Ray didn’t win the SiriusXM Hosts league in 2015 but he made a couple of nice moves off waivers on his way to a decent finish in the 14-team league.
THE DRAFT
Here are the results of the initial draft held back in March.
Mixed
14 teams
5x5 scoring
14 hitters, nine pitchers
six bench spots
*** Note, round taken is in parenthesis.
CATCHER: Miguel Montero (17), Chris Iannetta (21), Stephen Vogt (27)
FIRST BASE: Eric Hosmer (7), Brandon Belt (12), Ryan Howard (23)
SECOND BASE: Aaron Hill (22)
THIRD BASE: Carlos Santana (5), Maikel Franco (26)
SHORTSTOP: Hanley Ramirez (2), Jose Reyes (4)
OUTFIELD: Andrew McCutchen (1), Matt Kemp (3), Shin-Soo Choo (9), Ben Revere (10), Desmond Jennings (16), Dexter Fowler (19), Melvin Upton (28)
PITCHERS: Alex Cobb (6), James Shields (8), Steve Cishek (11), Jered Weaver (13), Jose Quintana (14), Santiago Casilla (15), Jose Fernandez (18), Ken Giles (20), Shane Greene (24), Joakim Soria (25)
TRADES
No one would trade with me… so sad ;-)
Only one deal was actually consummated. The date was July 26. I sent Tyler Clippard to Colton/Wolfman/Stern for Gio Gonzalez. Performance of both guys after that date:
Clippard: 3.06 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 7.24 K/9 just two saves
Gonzalez: 3 Wins, 3.73 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 77 Ks in 70 innings
Clippard lost his closing job as I expected. Unfortunately, Gio didn’t step up like I had hoped.
WAIVER MOVES
* $100 FAAB
April 5 – Jace Peterson, Devon Travis, Daniel Norris
April 12 – T.J. House
April 19 – Dan Haren
April 26– Yonder Alonso, Tim Lincecum
May 3 – Tyler Clippard
May 10 – Carlos Correa $6
May 17 – Maikel Franco $9
May 24 – Shawn Tolleson $6
June 7 – Carson Smith
June 21 – Matt Cain, Alejandro De Aza
July 12 – James McCann
July 19 – Tyler Saladino
August 2 – Jesus Montero, Carlos Sanchez
August 9 – Tommy Kahnle, Asdrubal Cabrera
August 23 – Jackie Bradley Jr.
August 30 – Marco Estrada, Franklin Gutierrez, Ryan Howard
September 13 – J.P. Arencibia
September 27 – Steve Pearce, Jarrett Parker, Adam Conley
Obviously there were a ton of uninspiring adds throughout the year, but the month of May was my big breakthrough. Correa had 20 homers, 13 steals and hit .282 while in my lineup. Franco hit .268 with 12 homers and 46 RBI. Meanwhile, Tolleson produced 32 saves. Huge pick-ups off waivers were the trio.
BREAKDOWN
McCutchen had a great year even if he stole just 11 bags.
HanRam in the second round was a total disaster.
I went with Kemp in the third and 100-plus RBIs was a decent return. Choo in the 9th wasn’t bad either, especially with his monstrous second half (.343/.455/.560 with 56 runs scored). Fowler in the 19th, with his near 20/20 season and 100 runs, certainly turned out well.
Reyes in the 4th was just blah. Boy was my middle infield a mess in this league until I added Correa.
Santana in the 5th failed to hit 20 homers and had another bad batting average in the .230s. Seems like he will never take that step forward.
Got crushed on the hill though. Cobb blew his arm out. Shields had his worst effort in years. Cishek bombed atrociously. Weaver was a nobody. Greene flamed out like the Hindenburg.
I led the league in RBIs, was second in runs, third in steals, fourth in average and fifth in homers. That was impressive. The hurlers? Ugh. Usually I’m better at the in-season pick game. Didn’t happen this season, though it’s always hard to have success when your top SP and top RP both crap out. I did lead the league in saves, thanks to Tolleson, but I was no higher than seventh best in any of the four other categories. Wins in particular killed me. I had 70 on the season, tied for the worst mark in the league. The league leader had 109.
FINISH
Not a bad season overall, but not enough went right to pull out the win. Just can’t win a league with a pitching staff that struggled this badly (3.75 ERA, 1.26 WHIP). That was barely better than the league average in 2015 (4.11 ERA, 1.30 WHIP).
4th place out of 14 teams
Player News
Daulton Varsho picked up three hits, three RBI and a homer in a win over the Angels on Thursday.
Varsho has only played in seven games this year, but they’ve been seven good ones. He’s homered three times already, and his slugging percentage is a remarkable — and entirely unsustainable — .727 over 22 at-bats. Varsho has been a mediocre offensive player in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, but it’s possible at the age of 28 he’s having a breakout campaign. Far from a guarantee, but possible.
Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer in a loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday.
Ward, 31, gave the Angels a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer off Chris Bassitt in the first inning. He’s now gone deep in two of his last three games, and it ‘improves’ his slash to .181/.224/.391. Ward has been one of the most hot/cold players players in the sport over the last few years, so fantasy managers who can afford to make some roster moves may want to look at Ward while the going is good.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. picked up three hits and scored twice in an 8-5 win over the Angels on Thursday.
Guerrero also drew a walk. It gives the first baseman multiple hits in back-to-back games, and it’s the third time in May that he’s reached that mark. That’s helped raise his average from .268 to .295, and the only thing fantasy managers can be disappointed with is his .432 slugging percentage. That number should continue to climb as the season unfolds, but Vladdy Jr. has had some inconsistent seasons when it comes to power production.
Chad Green picked up his first save of 2025 with a scoreless ninth against the Angels on Thursday.
Green got the save after Jeff Hoffman worked in back-to-back games — and struggled — in the first two contests against the Angels. He struck out two and looked the part while needing just nine pitches to get through the inning. Hoffman should remain the closer, but Green is on his tail if the struggles were to continue.
Chris Bassitt allowed five runs — four earned — while working six-plus innings against the Angels on Thursday while picking up a win.
Bassitt allowed three runs over the first two innings on a pair of homers, but settled down over his next four frames. He came out to work the seventh, but ended up being charged for two more runs after leaving the contest. The 36-year-old veteran has forged a 3.35 ERA and outstanding 49/8 K/BB ratio over the first quarter of the season, but this wasn’t him at his best. He’ll get the Rays next week if the rotation order stays the same for Toronto.
José Soriano allowed three runs over five innings while not factoring in the decision Thursday against the Blue Jays.
Soriano left with a 4-3 lead, but it was erased quickly after his departure. The 26-year-old was not exactly dominant in his outing with eight hits allowed and four free passes, but he did strike out six to help balance things out a smidgen. Soriano takes an even ERA of 4.00 into a scheduled start against the Padres in San Diego on Tuesday. There should be better options for that one.