Making your picks

The Major League Baseball season begins Sunday, and most fantasy leagues will hold their drafts this week. These picks should help you a bit:

FIRST BASE:
 1. Albert Pujols, St. Louis
 2. Ryan Howard, Philadelphia
 3. David Ortiz, Boston (sure, he's mostly a DH)
 4. Lance Berkman, Houston
 5. Justin Morneau, Minnesota
 Overrated: Derrek Lee, Chicago Cubs
 Underrated: Lyle Overbay, Toronto

SECOND BASE:
 1. Chase Utley, Philadelphia
 2. Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati
 3. Robinson Cano, New York Yankees
 4. Julio Lugo, Boston
 5. Jeff Kent, Los Angeles Dodgers
 Overrated: Brian Roberts, Baltimore
 Underrated: Marcus Giles, San Diego

SHORTSTOP:
 1. Jose Reyes, New York Mets
 2. Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia
 3. Rafael Furcal, Los Angeles Dodgers
 4. Michael Young, Texas
 5. Miguel Tejada, Baltimore
 Overrated: Hanley Ramirez, Florida
 Underrated: Carlos Guillen, Detroit

THIRD BASE:
 1. Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
 2. David Wright, New York Mets
 3. Miguel Cabrera, Florida
 4. Aramis Ramirez, Chicago Cubs
 5. Ryan Zimmerman, Washington
 Overrated: Scott Rolen, St. Louis
 Underrated: Troy Glaus, Toronto

OUTFIELD:
 1. Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay
 2. Vladimir Guerrero, Los Angeles Angels
 3. Carlos Beltran, New York Mets
 4. Andruw Jones, Atlanta
 5. Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle
 Overrated: Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs
 Underrated: Bobby Abreu, New York Yankees

PITCHERS:
 1. Johan Santana, Minnesota
 2. Roy Oswalt, Houston
 3. Roy Halladay, Toronto
 4. Jake Peavy, San Diego
 5. Brandon Webb, Arizona
 Overrated: Chris Carpenter, St. Louis
 Underrated: Cole Hamels, Philadelphia

CATCHERS:
 1. Joe Mauer, Minnesota
 2. Victor Martinez, Cleveland
 3. Brian McCann, Atlanta
 4. Mike Piazza, Oakland
 5. Ivan Rodriguez, Detroit
 Overrated: Jason Varitek, Boston
 Underrated: Josh Bard, San Diego

Different kind of bracket contest

 In just a little bit, we can all print out our NCAA tournament brackets and begin to study them for our own office pools. Yes, I'll probably do two brackets. I usually pick one with my head and one with what I want to happen and then watch both of them fail.
 But there is another way to enjoy the NCAA tournament beside the typical feeling in of the brackets and picking winners of each game.
 About 15 years ago a friend of mine relayed a new way to do an NCAA tournament contest, and we have continued to do it to this day.
 What we do is get eight people to be involved (there are usually more who want in and we have to leave them out), and we have a draft the day after the brackets are set.
 The way it works is we each get to draft eight teams (the person with the last pick of the draft has been stuck with the winner of the play-in game the past few years), and those are each person's eight teams for the entire tournament.
 With each win, we receive points based on our teams' seedings in the tournament: A No. 1 seed gets one point per win, a No. 2 gets two and so on.
 The setup leads us to try to find those upstart teams that are going to pull off an upset or two and it discourages us from just picking all the favorites. That said, if we miss on an upset, it really can hurt your chances to win.
 But if you're lucky enough to get one right, it really can help. The one year I won, I had Valpairaso, and it was a No. 13 seed and won two games, and I also had a No. 12 seed win two games that same year, so the contest was just about over after the first weekend.
 But that's rare. Usually, every game counts, and all eight people in the contest have to worry about the other seven and all of the games in the tournament. And that adds to an already exciting time.

Baseball draft: A few names to avoid

As always, there are plenty of good players to draft in fantasy baseball leagues this year. If you follow a solid drafting game plan, you can load up with great players at the top of the draft and then fill in with solid players throughout the following rounds.

But there are plenty of players to stay away from, and for several reasons. Some are too old, some are injured, and some carry just too much baggage to make it worth drafting them.

For me, the biggest name to avoid is Alfonso Soriano. Sure, he has been a fantasy freak for a few years, but he is going to have a ton of pressure on him after signing a huge deal with the Chicago Cubs. Playing with the awful Washington Nationals didn't have so much pressure, and to be honest, he's a one-trick pony. He's a great power hitter, but he's not a great base-runner, and he strikes out a lot and doesn't usually hit for a great average.

Miguel Tejada is another great player, but he is being wasted in Baltimore, and he'll likely get bored playing for an awful Orioles team. That will eventually affect his play and his fantasy stats.

Boston's Manny Ramirez will usually put up big numbers, but at some point his antics and problems will catch up with him and bring his fantasy numbers down. Look for that to happen this year.

Carlos Lee. Just like Soriano, Lee signed a big contract during the offseason when he joined Houston. Lee is expected to give a big boost to a rocky Astros offense, but he won't add as much as fantasy owners would like.

Pedro Martinez. Once again, Martinez's body broke down at the end of the season in 2006, and he won't be much help this season.

Play ball

 Pitchers and catches begin to report this week for Major League Baseball teams, and that means the interest returns for fantasy baseball leagues. We’ve got to have something to occupy our time until football returns, right?
 With the players returning to action (sort of) this week, it’s the perfect time to look at my top 10 players for fantasy leagues for 2007.
1. Albert Pujols. Really, is there anyone else to take first? Seriously, passing on him with the top pick would be like not taking LaDainian Tomlinson in your football draft.
2. Johan Santana. A pitcher this early? Yeah, I know, but this guy is too good to pass up.
3. Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod had the type of season last year that will make him drop in most leagues. Don’t let him slip too far. He’s going to have a huge year.
4. Jose Reyes. He does so many things, and that makes him almost as valuable to a fantasy team as his real team.
5. Ryan Howard. No sophomore slump for him last year. He has already been the NL Rookie of the Year and the NL MVP. Next up is greatness.
6. Chase Utley. He’s the best second baseman in the league and may be the best offensive second baseman since Ryne Sandberg. He’ll get even better this year even after getting a big contract.
7. Vladimir Guerrero. He still is probably the most talented overall player in the majors.
8. David Ortiz. Need a big hit? He’ll come through. And he has come through with big fantasy stats, as well.
9. Carlos Beltran. The center fielder had the year last year the Mets were waiting for. It continues in 2007.
10. David Wright. Yep. That’s three Mets in the top 10. Not good news for the Braves’ pitching staff and the team’s fans.