As you know, during the season this column is regularly used to help get the word out on the hottest, and sometimes coldest players in baseball. To many however, the Arizona Fall League isn't really that interesting (and almost over) therefore, I have decided to dedicate this off season to drafting. To me, it is by far the most crucial part of building a fantasy team, considering that is when you will pick and choose your team.

Many may argue that playing the waiver wire and the ability to make trades are more important, but if you can get the most from your draft, you sometimes won't even need to do those things! In many leagues, it's Day 1 for everyone providing everyone a new shot to win, however in keeper leagues, it can mean many things. Maybe your team is starting to develop into a prospect powerhouse with guys like Evan Longoria and Clayton Kershaw emerging. Or maybe your team has won the championship three years in a row, nothing is gaurenteed.

For those of you who don't know what mock drafts are, you are really missing out. A mock draft is just like any other fantasy baseball draft, except for the fact that after the draft is over, so is that team. It is mainly used as a practice tool to help gain a better understanding of where players are drafted and practice different strategies.

There are many strategies to drafting in fantasy baseball considering the vast types of leagues and categories, however, we will cover those a bit later in the draft guide.

Today, however, I would like to cover the first mock draft that I took place in this year (and it's only November) over at MockDraftCentral.com, one of the best fantasy websites around, with Tim McLeod of RotoRob.com (another great fantasy site) on Saturday, November 8th. One quick note before I start going into detail about our draft, mock drafts were first made available on Friday, November 7th over at MockDraftCentral.com, but the pre-made rankings were a bit skewed and will be updated later this week (you'll understand what I'm talking about in a few minutes).

It is also worth noting that this draft was not formal, and was open to the public, and some of the teams were on auto-select for a majority of the time.

I also had the #5 pick.

Round 1: Albert Pujols- I took Pujols after the first four went Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, and then auto-drafted Alex Rodriguez, and David Wright. Some may hold off on Pujols because of the off season surgery, then again, those are probably the same people that wanted you to hold off on him this past year due to that same injury. Now it will be fixed, and one can only imagine if he's 100% coming into the season.

Round 2: Brandon Phillips- I'm not a huge Phillips fan, but the drop off at second base this year is crazy. Looking back at this pick, I might have gone a different direction, but after Brian Roberts (who went in the 3rd round) there is a big drop off in talent.

Round 3: Manny Ramirez- Some will tell you that he is getting old. Then again, those are probably Red Sox fans. Man-Ram was a stud in LA this year and some felt he should have been an NL MVP contender. If he stays in that lineup, each and every one of those players gain value, in particular Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp.

Round 4: Justin Morneau- I already had Pujols at first at this point in time, but I couldn't resist holding off on possible second round power in the 4th. Especially since Evan Longoria was drafted one slot ahead of myself.

Round 5: Carlos Zambrano- Many of the best starting pitchers were already drafted, but I felt Big Z was the best on the board at this time, especially since it was too early to draft a closer.

Round 6: Chone Figgins- This might be a reach, but his batting average will rebound this year. I had little speed at this time,and Chone can help out with that, as well as his versatility in the field.

Round 7: Joe Nathan- I don't like to take closers too early, but at this point in time we don't exactly know who will be closing where yet next year, so at this time I thought it would be safe to take a guy like Nathan. He is one of the few very stable closers in baseball and will get a lot of opportunities.

Round 8: Ryan Ludwick- Personally this was my best pick in the draft. At this time there were rumors of Ludwick going to Colorado in exchange for Matt Holliday and the idea of having Ludwick in Coors amazes me. Although he won't be there, he was still a great waiver wire guy this year, one of the best in baseball. (This is where the rankings are messed up)

Round 9: Milton Bradley- I didn't realize at the time how much power I had, but that never hurt anyone! Bradley was an MVP contender this year, and although he probably won't repeat his numbers, I couldn't pass him up in the 9th.

Round 10: Ryan Dempster- I'll take 15+ wins any day. Dempster had a career year this year, and didn't slow down until the post season. It will be interesting to see if he stays with the Cubs.

As you can see, some of the last few players I drafted should have been gone a few rounds ago, so from here on out I will just list the players I was able to grab.

11- Matt Kemp
12- Fausto Carmona
13- Willy Taveras
14- Jered Weaver
15- Stephan Drew
16- Matt Garza
17- Mike Aviles
18- Carlos Ruiz
19- Clayton Kershaw
20- Joe Saunders
21- Mike Cameron
22- Gavin Floyd
23- Dioner Navarro

Take a good look at this list, becuase come next week when the rankings are fixed, things are going to look a lot different. If your up for a confidence boost, go sign up for a draft over at MockDraftCentral.com and be sure to scroll down the lists of players to find the gem (hint: David Price, Mike Aviles, Carlos Ruiz, Clayton Kershaw, Gavin Floyd, etc.)