Along with the upcoming baseball season comes everyone’s chance to show that they truly know best. That’s right, fantasy baseball is starting up once again. Here are some tips that will help you win bragging rights among all of your friends.

First and foremost, use your early pick on a stellar starting pitcher. There are easy targets for this–Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins is a surefire ace. Other good picks would be Randy Johnson of the New York Yankees, Curt Schilling of the Boston Red Sox or Jason Schmidt of the San Francisco Giants. Roger Clemens of the Houston Astros is also a reliable number one starter.

After a solid starter, try to pick up either a power hitter or a good relief pitcher, preferably a closer. People tend to fawn over power hitters, but in most leagues, saves count just as much as home runs. If you can nab two great closers early in the draft you will have great trade bait and might be able to get a lopsided deal for one of them from a team with less than adequate pitching. Closers to look for are Eric Gagne of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees, Brad Lidge, a 20-year-old stud who came of age in the playoffs last year for the Houston Astros and Keith Foulke of the Boston Red Sox.

As for the aforementioned power hitters, these are the names most people know best and go for first in the draft: Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, Manny Ramirez, Vladimir Guerrero and Barry Bonds are your best bets for most offensive categories.

When picking an offensive threat for your team, it is always a good idea to look for an all-around player, one who has power, hits for average and steals bases. The names that fit under this category are few and far between, but if you can pick one up in the second or third round do so. You won’t be sorry. Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets, who is fresh off a $119 million contract, Miguel Tejada of the Baltimore Orioles and Carl Crawford of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are great all-around players to have on your squad.

Remember that a well-balanced team is what you are looking for, not one full of sluggers or of ace starting pitchers. When the later rounds come along, there are some players who may have fallen off the radar last year but will surely make an impact in your fantasy league. Magglio Ordonez of the Detroit Tigers was injured most of last year but in the past five or so years has been among the best hitters in the MLB. Bobby Abreu of the Philadelphia Phillies is also someone who tends to slip under the radar. Pedro Martinez of the New York Mets had a non Pedro-like year last year but still remains among the elite pitcher of baseball and has something to prove this year, and I think he will prove it.

During the later rounds, you may want to do some research on players who ended the season well last year. They may just be starting to come into their own. Jeremy Bonderman of the Detroit Tigers is a young pitcher who came into his own towards the end of the season last year, much like Johan Santana did in the 2003 season.

Now the question remains, why should you take my advice? By no means am I the authority on fantasy baseball; all I know is that I followed this criteria last year and ended the season in my league of 12 people in first place with both the AL and NL Cy Young winners, the NL MVP and two runners-up for the AL MVP. Good luck and play ball!