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In case you've forgotten, let's review how most (12-team) 1st Round drafts looked like in March 2007:

Yahoo-User (Avg. Pick)

1. Albert Pujols (2.1) 2. Jose Reyes (4.4) 3. Johan Santana (4.9) 4. Alfonso Soriano (5.0) 5. Alex Rodriguez (5.7) 6. Ryan Howard (6.6) 7. Chase Utley (9.6) 8. Carlos Beltran (9.8) 9. David Ortiz (10.0) 10. Miguel Cabrera (11.8) 11. Carl Crawford (12.0) 12. David Wright (13.2)

Congratulations to those owners who knew to take A-Rod with their 1st round pick and HanRam with their 2nd. On the flip side, fans across the nation can sympathize with owners who fell in love with their one-two, Soriano-Hafner combination... how's that Prozac helping? In all seriousness, many owners were let down and disappointed with the production they got out of their first round pick. Here's a quick recap of last year's 1st-Rounders... with value ratings provided next to each player and categorized as either Poor Value, Fair Value , Solid Value or Great Value:

1. Pujols- Poor Value: Sure, I'd happily take him on one of my fantasy teams any day, but the truth of the matter is that the universally acknowledged #1 player chosen in 2007 drafts had a down year. After giving owners 4 straight years of plus 1.000 OPS candy, Mr. Pujols batted under 1.000 for only the second time in his career and had career lows in Runs, HRs and RBIs.

2. Reyes- Fair Value: Despite his miserable September in which he "only" had 5 SBs, Reyes had a total of 78 SBs for the year- the most since Marquis Grissom in 1992. Do people realize that Reyes had nearly 30 more SBs than guys like HanRam, Crawford, Byrnes and Roberts... and nearly 40 more SBs than Rollins and Figgins? The fact that millions of fantasy fans didn't even have the luxury of rostering a player with more than half his SBs makes one realize just how special Reyes can be. Even though his power numbers were down from 2006, Reyes gave owners flexibility from having to roster those dreaded one-category outfielding SB-guys.

3. Soriano- Poor Value: Who would've thought that a fairly healthy Soriano wouldn't finish in the top 40 in the SB department? To put it simply- 2006 numbers: 46 Hrs/41 SBs; 2007 numbers: 33 Hrs/ 19 SBs. Those experts predicting a let-down year for Soriano were dead on.

4. Johan- Poor Value: Of his four full seasons, this was by far Johan's worst. Superman just didn't seem to have that consistency of dominance we've all been accustomed to seeing. Sure, he had fine stats compared to the rest of the league- who can argue with a 1.07 WHIP and 235 Ks? But owners who drafted Santana were surprised to see stats next to his name like 13 Losses and 33 HRs Allowed- which by the way, only Livian Hernandez and Woody Williams allowed more. Santana had the "Peyton Manning Pass" going on in fantasy circles and was universally accepted as a first round pick despite his position, yet he disappointed owners with his highest ERA and BAA since 2001 and lowest win total since 2003.

5. A-Rod- [Insert comment and make Tony the Tiger proud]

6 . Howard- Solid Value: The two main yellow flags against Howard going into the season were (A) "There's no way he repeats last year's numbers. Pitchers know better and aren't going to pitch to him" and (B) "1st base is so deep. There's no reason to take a 1st baseman so high." While Howard's numbers were indeed down from his 2006 totals, he still finished with the 3rd most HRs in baseball (47) and the 4th most RBIs (136) despite missing most of May. Howard owners were more than content with those numbers considering it was an overall down year for 1st base-eligible guys (ex. Ortiz, Berkman, D.Lee, Helton, Nomar, Thome, Hafner, etc.).

7. Utley- Solid Value: Owners paid for the best 2nd baseman out there and with the exception of month-long freak injury, Utley delivered all season. Before the broken hand incident occurred in late July, Utley was on pace to set a new MLB-doubles record (70) as well as shatter his season-high RBI record (105). Get this-- in his return from the DL, Utley picked up right where he left off and went 3-for-5 with a homer and a double. His final line of .332/.410/.566 were career highs.

8. Crawford- Poor Value: Don't get me wrong, Crawford is an excellent player and he didn't have a horrible season, but when you could've had HanRam's 50 SBs and shortstop eligibility a round or two later, or Byrnes' 50 SBs fifteen to twenty rounds later, you cringe. While Crawford once again set career highs in AVG and OBP, he disappointed those owners expecting a jump to the 20+ HR range.

