I guess it is no secret how much I love both my Strat teams at this point. Both have solid lineups, platoons, benches, starting pitching, and a relief corps. And, if I play my cards right, or more appropriately, my cards do their thing, I am hoping my AL team plays my NL team in our World Series. It really could happen.

And, it is funny, because Strat and roto are completely different animals, and here we are in the throes of the roto draft season. And, well, in roto, we are drafting for this year, while in Strat, we are replaying last.

Still, I could not help but get a nice warm pleasurable feel as I witnessed a bunch of NFBC drafts, thinking about my Strat teams, noting just how high in the drafts, or expensive in the auctions, they all were.

And, I write that knowing that a good Strat card does not translate into a good fantasy player, just like a good fantasy player is not necessarily the best guy on the diamond. Like Wade Boggs, always a great hitter, but a player who never was at valuable at roto as he was to the Red Sox.

Still, in looking at my players, and watching the drafts, I was pretty happy and confident. For example, Hanley Ramirez was a first round pick in every draft I witnessed, and I have him on my NL team, along with Adam Dunn (consistent fourth rounder) and Shane Victorino (sixth rounder). In auctions this troika probably would have gone for close to $90, and well, I have them together.

On my AL squad no one stands out quite as overtly as a position player, but I do have Jonathan Papelbon, generally the top rated closer. And, I have a score of really good mid-rounds guys, like Nick Swisher, Jhonny Peralta, Matt Cain, Joe Mauer, and Austin Kearns.

But, it was funny that whenever one of my players was taken, and it mattered not whether it was Rick Vanden Hurk or Carlos Marmol, I got a good feeling about my Strat-O prospects for the year.

Whenever a player of mine, present, or past, was even nominated, I thought of their spot on my respective AL or NL teams, or who I traded to get the guy, or traded with to get rid of the guy.

Ronnie Paulino. Chris Capuano. Duaner Sanchez. Jermaine Dye. Felipe Lopez. Orlando Hudson. Todd Helton. Matt Cain. David Bush. Kevin Gregg.

All of them were players I had or have, and all came or went over the last year, and for every one of them, in each of the three drafts at the NFBC I witnessed over last weekend, I got that warm Strat feeling when their names were mentioned.

To me, that is a lot of the wonder of baseball. True, I do think that an advantage of playing many formats is it helps shine a light on each format, and present a strategy, much like cultural diversity becomes a strength in business problem solving.

But, overall, it is baseball, and games, and baseball cards, and my guys that jazz me and keep me coming back. I will even be back next week, maybe talking about something a little more strategic and practical for our playing.

For now, that player man love thing has me coming and going. It is draft time, after all, when all signs point to optimism and success. So, throw your arms around it with me.

There is always next week.