- Do you have to use ALL your rookie picks? If you decide the players you already have are better than what's available, can you pass on your picks?

I don't quite understand this but I'll try to cover all the bases.

There is no reason why you wouldn't want to use all of the rookie picks you have available. There is no real roster limitation at the time you make the selections and you never know how low a player that you want will fall in the draft. You can always drop the guys you picked up when you cut to 27 before the free agent draft.

I have a feeling you mis-typed and were really wondering if you have to use all of your free agent picks. The answer there is yes. You must cut down to 27 and then use all of your picks to replenish the roster.

- Can you throw the rookies you've just drafted back into the free agent pool?

Yes.

- Perhaps most importantly, what kind of talent is generally available in the first two rounds of the free agent draft? Has anyone picked up players there that helped them greatly that same year. I currently have a 6-game lead in the wildcard race after 110 games, so chances are my free agent picks won't be very high. What type of player would I be likely to get with that type of pick?

The free agent draft order is random and as far as I know UN-weighted. Therefore even if you have the best record you still have an equal chance of landing in the #1 draft position.

This is true only for the yearly free agent draft. The monthly free agent drafts are determined by record.

The yearly free agent drafts in my experience are just larger versions of the monthly variety.

It is a very shallow draft. You can pick up a potential superstar calibre player if you have a first or second overall pick (Kerry Wood was the first overall pick in one of my leagues last year). But the quality drops off very fast.

After the third round there is nothing but scrubs usually. You can find some nice long term prospects into the mid rounds.

There are of course surprises every year. Players taken in the bottom rounds sometimes emerge as real bargains. My advise is to closely watch the roster moves of all MLB teams in the spring and the first weeks of the season. Anyone who is being given the chance to play is worth drafting no matter how much of a bum they've been in the past. You never know when someone will have a breakout year or even a career season that allows you to sell him high.

On trading free agent picks. I will usually trade a first rounder for a solid regular, middle of the rotation type starter or proven reliever if I'm in a playoff hunt. But I always keep that 27 man roster in mind. If you know that you will be having trouble cutting to 27 next spring, and your playoff hopes are low, you are better off keeping the pick.

Finally, alot of the value of free agent picks is in the fact that the draft follows the roster cut to 27. Low round rookie picks are not likely to make your cut unless you have a team in total rebuiding mode. All of your free agent picks will be with you at least until the first monthly draft and many of them will be with you for the season.

Those are my thoughts on the subject... for what their worth. The spring drafts are one of the most exciting periods in PB. I'm sure you'll agree once you experience them first hand.

Cameron.