It's fantasy baseball time

On Feb. 13 pitchers and catchers reported to spring training. The regular season is almost two months away, but it is almost time to draft your fantasy team. And baseball is the king of fantasy sports. With unparalleled statistical categories and positional depths, it is the most complicated fantasy competition out there.

What is fantasy? It's every sports fan's dream. You enter a league with your buddies, you draft your own teams out of a pool of all the players, and then you have six months to negotiate trades, talk smack, and lead your team to victory. Competition in rotisserie leagues involves the stats your team accrues based upon the real time performance of your players.

For instance, let's say Barry Bonds is on my team and I'm playing him in the outfield tonight, when he hits two homeruns I get to add those to my fantasy totals. The best team will have the highest combined fantasy totals across the board. Basically, you are given the powers of the GM for your very own team. You think you know better than Theo Epstein? Show it with your fantasy team. Go ahead, propose a trade for Bartolo Colon that his team owner can't refuse.

To win your league, you must really know baseball: who's on a hot streak, who will benefit from a real-life trade, who is headed towards injury, and most importantly, who should be drafted at the beginning of the season. Today, I'll be focusing on position players.

The key to any team's offense this year will be its infield. While many outfielders can contribute to the traditional offensive categories (HR, RBI, AVG., SB, R), good offensive infielders, particularly second basemen and shortstops, are hard to get your hands on. For this reason, Alex Rodriguez and Alfonso Soriano should go first and second in every draft. A-Rod's numbers are ridiculous (57 HR-142 RBI-.300 AVG in 2002), and he does it all from shortstop. And Soriano? He's not a fluke. This guy may swing at everything, but he's got tons of protection and will get the green light from the Yankees to steal tons of bases. With consistent power and improved discipline, Soriano, as a second baseman, will be every fantasy manager's dream.

Another great middle infielder is Miguel Tejada (34-131-.308), last year's American League MVP, who is without a fantasy weakness and I think is worthy of being a first-round pick. The top of the draft has a lot of great players available, but what you want from your first pick is an edge. That's why I'd take Jeff Kent ahead of Vladimir Guerrero, Sammy Sosa, and Bonds.

While Barry and Sammy may hit 10 to 25 more home runs than Kent, no second baseman (other than Soriano) will come close to his production. This will give you a tremendous advantage over the other players in your league at second base. Plus, Kent is now hitting in a Houston Astros lineup between Lance Berkman and Jeff Bagwell. Also, Minute Maid Park in Houston is a launching pad for hitters. My exception to this pick is if walks or OBP count in your league, you have to take Bonds if you get the chance.

Other position players worth mentioning -- Albert Pujols is still eligible at third in most leagues, so he should be an early second round pick. Fellow third basemen Troy Glaus and Eric Chavez will have big power, but will annoy you with inconsistency and poor average. Do not waste a good draft pick on Shea Hillenbrand, but do believe in the fantasy value of shortstops Scott Rolen; Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Jeter. Edgar Renteria in St. Louis will rise in value with more steals and RBI to go with his high average, and the Rockies' Jose Hernandez could hit 30 HRs at Coors.

At second base, look for Ray Durham, who will be scoring tons of runs in San Francisco, and Florida's Luis Castillo, who may steal 50. A sleeper could be Todd Walker hitting doubles into the Fenway gap.

At first base, Todd Helton won't be going long anymore, but still could win a batting title. Paul Konerko will never see fantasy stardom like he did in the first half of 2002, and the king at first is still Jason Giambi.

Rising stars Raul Ibanez, Derrek Lee, or Josh Phelps could be valuable late draft picks. As far as catcher, let the token Mets fan in your league waste an early pick on Mike Piazza, and then get yourself a hyped rookie like Toby Hall or minor league phenom Victor Martinez and hope for the best. I almost busted-a-gut when Benito Santiago ended up fantasy's fifth best catcher.