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.

The next wave

After getting through the first 10 or so picks of your NASCAR draft, there are still going to be plenty of drivers available (actually, that's a running joke in most of the fantasy leagues I'm in).

Be careful with the next wave of picks because league titles can be won or lost based on those selections. Seriously, who would have thought Jeff Burton would be so strong last year, but if you had picked him, he may have helped you win your league.

With that in mind, keep these guys in your thoughts when you get through your top picks:

Kasey Kahne: With Ray Evernham running his show, he could be the next big name in the sport and this year could be his year to shine.

Dale Jarrett/Michael Waltrip: After jumping to Toyota, they both have something to prove, Waltrip that he can run his own team and Jarrett that he's not washed up.

Elliott Sadler: Like Jarrett, he struggled last year with Robert Yates Racing, but he needs to show he can rebound.

And then there's Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Casey Mears, Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick. All of these guys are middle-of-the-road kind of drivers who could break out and have big years. Take a look at them if you have a chance to pick them.

Picking NASCAR drivers

As usual, NASCAR's season kicks into high gear in February with its biggest race of the year, the Daytona 500. This year's season is made even more interesting with the addition of Toyota's teams and the couple of big names who have jumped (Dale Jarrett and Michael Waltrip lead the list) to those teams.

And while there will probably be some surprises this season (maybe a Toyota driver will win a race or two, but it's doubtful one of them will compete for the points title), the names to watch for your NASCAR fantasy teams are all pretty familiar:

1. Jimmie Johnson. It's always harder to win a second title than the first, but Johnson and his team look pretty strong again.

2. Tony Stewart. Sure, Stewart missed the Chase for the championship last year, but he had the strongest team at the end of the year, and that momentum will carry over into this season. He always is at his best when he's driving angry, and he can't be happy about 2006.

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. The troublesome stepmother aside, Junior is going to have a big year with a lot of wins. He very easily could be the top pick in most fantasy drafts.

4. Jeff Gordon. He may not be the dominant driver he once was, but you can never count out Gordon. All those wins and points titles add up to a driver who knows what it takes to win races.

5. Matt Kenseth. This is a tough one. Kenseth doesn't win many races, but he sure does earn a lot of points each week.

Others to watch: Kurt and Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman (especially if he and Kurt Busch can finally end the long-running driver troubles at Penske Racing), Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Getting started

I guess you could say I'm addicted to fantasy sports.

Starting back in the early 1990s, I've pretty much tried it all, and that was before the
explosion of the internet. Back then, we had a commissioner who had to pick up the USA Today each week to update baseball stats for our baseball league.

But it didn't stop there. Next came a NASCAR fantasy league that at one point grew to 16 owners. And with that many people, it was pretty much impossible to have two good drivers on each team. And then things really got crazy. There were NBA, NHL and golf leagues and my clear favorite: football leagues with a close second of NCAA tournament brackets (third is probably a contest we have each year to see who can pick the most bowl games correctly).

Through the years, I've been involved in several football fantasy leagues, and in most seasons
there have been more than one going on at a time. That always leads to having to try to figure out which team or player you want to do well as they possibly go up against a player or team you have on another team. Isn't that fun?

But the past few years, I've settled into a couple of football leagues. One is a traditional
fantasy league with several offensive players piling up points, although we have a little bit of a
different slant with just as many defensive players.

The other league focuses on teams. Each year, 20 or so of us gather in Lakeland for a yearly
draft. The 16 teams (some teams have more than one owner) draft eight college football teams and two pro teams, and it has added to the excitement and interest in football season each year. Now, we all have an excuse to stay up to see how Hawaii did each Saturday night.

Like I said, I'm addicted to fantasy sports. Now, being an expert is a totally different thing.
In the traditional fantasy league, I made the playoffs this year for the first time in a few
years. In the other league, I won the title once, but I have finished deep in the pack more often
than not.

But to be honest, taking part in the drafts in both leagues more than makes up for displaying a
knack for picking players/teams with my heart instead of my head. The drafts are interesting and exciting and bring together a group of friends (at least we're friends some of the time).

And that's the great thing about fantasy leagues. They're a great way for friends, even ones who
live in different parts of the country, to interact and keep in touch and enjoy sports all at the
same time. Hopefully, this blog will reflect that and help the readers enjoy their fantasy
leagues.