchantmen, masters of trading, episode 1.

We're in the middle of the 86th regular season of the IHOF. Rookie quarterback Brandon Bell has been a pleasant surprise in the first two games, but he wouldn't have been here had the Merchantmen not traded their late first round pick of the 2088 draft to the Houston Mustangs in exchange for a 2089 first round pick. A pick that ended up being the #13 overall and as the Merchantmen stayed there, the end result was picking Bell.

With just two games on his resume, it's clearly way too early to claim this trade was good or bad. But there's no reason not to look at the past and dig up memories on historic moments in Merchantmen trading tradition. There a lot to pick from, as the Merchantmen have made no less than 343 trades in 86 off-seasons and incidentally a trade or two during the regular season. Wouldn't it be neat to look back on some of those moments. Let's try to see if it's possible to count down the top 10 best trades, throw in a handful of bad ones and one specific trade that never happened, which could have had major implications on the history of the Merchantmen.

To kick off this series, let's take a look at the day the Maassluis Merchantmen picked the player that ended up wearing the #86 jersey: wide receiver Gabe Springer.

It was early in the 2016 draft. THe IHOF until that point had a tradition of quarterbacks getting picked #1 overall. The class of 2016 wasn't all that bad, the Chesapeake Chitterlings managed to selected Glenn "GC75" Coleman with the second pick of the second round. A completely different and new trend was established in the first round, 2016 became the draft of the wide receivers.

Going into the draft, the Maassluis Merchantmen held the #17 overall pick and had their eyes on one and only one player: wide receiver Gabe Springer. A combine skipper, thus interviewing his was considered crucial in the war room in Maassluis. It gave the team management a sense that he was very underrated and as such Springer was highlighted on their draft board.

The Houston Mustangs started the draft of wide receivers by taking Dusty Kassem #1 overall. Ironically, he ended up being the lesser of four wide receivers taken in the first round, all in the top eight. Brandon LaCour was taken with the #5 overall by the Asheville Axemen and the #6 became Syracuse Mohawks legend Cris Anthony (#2 all time in receiving yards). At that point, it was the Merchantmen's belief that Springer would not last until that #17 overall pick and it was time to make a move. The Oakland Black Panthers decided to invest in Brant Pancake as their quarterback at #7 overall. The Boulder Blizzard then were on the clock.

The Merchantmen were coming off an 8-8 campaign and had fallen from a team with an elite defense to a barely over .500 team. With that reputation in mind, the Merchantmen offered the #17 overall and their 2017 first round pick to move up 9 slots. Negotiations were short, the trade was accepted and the Merchantmen management was overjoyed: Maassluis got the #8 overall pick and would get it's own super star wide receiver by selecting Gabe Springer out of Ohio.

The Boulder Blizzard would later on trade down from 1.17 to 1.28 and additionally acquired the North Plainfield Plague's first round pick in 2018. The frenzy continued as shortly after picking linebacker Cary Wofford with that 1.28 pick, the Blizzard sent the rights to Wofford back to the Plague for two third and two fifth round picks that draft, as well as the Plague's second round picks in 2017 and 2018 and third round pick in 2017.

The gist of things was Maassluis getting their wide receiver. Gabe Springer turned out to be the guy they wanted to have. Springer served as the #1 target for HOF quarterback Louie Flannery for 4 seasons and then for HOF quarterback Russell Harrison until Springer retired after the lost AOC Championship game in the 2027 season.

Maassluis Merchantmen send:
2016 1.17 pick
2017 1st Maassluis

Boulder Blizzard send:
2016 1.8 pick

The sacrificed 2017 first round pick ended up being the #15 overall, which the Blizzard used to pick wide receiver Van Pool, who retired after 12 seasons of a bit of bouncing around with 393 catches for 5,167 yards and 31 touchdowns, getting just one 1,000-yard season, achieved in his third and final season in Boulder. He did win a championship ring as the third wide receiver for the Superior Intellects in IHOF Bowl XX at the end of the 2023 season.

The 2016 #17 overall pick was used by the North Plainfield Plague to select safety Kevin Hickman. After being a starter in his rookie season, he left the Plague after 5 seasons, having been buried in their depth chart. He hopped around as a dime back for three more season and retired after 95 regular season games with 4 interceptions (2 of those in his rookie season), 27 defended passes, 186 tackles and 64 assists.

The Merchantmen were perhaps the obvious winners from the trade. Although back then all that mattered was getting Springer and back in 2016 the value of a star wide receiver was roughly two first round picks. Playoffs success was limited with Springer around. In the middle of the '20s, Springer was the centerpiece of a 500-points caliber offense in 2023 with HOF quarterback "Rusty" Harrison, HOF running back Stanley Givens and Springer's understudy Terry Thomason. In following years the Merchantmen bolstered their defense. The 2027 AOC Championship game turned out to be the deepest the Merchantmen would get into the playoffs with Gabe Springer. He retired after a Hall of Fame worthy career with 1,077 catches for 14,531 yards and 105 touchdowns in 170 regular season games, all wearing the Maassluis Merchantmen's #86 jersey.