[Cigar_City_Rays]

Date: August 3, 2015
Record: 64-41, 1st place, 0 GB
Rays Hitter of the Month: Kevin Kiermaier, .812 OPS, 4 HR, 4 2B, 21 R
Rays Pitcher of the Month: Jake McGee, 8 SV, 12.2 IP, 18 Ks, 0.63 WHIP, 619 ERA+

We went 14-11 in the month of July. Not a great month, but we finished strong and finished the month over .500. We also, made some very difficult moves regarding our roster.

The first trade we made saw us swap reliever Kirby Yates to the Reds for JJ Hoover. Yates was not someone we thought to offer. Instead, Reds GM Walk Jockettey asked for him immediately when we inquired about Hoover. To make room for Hoover, we placed P Erasmo Ramirez on waivers and designated him for assignment.

The very next day, we received notice that Matt Moore's time in Durham on a rehab stint was up. Thus, we needed to make a roster move to put him on the 40-man roster and then the active roster. To complete this move, we had to make a very tough decision and placed RP Kevin Jepsen on waivers and designated him for assignment. Jepsen was having a very solid season for us, but, it was a numbers game and - I guess you could say he was the worst of the best. He has not indicated if he will accept an assignment to the minors or not.

SP Drew Smyly had a "rough" month by "only" going 3-3, but, that isn't going to deter us from a possible long-term deal. As of now, we did approach him and Drew wanted to wait till the end of the season to discuss an extension. So that will be one of the first things we visit once the season wraps up.

Finally, our big news is the trade that went down and was initiated by our division rival - the Boston Red Sox. I received a notice on July 31st that we had a trade proposal and it turns out the Sox were trying to dump Mike Napoli. I immediately looked at Boston's roster to determine why, they were trying to unload him. I can't speak for the AI GM, but, my guess is a combination of the Red Sox current place in the standings and their preference of Allen Craig at 1B over Napoli.

So, I initially decided to turn down the offer. The request was for SS Jake Elmore and SS Willy Adames. I wasn't going to do that. Napoli's contract didn't bother me as it was expiring at the end of the season, if I did this deal it was strictly as a rental and to acquire a run producing bat for a possible play-off run.

I tinkered with the deal and refused to let Adames become part of the package, but, I did include Elmore and asked "Make this Work Now" to see who else the AI GM would want - shockingly, they wanted James Loney. So Loney and Elmore for Napoli was the swap.

I like the idea of a middle order of Longoria, Souza and Napoli. I think it will pay dividends down the road and may help us capture the AL Championship.