9. David Ortiz- Solid Value: Up until his monster September, Big Papi would have fallen into the Poor Value category. It wasn't that his numbers were terrible, it was just hard not to make a big deal about his drop in HRs. Ortiz's problems with the left shoulder and the torn meniscus in his right knee were the primary reasons why 2006's HR total (54) dropped nearly twenty (35), but few people give Ortiz credit for setting career highs in doubles (52), AVG (.332) and OBP (.445). Like Pujols, it's hard to believe that a line of 116-35-117-.332 can be considered a down year; the difference though is that Ortiz was drafted eight spots later.

10. Carlos Beltran- Fair Value: As long as you didn't draft Beltran 3rd overall like you may have done a couple years ago, you Beltran owners did fine. While his OPS was down more than a 100 points, his average stayed the same and he ended up with another year of 30+ HRs (33) and 20+ SBs (23). A 30/20 player with solid all-around numbers is exactly what owners will take from a late 1st round pick.

11. Vladimir Guerrero- Fair Value: Mr. "Who needs batting gloves" won this year's Home Run Derby but then did nothing to dispel the myth of the Derby Jinx by continuing his longest homerless streak of his career (30-games). Though Vlad struggled to get 30 HRs during a full season for the first time in his career, he was steady and productive throughout the year... with a plus .400 OBP, a positive BB/K ratio, and his 3rd highest RBI total of his career. One glaring number, however, was Vlad's lack of SBs. Long gone are the days of 40 SBs- but after averaging 15 SBs the last few years, he disappointed 2007 owners with only two.

12. Miguel Cabrera- Solid Value/ David Wright- Great Value: You couldn't have gone wrong by drafting either one of these young 3rd basemen. Miggy eclipsed his career high in HRs (34) and pulled his weight with his usual elite-territory percentages of .320/.401/.565. Meanwhile, only three players had more than 30 HRs and 30 SBs and one of those players is making a legitimate argument for being the best 3rd baseman in NY. In just his 3rd full season, David Wright has essentially become a 30/30 guy who'll get you 100 Runs, 100 Walks, 200 Hits, and a high AVG and OBP. Yes, Brandon Phillips and Jimmy Rollins had amazing 30/30 seasons, but Wright's was better... as he set career highs in Runs (113), Hits (196), Hrs (30), BBs (94), SBs (34), AVG (.325), OBP (.416) and SLG (.546). So here's the big question: Who will be better in two years... A-Rod or Wright?

For more baseball and general sports insight and news, check out Rotomania.com

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Baseball is a game of skill and power that is unlike any other game today. Baseball has subtly to it that is often lost in other team sports such as basketball and football. So when people come together to play this game they need to be ready for any eventuality no matter how unlikely it maybe. That is why baseball drills are so important. Practicing these different scenarios keeps players from being unprepared for what may happen during a game which is very important. Here are a few drills that teach players both the fundamentals and some of the more important drills that can help teams with their weaknesses.

A good drill for all around practice is ironically called the All Around drill. This is an excellent baseball drill to teach kids to stop the ball and how to throw in and out of field. It starts with lining up players in groups of three to four at first base, right field, and third base. Each group has a different job, the first base players try to run from first base to third without being tagged and then must slide into third base. As the player runs a coach throws a ball to the right field players. This gives them an opportunity to practice stopping the ball. Then the right fielder throws the ball low to the third base players. The third base players then need to and tag the player that ran. Its a slightly complicated drill but a good one for those that want to make sure that players are familiar with the basics of field play.

Another good drill is called The Fence drill. This is another excellent baseball hitting drill. This drill calls for a player to be standing behind some sort of solid wall; it can be made of chain link, cement, or even brink. The important thing is that the player can tell the difference between when they have touched the wall and when they have not. Have the player make their normal stance and stand about a 1-1 feet in front of the wall. Then have the player practice their hitting style, if they continually hit the wall that means that they must tighten their stance. This will in turn help them with a quicker bat swing. Just remind your players that this drill is not about power but precision that way they wont hurt themselves or the bat when they swing to far back and hit the wall.

Finally, a good creative drill to keep players practicing at home has many names but one can either be called rooftop ball or error depending on what players have heard it called. This is a simple drill that does a good job of practicing both fielding, throwing, and stopping the ball. At home, a player throws a ball down their slanted roof and tries to catch it after it rolls down. There is more than a slight chance of a gutter ball but it still does a great job of helping players at home practice in a creative way.

These different baseball drills will help players become much better rounded and in turn that will lead to better games. Baseball is a subtle art but much like an artist if a player has experience behind them it is more likely that they will be successful.

Kenny Buford is a baseball coach with over 20 years of experience. You can find more of his baseball drills on his blog:

http://www.baseball-tutorials.com/

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