How Big of an Impact Will the Etta Tuionetoa-Kaitlyn Christian Trade Have on MLP?

It is now two consequential MLP trades in a row. The Ranchers are shaking and moving yet again as they flipped Etta Tuionetoa for Kaitlyn Christian and cash from the Carolina Hogs. 

Texas Ranchers

The Ranchers have found themselves in a disappointing position this season, which we detailed after the latest MLP event in Daytona. It felt like the Ranchers needed to do something, but it was unclear what would be available to them. 

Our initial impression of this trade is to question whether the Ranchers have another move to make. It has been clear for the last two seasons that Tuionetoa and Tina Pisnik put the Ranchers in a major hole when it comes to Dreambreakers. Kaitlyn Christian replaces the below average singles player in Tuionetoa with suddenly well above average singles play. That’s a start. 

The difficulty is that Christian is a downgrade from Tuionetoa in doubles. While Christian makes the Ranchers a better singles team, they are now closer to a middle of the pack women’s doubles team and who knows where this puts them their #1 mixed team. Obviously, the Ranchers’s doubles pairings featuring Etta were not playing as well as they would have liked from a #1 female standpoint, but we’ll be surprised if the trade results in an improvement on the 2025 doubles results they were getting with Tuionetoa. 

Without any insider information on the situation, we have to wonder if there were some internal chemistry or other behind the scenes stuff that led to the move being made for Texas. 

The other less discussed Dreambreaker aspect of this trade is that, although Christian is a big upgrade, the Ranchers are still not a good Dreambreaker team. Tina Pisnik may very well be the worst singles female player in Premier. A lot of things need to go right for a team in a Dreambreaker to win with a true singles liability as part of the foursome. 

The trade will be a clear win for the Ranchers if they get similar level of play from Christian as they have gotten from Tuionetoa in 2025. At the same time, they need more than similar results in doubles to have a chance to compete for a title and it seems more likely this moves the needle for Texas further away from a title rather than closer to one. 

Carolina Hogs

On the other side of the coin, the Carolina Hogs keep pulling us back in as one of the most interesting teams in MLP. It is notable that a franchise that basically hasn’t been willing to pay any extra money for players outside of Ben Johns over the last 2 years paid money to acquire Etta Tuionetoa.

We are curious what internal pressures Tom Dundon might have been facing in the recent months, which may actually have led to the Hogs spending a few dollars to get a good player. There are some powerful people who have invested in MLP and they cannot be happy with the complete lack of investment in both Dundon’s team and, less directly, in MLP that such a prominent figure in the UPA has demonstrated. 

Ben Johns drafted Etta to his Seattle Pioneers championship team back in the first season of the 2023 MLP season and they have played on the PPA Tour together. Etta was much more unknown at the time of the 2023 draft, but it is clear that she is someone Ben enjoys playing with. 

The Etta trade is buoyed by the fact that the Hogs spent a little money on waivers to steal Roscoe Bellamy from the SoCal Hard Eights and dropped Collin Johns for Martin Emmrich. It is better for MLP if the team with Ben Johns is good and these moves give the Hogs a better chance to be good. 

However, this team is probably net worse in Dreambreakers (upgrade with Roscoe, downgrade with Etta) following the Etta trade, Ben Johns is not close to a lock in men’s anymore and Tammy Emmrich is not a Premier level starter. That’s not super encouraging.

What is encouraging is seeing the Hogs spend money to do something positive. This could put them back into outside contention of a play-in spot. Overall, the Hogs are unlikely to have any impact on the broader MLP landscape. 

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