He was in fourth place at midseason and stayed there through July and most of August, but Juan Soto’s strong second half and an improving WHIP, thanks to Logan Gilbert, Gavin Williams and others, help him ease up the standings. He moved into first place in the season’s last week.
Vinnie Pasquantino, Jorge Polanco, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. also made meaningful contributions.
This is Chris’s first Tout Wars championship.
Coming out of the draft, Ian Kahn had a slight edge over Andy Andres. Their Draft Day Rosters:
But when all was said and done, after Kahn made five trades and Andres one, Andres won Tout AL with a comfortable margin.
Key players for Andres were Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh, the fortuitous waiver pickup of Lenyn Sosa, and a pitching staff anchored by Tarik Skubal and Jacob DeGrom. Andres, notably, dumped saves, though he did try to rectify that during waivers all season, to no avail.
This was Andres first Tout Wars title.
Mike Podhorzer reviews his season.
With two weeks to go in the season, Trachtman trailed Ray Murphy by nine points, and Adam Ronis by four.
A week later Trachtman and Ronis were tied, one point behind Murphy.
But in the last week, Trachtman gained three points, Murphy lost one, and Ronis lost two, propelling Trachtman to his second Tout Mixed Draft championship. He also won the league in 2023 and was the Tout AL champion in 2016.
Trachtman’s championship was driven by two catchers, Cal Raleigh and Salvador Perez, who hit 90 homers between them, plus another 26 from eligible catcher Ben Rice, fine seasons from Bobby Witt Jr. and Robbie Ray, and a ton of saves from Carlos Estevez, David Bednar, and Jeff Hoffman.
At the end of April, Greg Jewett was in second place, a smidge ahead of Ray Flowers and a lot behind Ryan Boyer. In the following months, Jewett and Flowers jockeyed but Boyer maintained a good lead until August, when Jewett pulled close.
Then, Flowers bounced back and on August 10th Boyer led by two points, with Flowers and Jewett tied. Then disaster struck for Boyer. In the next 10 days Boyer lost Zack Wheeler and Marcus Semien, and while Boyer held on for a couple of weeks Jewett moved past him into first at the end of the month.
Boyer’s team didn’t quit. After the injuries he had the fifth best record in the league the rest of the way, but Jewett had the best record and held on for his first SOLDS title and second Tout Wars title. He won the H2H league in 2023.
Jewett’s squad was paced by Peter Alonso, Jose Ramirez, Trevor Story, Logan Webb, and Tarik Skubal. He also added Trevor Rogers at the end of June with a $36 (of $1000) FAAB bid, which paid off handsomely. The bullpen expert finished second in Holds+Saves, using Griffin Jax, Matt Strahm, Emilio Pagan, and others.
Greg Jewett tells the story of his winning season here.
Approaching midseason Brent Hershey had an 8.5 point lead over Bret Sayre, and while Sayre had only the fourth-best record in the second half, Hershey’s pitching staff crumbled, allowing Sayre to take the top spot.
This is Sayre’s third Tout Mixed Auction championship. He finished first in 2019 and 2023 as well, and finished second in the league in 2024. He also finished first in the inaugural Tout Wars eXperimental league
His big three on the hitting side were Elly De La Cruz, Jose Ramirez, and Corbin Carroll. A 20-30 guys and two 30-30ers.
Read Bret’s story about his season by clicking here.
Cockroft win back-to-back-to-back Tout NL titles from 2012 to 2014, but having failed to champion again asked to be relegated to the Mixed Auction league in 2024. A mediocre season followed, and he decided to return to the NL. And, it turns out, return as the NL champion.
That’s four for Cockcroft, who trailed Grey Albright by 10 points at the All Star Break, but who rode Juan Soto’s second half hot streak and trade deadline pickup Jhoan Duran to a 19-point victory.
He didn’t have the best regular season record. He finished third. He also scored the third most points going into the playoffs, and his opponents scored fewer points against him than any other team in the Tout H2H league. But when the playoff smoke cleared, Ariel Cohen was the champion.
First, he edged Ryan Hallam, 383 to 369.5 in the first playoff round.
