Fantasy baseball update: week 12

My fantasy baseball fortunes were mixed last week, with one team doing well and the other falling to a hot team. In HATE THE YANKS '06, I used a late surge to take over and win, 10-4. Catcher Mike Napoli, who was only picked up to fill in for Michael Barrett during his suspension, had a great week. My offense actually wasn't all that great, but it was good enough. My pitching, on the other hand, was subpar but still managed to claim 3 of 7 categories. In the end, I managed to continue my march back to respectability after my early season woes. There are still 10 weeks left in the regular season, so anything can happen, but hopefully I can do well in the next two weeks against teams that have the third worst and worst records, respectively, in the league.

On the other side of town, I was not as lucky in the Jack Bauer's Agents league. Both my hitting and pitching were average, while my opponents' were not, and I lost 3-8-3 as a result. Chad, my old roommate, got a fantastic week of pitching from his staff, which finished with a 1.82 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. I guess I was just due to lose in that league, as I had gone 7 weeks in a row without doing so. In any event, Chad got a little payback for the 10-0 and 9-2 beatings I laid upon him earlier this season. :-)

In HATE THE YANKS '06, I made a few transactions today: I dumped the slumping Garrett Anderson, my fifth outfielder, to make room for Derrek Lee, who just returned from the DL. On the pitching side, I dropped Texas reliever Ron Mahay in order to sign Seattle starter Jamie Moyer. Like Greg Maddux, Moyer is old and isn't going to overpower anyone, but he has a 2.67 ERA and 1.13 split at home so I figure he's at least worth using whenever he pitches in Seattle. I tried to come up with a trade for one of Stacey's dad's starting pitchers—who include Brandon Webb, Francisco Liriano, Roger Clemens, and Mark Buehrle—but we couldn't work something out. Hopefully Moyer can add an occasional strong start to bolster my staff. I'm not expecting much, so I figure I've got nothing to lose.

Anyway, here are my teams as they currently stand:

HATE THE YANKS '06
Bricks and Ivy: 87-75-6, 5th place, 20 games behind the first place team and 2 games ahead of the best non-playoff team

Jack Bauer's Agents
Soulpatch's Cubs Mug: 87-59-22, 1st place, 9 games ahead

Fantasy Stud of the Week


Mike Napoli, C, Angels
.400, 6 H, 6 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI


Fantasy Dud of the Week (Tie)


Felipe Lopez, SS, Reds
.125, 3 H, 1 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 2 SB



Edgar Renteria, SS, Braves
.167, 4 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 1 SB

-Mark