The Hot Corner

It's officially baseball season, spring training is over and the regular season has just begun. Of course, those of you who love baseball as much as I do also know that this time of year is not my favorite just because the MLB starts, but because fantasy baseball starts up on ESPN and Yahoo. Fantasy baseball. Being a true fantasy guru like myself, I did not want to let out my fantasy knowledge publicly before I had all my teams set in stone, but I guess I'll let you in on some tips for your teams just in case you've waited until the start of the season to draft. In a head-to-head league, you should draft hitting early and draft pitching late in rounds, unless you have a later pick-anywhere between seven and ten. Most of the top players like Cardinals' Albert Pujols, Marlins' Hanley Ramirez, Mets' Jose Reyes and Indians' Grady Sizemore will be taken by then, leaving you with the option of taking a pitcher like Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum of the Giants or workhorse C.C. Sabathia of the Yankees for your first overall pick. As for a rotisserie league, where you are assigned a point total out of certain categories (homers, runs, wins, saves, etc.) you want to draft in a balanced way by trying to grab players who are able to fill multiple categories, unlike a head to head league where you only need to win six out of the ten categories a week to beat your opponent instead of seeing who wins after the entire season.

So how would I go about drafting players? Well, depending on if I have one of the first three picks or not, I tend to draft my outfielders first. I like Grady Sizemore, who fills all categories accept his .268 average, but his 33 homers and 38 steals make up for that. I would also take a run at Rangers' Josh Hamilton who fills everything but stolen bases, or players like the Orioles' Nick Markakis and the Dodgers' Matt Kemp, who are able to put up decent to solid numbers in each category. Some other outfielders that look to have great seasons this year from my perspective are Red Sox outfielder Jason Bay and the Nationals' Elijah Dukes. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the Rays' B.J. Upton continues his power from the ALCS last year, and guys like Brent Gardner of the Yankees and Cameron Maybin of the Marlins show that they are finally here to stay.

As for the corner infielder spots, I have been targeting first basemen Justin Morneau of the Twins, Adrain Gonzalez of the Padres, Joey Votto of the Reds and James Loney of the Dodgers; while at third base my priorities have been set on the Rangers' Chris Davis, Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals and Kevin Kouzmanoff of the Padres. I love Morneau and Gonzalez because their stats are consistent every year, while Votto and Loney are going to have to prove that they are not going to have a sophomore slump. Davis, who hit 17 homers in just under 300 at bats last year should do great in a high run producing offense like Texas, and Zimmerman and Kouzmanoff should get over their 2007 injuries and get back on track.

At the middle infielder position, there is a lot of depth in my opinion. I would not waste my time on Jose Reyes, the Phillies' Jimmy Rollins, Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox, or Chase Utley of the Phillies-though I took him once- in the beginning of the draft, but would rather settle for a guy like the Brewers' J.J. Hardy, who always has one month of the season where he can't get out, or the Indians' Jhonny Perralta, who hit 23 homers and scored 104 runs in a line up without a healthy Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez. Also, I have noticed that in a lot of drafts, players are passing on Royals' second baseman Mike Aviles, who played out of his skin down the stretch of the season last year, and Mark DeRosa, who will be playing in that potentially revamped Cleveland offense I mentioned above.

In 80 percent of my leagues, I have grabbed one of the top four catchers in Joe Mauer of the Twins, Russell Martin of the Dodgers, Geovany Soto of the Cubs and Brian McCann of the Braves, but if you didn't, Colorado's Chris Iannetta and Florida's John Baker aren't bad late round pick ups, unless of course you'd rather pick for the future with Baltimore's Matt Wieters. Also, just because Mauer is currently injured doesn't mean he won't come back and continue doing what he does.

Ah, yes, the most important part of a draft: pitching. Like I said earlier, with a low pick attack Lincecum and Sabbathia, but if not, try to attack other major aces that will be drafted middle of the pack like Cole Hamels of the Phillies, Roy Oswalt of the Astros, John Lackey of the Angels, Brandon Webb of the Diamondbacks, Jake Peavey of the Padres and Dan Haren of the Diamondbacks. I always try to get at least two solid starters that I know will perform, then I take chances on young pitchers such as Jon Lester of the Sox, Ricky Nolasco of the Marlins, Felix Hernandez of the Mariners and Zach Grienze of the Royals. Also, when drafting don't forget about players that didn't have big impacts for their teams last year due to injuries but have pitched lights out this spring like Yankees' Chien-Ming Wang, Cardinals' Chris Carpenter and Indians' Fausto Carmona. In late rounds, look at pitchers like a high strikeout guy in Ubaldo Jimenez of the Rockies, as well as the Braves' Kenshin Kawakami, who has been pitching well this spring and the Angerls' Kelvim Escobar, who will return in late April and has been pitching well.

For relief, attack guys that might get chances to save games, don't attack actual closers unless you're going to go after a few solid ones in a row. Save your picks on something else instead. Why buy into a Jonathan Papelbon of the Sox or Brad Lidge of the Phillies in the third or fourth round when you can buy into Brandon Morrow of the Mariners, Frank Francisco of the rangers, Kevin Gregg of the Cubs, Matt Lindstrom of the Marlins, Heath Bell of the Padres, Brad Ziegler of the Athletics or Huston Street of the Rockies in rounds 20-25? I don't believe too much in relief pitchers unless they get me strictly saves. I wouldn't waste my time with pitchers like the Cubs' Carlos Marmol or the Angels' Scott Shields because besides their low ERA and high strikeouts, they just make you pick them earlier in drafts, making you lose out on crucial picks in the middle rounds.