By the time this hits the streets the NCAA Tournament will probably be history, which means that baseball season is officially here.
There's nothing like the anticipation of a new season beginning. It's even more exciting if you're into fantasy baseball, which I am.
I own two teams. We have already drafted in one league, which uses the head-to-head format on a weekly basis. There are nine pitching categories and nine hitting categories.
Some may think it's tough to draft a real balanced team with that many categories. I disagree, as there are plenty of good players out there all the way through the draft when using both leagues.
Here's a look at what I expect my starters to look like in week 1...
1B Ryan Howard
2B Kelly Johnson
3B Mike Lowell
SS Jimmy Rollins
UT Adrian Gonzalez
OF Carl Crawford
OF Corey Hart
OF Shane Victorino
SP Chad Billingsley
SP Brett Myers
SP Ricky Nolasco
RP Mariano Rivera
RP Jonathan Broxton
That's a pretty solid team in my book. The batting average, runs scored, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, and walks categories should be an upside. Strikeouts will not. But that's alright, I don't have to win every category to come out on top.
Walks could hurt me some when it comes to pitching. However, I like the potential for my pitchers in ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, and K/per nine innings.
If I could win all of the categories mentioned I'll easily beat my opponent.
And I can't forget about my bench. On offense I've got third baseman Mark Reynolds, catcher Gerald Laird, second baseman Chris Getz, and outfielders Jeff Francoeur and David DeJesus. Pitchers starting the first week on the bench are Rich Harden, Jair Jurrjens, Sean Marshall and Carlos Marshall.
I like this team. I think it's got a chance to win a whole lot of weeks. But you never know how injuries will affect it. Only time will tell.
I had another draft last Saturday. That one is a 14-team NL only league that has been around for somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 years.
This is my 17th year (I think) in the league, and I have yet to win it. I've finished second several times, and third several times. But the big win has eluded me.
I'm looking to change that this year. The reason is my keeper list.
You see, in this league you can keep six players. However, no player that has been kept for three seasons can be kept for a fourth, they have to be thrown back into the draft pool.
Anyway, my keepers are Mike Fontenot, Ryan Braun, Chris Carpenter, Mike Gonzalez, Brian Wilson and Matt Lindstrom. The last three are closers, which puts me in an enviable position because saves can be hard to come by.
In this league we've got a $26 salary cap on draft day, and we use dime increments to complete a 23-man roster that includes two catchers, a first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, shortstop, middle infielder, corner infielder, utility position, five outfielders and nine pitchers.
The most important thing about this league is knowing the players, and I'm not just talking about those on a Major League roster. In this league you better know plenty of guys in the minor leagues too.
This is a tough, tough, tough league. It's very difficult to win. It takes some luck, and quite a bit of knowledge about the players that are out there.
I was very confident when I wrote about this late last week. Of course, that was before the actual draft took place.
I almost forgot... This is not your typical draft for another reason, too. This draft has one owner flying in from Florida. Others will be driving in from the Metro East area, Kansas City and Wisconsin.
I suppose that winning really isn't the most important thing with this league. But make no mistake, we all want to win it every year.
No, the best part about this draft is seeing friends you don't see much of anymore. We're all spread out now. But we get together once a year just for this fantasy draft. That makes the many hours scouring the internet and reading fantasy baseball magazines to get prepared for draft day worth it.
Murphysboro, Ill. —
