It was meant as a bit of humor. But it does seem to follow a logical train that the jerseys of a player or nine who are about to be sold would not be real coveted items in the gift shop. Since Bik_76 placed his guys on the TL before the merch update, no one would have to be Nostardamus to see. My merch money went down quite a bit as well, and I had no players on the TL and several league leaders and only wins. Funny thing is that it didn't seem objectionable or forumworthy to me. Just part of the game.
Once I scored a basket that still makes me laugh.