It’s an honor to be part of the Tout Wars community. After competing in the Head-to-Head auction league since 2021 and being the league champion in 2023, I switched to the online 15-team live draft this year. There are caveats in this league that intrigued me. It uses on-base percentage instead of batting average, innings pitched rather than wins, and SOLDS in the place of saves. As a relief pitcher expert, participating in a league with SOLDS enhances my content, which is why I made the change.
Many of the experts in this league were returning from the previous season, making things challenging since I was not sure how players, especially relievers, would be valued in this format. For the online draft, each expert chose their draft spot in order of their respective finish in the previous season. The first-place team had the first choice of draft position, and I secured the fifth spot based on qualifying for the playoffs in the head-to-head league in 2024, and I chose the fifth spot in the draft, near the middle, which can work well.
With the format using on-base percentage, I had Aaron Judge and José Ramírez as my preferred options, and Cleveland’s talented third baseman was available, making him my first pick in this league. He was also on my first head-to-head team in 2021. I was shocked to see so many hitters being taken, and with my pick approaching in the second round, Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes remained on the board. There was not a bad choice in this format since wins were not part of the equation, and I went with Skubal, putting two NFBC first round picks on my Tout squad.
This helped mitigate some rookie mistakes in the draft, such as passing on Kyle Schwarber for Brent Rooker at utility. However, a solid base of hitters was amassed, which will be illustrated shortly. As for relievers, they drifted, as they should, because SOLDS should make the most talented and productive relievers more available. I reached for Griffin Jax when closers began to be taken. My background covering relievers makes it easier to let them drift in this type of format and as you can see, I only accrued five points in SOLDS from my drafted roster:
In fact, SOLDS and on-base percentage were my two weak points based on this summary. Sparing all of us from victory laps, because I made mistakes throughout the season, the focal point should be about the format and planning for success in leagues with SOLDS moving forward.
During the three seasons preceding 2025, here are the Main Event averages for relievers (saves) from the top-25 teams in the overall competition as a baseline:
Link: https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/NeMDA/1/
In a 15-team league with weekly free agent acquisitions (FAAB), one needs around 67 saves to finish in the top 25 in this format. Not all teams are built the same, but it provides insight into how they handle this category.
As for MLB teams, here are recent trends from the previous three years:
Link: https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/J9RAU/1/
How does this same chart look for SOLDS? I am happy you asked:
Link: https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/7xb7w/1/
As Ron Burgundy would say, things escalated quickly. Fantasy players in this format are not concerned about who may get the next save for the Marlins or White Sox. They can focus on the best relievers on the best teams based on the spike in volume that saves-plus-holds provide. Here are the top-10 teams by SOLDS from 2025, nine were teams with a winning percentage greater than five hundred:
| Team | W | L | Win% | Saves | Holds | SOLDS |
| LAD | 93 | 69 | .574 | 46 | 124 | 170 |
| CLE | 88 | 74 | .543 | 47 | 111 | 158 |
| CHC | 92 | 70 | .568 | 44 | 109 | 153 |
| SDP | 90 | 72 | .556 | 49 | 103 | 152 |
| MIL | 97 | 65 | .599 | 45 | 105 | 150 |
| CIN | 83 | 79 | .512 | 41 | 104 | 145 |
| NYY | 94 | 68 | .580 | 43 | 100 | 143 |
| BAL | 75 | 87 | .463 | 38 | 105 | 143 |
| NYM | 83 | 79 | .512 | 40 | 100 | 140 |
| TOR | 94 | 68 | .580 | 42 | 95 | 137 |
Relievers can be an asset in SOLDS leagues based on usage patterns, not solely reliant on a team’s win percentage. Here are the relievers with at least 30 SOLDS from 2025:
| Name | Saves | Holds | SOLDS |
| Abner Uribe | 7 | 37 | 44 |
| Carlos Estévez | 42 | 0 | 42 |
| Robert Suarez | 40 | 0 | 40 |
| Tony Santillan | 7 | 33 | 40 |
| Andrés Muñoz | 38 | 0 | 38 |
| Hunter Gaddis | 3 | 35 | 38 |
| Aroldis Chapman | 32 | 4 | 36 |
| Cade Smith | 16 | 19 | 35 |
| Emilio Pagán | 32 | 2 | 34 |
| Jeff Hoffman | 33 | 0 | 33 |
| Jhoan Duran | 32 | 1 | 33 |
| Devin Williams | 18 | 15 | 33 |
| Ronny Henriquez | 7 | 26 | 33 |
| Jeremiah Estrada | 3 | 30 | 33 |
| Mason Miller | 22 | 10 | 32 |
| Jose A. Ferrer | 11 | 21 | 32 |
| JoJo Romero | 8 | 24 | 32 |
| Bryan Abreu | 7 | 25 | 32 |
| Tyler Rogers | 0 | 32 | 32 |
| Raisel Iglesias | 29 | 2 | 31 |
| David Bednar | 27 | 4 | 31 |
| Tanner Scott | 23 | 8 | 31 |
| Brendon Little | 1 | 30 | 31 |
| Trevor Megill | 30 | 0 | 30 |
| Alex Vesia | 5 | 25 | 30 |
As the season progressed, I added Tony Santillan and Emilio Pagán from this group. Will Vest just missed, but was also a source of SOLDS from the waiver wire. Jose A. Ferrer was a late-season stream option, but was benched for the last week of the season. I also picked up Brad Keller for September’s stretch run, helping my team finish fourth in SOLDS, a net gain of six standings points in the category:
Sometimes, you have to burn and churn your way up the standings, and for SOLDS, I was able to accomplish this feat, which will be noted for next year.
However, as my team entered contention, some tough roster decisions were made on a weekly basis. Ryan Boyer jumped out to a commanding lead, but my team was able to creep closer in the standings, eventually taking the lead in mid-September. There was a logjam in the innings category, so I couldn’t deploy more relievers to protect the ratios; I had to keep seven starters in the active lineup. This was made easier by a mid-season free agency addition of Trevor Rogers for $36.
Additionally, having no injured list cap allowed Yu Darvish and Shane Bieber to be protected from the live draft for use down the stretch. My biggest mistake was Trevor Story. After having him active through a rough patch, I gave up on him and dropped him, before his tremendous finish to the season. If I finished second in the league, this would have haunted me.
At the end of the season, my roster spots were filled as such:
Catcher
- Drake Baldwin and Gabriel Moreno (both added via free agency pick-ups)
- J.T. Realmuto on the bench (he was drafted)
Corner Infielders
- Vinnie Pasquantino and Pete Alonso at 1B and CI (both were drafted)
- José Ramírez at 3B (draft)
- Yandy Díaz at utlity (acquired via trade)
Middle Infielders
- Brandon Lowe at 2B (drafted)
- Colson Montgomery at SS (added via free agency)
- Xander Bogaerts at MI (drafted)
Outfield
- Brent Rooker (drafted)
- Dominic Canzone, Gavin Sheets, Daylen Lile, and Will Benson (all added via free agency)
Starting Pitcher
- Tarik Skubal, Logan Webb, Tanner Bibee, Ryan Pepiot, Yu Darvish, Shane Bieber (all drafted)
- Trevor Rogers (added via free agency)
Relief Pitcher
- Emilio Pagán, Brad Keller, Will Vest, Jose A. Ferrer (all added via free agency)
It was a learning experience, and I need to improve my targeting of on-base percentage players in 2026. However, the league was entertaining and represents my second Tout Wars title since 2021. Thanks for reading and here’s hoping for more success in the years to come.
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