Mid-Season

Thank Mays so many people were unavailable when we did our online draft in my fantasy league this year. That, and attention to who's actually pitching, has to be responsible for the Huskytown Dukes being smack dab in the middle of the standings at the All-Star break, 7th in a 13-team league.

After the first week or two of the season, the Dukes have hung right there in the middle, never higher than 5th, but not falling into double-digit territory either, their best showing in 6 years. That might not seem terribly impressive, but you've got to remember that most, if not all, of the rest of the league participants are stats freaks who pore over the numbers for hours. This season I'm actually looking at a player's numbers for the previous week or month before playing or benching him, unlike the memorable season I left Nomar at short for three weeks while he was on the DL, only to bench him for another three weeks, only the first of which he didn't play in real life.

Speaking of Nomar, I still have him taking up space on my precious DL, limited to 3 players, and I'm wrestling with whether he's worth it. I've been hanging on to him as a potential keeper, but I've been toying with the idea of trying to trade him based on his potential keeper value. Would I get anybody worthwhile in return?

Wade Miller is a bust as far as I'm concerned and I'm going tell My Barista my next mocha latte is on him since I drafter Miller on his recommendation.

The catching tandem of Tek and Mirabelli has worked out better than I expected.

Manny had a slow first third. I let him go in a trade to get a saver, any saver, since I'm dead last in Saves. Naturally, he starts hitting once I let him go, but at least I hung on to Big Papi; the original proposed trade asked for Manny and Papi in return for Isringhausen and Sexson; first baseman I've got out the wahzoo.

If I don't do anything too stupid, and none of the key Dukes goes down with a season-ending injury, I should finish in the middle of the pack. Anything above 7th would be a major victory.