I'm prone to overreacting after my fantasy drafts -- or, I'm prone to overreacting -- so it should come as no surprise to most of you that I'm ABSOLUTELY ECSTATIC about the one I just had for my office league. I've got that old-fashioned feeling again, folks, that feeling where you just know you're going to wreak havoc on all the land.

(I'm following El's fantasy logic that when you've got the goods, there's no need to be modest for fear of jinxing yourself; sometimes it's better to just be a jerk about it and hurt some feelings along the way.

Congratulations on the fantasy basketball title, by the way, El. I won't soon forget this comment you made to me during the playoffs: "Hey, your team only has 11 blocks this week. Isn't that not a lot?" The pain struck deep into the pits of my soul. I hope it was worth it, Elvin. I hope it was worth it.)

It was just a great night from the get-go. I sank my first jumper when I was able to land Mark Teixeira with the 8th overall pick. Then I got Miguel Cabrera (17th) and Miguel Tejada (32nd) in the second and third rounds. That's when I turned to the guy next to me and shrugged, a la Jordan vs. the Blazers in the 1992 NBA Finals.

I really did that, by the way.

Not to sound like a prick , but I honestly feel this is the best fantasy team I've ever had, and it couldn't have come at a better time, since this is also the priciest fantasy league I've ever played in.

Anyways, now that I've jinxed the hell out of myself, here's how my team looks. And yes, this is a 12-man league.

HITTERS
C Victor Martinez (4th round)
1B Mark Teixeira (1st)
2B Rickie Weeks (9th)
SS Miguel Tejada (3rd)
3B Eric Chavez (7th)
OF Barry Bonds (6th)
OF Miguel Cabrera (2nd)
OF Jim Edmonds (10th)
Util Jason Giambi (12th)
Bench: J.D. Drew (14th), Chris Shelton (17th), Ian Kinsler (18th), Justin Morneau (19th)

PITCHERS
SP Felix Hernandez (5th)
SP John Lackey (8th)
RP Armando Benitez (16th)
RP Ambiorix Burgos (20th)
P Javier Vazquez (11th)
P Zach Duke (13th)
P Matt Clement (15th)
Bench: Justin Verlander (21st)

Reconnaisance is an extremely underrated aspect of pre-draft preparation. Knowing when a player is expected to be taken in your league is almost as important as knowing the player's season projections.

Pretty much all the guys in my league told me before the draft that they hope Barry Bonds burns in hell, a general sentiment that's been shared among the guys at the office for the last, oh, say, six or seven years, according to our newsroom historian. So I was reasonably certain that he wouldn't be drafted within the first four rounds. Actually, I might have been able to get away with waiting a couple of more rounds before snatching him up, but impatience and paranoia got the best of me in the sixth round and I decided not to push it any further. He was the one guy I had to have on my team, and I knew it would have ruined my week if I'd passed him up to draft someone like Vernon Wells or Jermaine Dye. I still think getting him in the sixth was a steal.

As you can probably tell, I don't think very much of relief pitchers in fantasy baseball. They contribute only one statistic to which a good starting pitcher couldn't contribute more -- the save -- and quite honestly, you're really not that screwed if you have to pick from the dregs of the closer lot toward the end of the draft. My draft strategy has always been to stock up on positions where the talent and production level is clearly different from the early rounds to the later rounds. That's just not the case with closers. Hell, every year you can find one or two 30-save guys through free agency, Ryan Dempster and Joe Borowski being a couple of recent examples.

Using a high draft pick on a closer is the equivalent of using a high draft pick on a one-trick pony like Willy Taveras or Scott Podsednik, who can get you stolen bases in bunches, but at the expense of murdering you in the five other hitting categories. That's something I've never been willing to do. Losing saves (and stolen bases) just isn't very important to me if I can dominate my opponent in everything else. It's an especially effective strategy in head-to-head leagues, where you start with a clean slate every week and don't have to worry about being buried by the cumulative rankings of each stat category.

Still, I have to admit, it is sort of ugly to have guys like Armando Benitez and Ambiorix Burgos on my roster. My plan, eventually, will likely be to replace them with a starting pitcher who also has relief eligibility.