Next, he creamed Chris Torres, the second-seeded team coming off a bye, 382 to 326, the playoff’s second round.
Finally, facing the number five seed, Clay Link, Cohen put up the highest score of the playoff and breezed to victory, 446 to 308.
The 2025 H2H title is Cohen’s second. He won in a closely fought match with Ian Kahn in 2020 as well, and he is justifiably proud to have made the playoffs in each of his six years in Tout.
Here’s his roster the last week:
Here are the results of this week’s FAAB bidding. Links to view all of the leagues are embedded in the league heading.
| PLAYER | TEAM MANAGER | BID |
| KHarrison, Bos | Jeff Erickson | 81 |
| GValera, Cle | Ian Kahn | 49 |
| JMateo, Bal | Rick Wolf/Glenn Colton | 9 |
| ABlubaugh, Hou | Andy Andres | 9 |
| TTolbert, KC | Rick Wolf/Glenn Colton | 2 |
| MDubon, Hou | Jason Collette | 0 |
| JBoyle, TB | Mike Podhorzer | 0 |
| AOsuna, Tex | Mike Podhorzer | 0 |
| PLAYER | TEAM MANAGER | BID |
| BEldridge, SF | Phil Hertz | 8 |
| KTeng, SF | Rick Graham | 4 |
| JWentz, Atl | Rick Graham | 4 |
| NYorke, Pit | Rick Graham | 3 |
| JKoenig, Mil | Phil Hertz | 2 |
| WBenson, Cin | Rick Graham | 2 |
| JMcCann, Ari | Erik Halterman | 0 |
| KFreeland, Col | Erik Halterman | 0 |
| AMazur, Mia | Peter Kreutzer | 0 |
| WWilson, Phi | Tristan Cockcroft | 0 |
| JSanoja, Mia | Peter Kreutzer | 0 |
| PLAYER | TEAM MANAGER | BID |
| TYesavage, Tor | Brian Feldman | 300 |
| KHarrison, Bos | Justin Mason | 22 |
| BElder, Atl | Frank Stampfl | 6 |
| BNaylor, Cle | Mike Carter | 5 |
| ABlubaugh, Hou | Scott Swanay | 5 |
| IParedes, Hou | Frank Stampfl | 3 |
| XBogaerts, SD | Frank Stampfl | 3 |
| YKikuchi, LAA | Andy Behrens | 0 |
| MOzuna, Atl | Scott Swanay | 0 |
| DCanzone, Sea | Scott Swanay | 0 |
| CMoore, LAA | Scott Swanay | 0 |
| PLAYER | TEAM MANAGER | BID |
| TYesavage, Tor | Shelly Verougstraete | 171 |
| KTeng, SF | Rudy Gamble | 69 |
| CJensen, KC | Tim McLeod | 55 |
| SStewart, Cin | Ray Murphy | 40 |
| SKolek, KC | Adam Ronis | 28 |
| KHarrison, Bos | Ray Murphy | 28 |
| ERodriguez, Ari | Tim McLeod | 20 |
| ZCole, Hou | Mike Gianella | 10 |
| JCaballero, NYY | Mike Gianella | 10 |
| CMoore, LAA | Adam Ronis | 10 |
| CPatrick, Mil | Mike Gianella | 9 |
| AKittredge, ChC | Scott White | 0 |
Congratulation to Ariel Cohen, the 2026 Head-to-Head Champion.
Mixed Draft with Alternate Categories
| PLAYER | TEAM MANAGER | BID |
| JTaillon, ChC | Zach Steinhorn | 17 |
| TWells, Bal | Zach Steinhorn | 17 |
| SKolek, KC | Ray Flowers | 16 |
| BElder, Atl | Ray Flowers | 14 |
| XBogaerts, SD | Greg Jewett | 3 |
| BChandler, Pit | Ryan Boyer | 2 |
| DCanzone, Sea | Greg Jewett | 2 |
| MYastrzemski, KC | Kev Mahserejian | 1 |
| RicoGarcia, Bal | Ray Flowers | 1 |
| WBenson, Cin | Greg Jewett | 1 |
| AMartin, Min | Ray Flowers | 1 |
| CMayo, Bal | Ray Flowers | 0 |
