Sol Mercado. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Raring to rebound from a blown 2014 PBA Philippine Cup stint, San Miguel, formerly Petron Blaze, made yet some major changes and this time in its lineup.
A day after installing a new head coach in Biboy Ravanes, the Beermen traded their long-time guard Alex Cabagnot for GlobalPort Batang Pier’s Sol Mercado in a one-on-one blockbuster deal approved by the PBA Commissioner’s Office Tuesday.
“Baka bukas dating ng mga bagong players tapos isasama namin sa Cebu (the players perhaps will be arriving tomorrow (Wednesday) and we will bring them with us in Cebu,” said GlobalPort’s new coach Pido Jarencio, who also said that his team will participate in a pocket tournament in Cebu as part of their buildup for the coming Commissioner’s Cup this March.
In a separate deal, San Miguel acquired Rico Maierhofer from Barako Bull for stretch four-man Jason Deutchman and the Beermen’s 2016 and 2017 second round picks.
GlobalPort and Barako Bull also exchanged players with the Batang Pier acquiring Leo Najorda for Jonas Villanueva, who was shipped to Air21 for Bonbon Custodio.
Cabagnot gives the Batang Pier a facilitator and someone who has a knack for hitting big shots while Mercado provides the Beermen an added slasher and scoring threat in the backcourt.
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