[MIJB#19]

Gossip News: Merchantmen have their what-if deal
Our sources have picked up the scoop from the message board the IHOF owners frequent, the Merchantmen seem to have gotten their what-if deal. Who the team is has not been revealed and the conditions are not clear either. All we know is that the Merchantmen management expect their general manager to be unavailable during the first round of the draft to do trade talks and the team has struck a deal to make it worth the stay at #12 and see whether they can get the guy they want.

We snuck up on lead scout Gabe Avila and heard him say: "Four star quarterback, that's what we'll get." Four star quarterback? Do the Merchantmen have a deal that depends on the selection of quarterback Louie Flannary? But isn't Flannery expected to go in the top five? Boulder (#2, Irvine), Springfield (#3, Lyon), Georgia (#4 & #11, Wilkes), Asheville (#6, Pilkington), they all have their man, but not as talented as Flannery is said to be, while Conyers (#5) are good at quarterback. Ann Arbor (#7) could use a replacement for when Donald Woods retires, Minnesota (#8) recently traded for Edson, Frederick (#9) picked McNown last year, and RayCo (#11) seems to be the most serious option with Brian Hartsock up for retirement.

We already noted that the Merchantmen have identified four worthy quarterbacks. Looking at the top five I the draft, perhaps the Merchantmen have said to their partner: "If all four these guys are gone, you can have the #12 pick." Seth Dwight will go #1, Louie Flannery will be a top 5 pick and RayCo will probably grab Shawn Jahr at #10. That means the Merchantmen will either land Neal Aguillard or trade the pick, simple.

One last thing about the big mistakes in Merchantmen land, we hear they traded Causey after giving him a new contract. That means the team is going to be hit by a big bonus hit in 2007. Fair enough, Causey came to Maassluis bonus free, but the team cut Moe Baxter would giving him a penny. Causey started just 2 games, is that really worth a 2.4M bonus? No way! If they make another mistake, we'll let you know, that's what Gossip News is for.