It's time for the last installment of my Fantasy Baseball draft projections.  You can reach the previous rounds by clicking here (Round 1) or here (Round 2).  As always, remember this is based on a standard 5x5 snake draft, non-keeper league.  And if you desire a deeper look at the prospective 2008 fantasy baseball drafting season, stay tuned.  GSI will be beginning our own Mock Draft shortly.  I, along with 11 other of my colleagues will be participating.  The mock draft will not be played out.  However, there will be a GSI House League for you all to follow this season.  Details will be forthcoming on that.

25.  Curtis Granderson:  Last of the real solids for 25 HR/25 SB.  Grab him now.  Should improve on the 75 runs scored from last season due to the Tiger's lineup improvements in the offseason.  Plus, if you had the first pick in your draft and followed my projections, you now have A-Rod (power), Peavy (ace rotation starter) and now Granderson (speed).  Not a bad foundation.

26.  Mark Teixiera:  Should be one of the better values in fantasy baseball in 2008.  He might not even go as high as the 3rd round in your league.  He'll get his 30+ HR's even in Turner Field.  He will be playing in his contract year, and players usually like to work extra hard to show up in that walk year, knowing it'll lead to a big payday.  But you have to be patient with Tex.  He is a notorious slow-starter, but invariably picks up the pace in the second half of the season every year.

27.  Magglio Ordonez:  Quietly one of the most prolific hitters of the past two years, since returning from knee surgery.  Remember, everyone was talking about this guy as the AL MVP until A-Rod went on his tear.  Also a great value because I think most will overlook Mags a bit, due to all the new sensationalism in that lineup.

28.  Carlos Beltran:  Most of Mock Draft Central's drafts have Beltran going in the late first, early second round.  I understand that from the speed potential perspective.  But I can't understand how owners are still taking that risk.  This cat hasn't played a full season since arriving in Queens in 2005.  Worse yet, all of his injuries have been to his legs, severly affecting his speed; and therefore his value.  Lastly, he had surgery on both of his patella tendons in early October.  Watch Spring Training for this one.  He may even plummet down my draft board before all is said and done with.

29.  B.J. Upton:  Last season was Upton's first full season in the bigs.  All he did was become the first D-Ray to have a 20/20 season.  He also forked over a .300 battting average and a .386 OBP.  High ceiling for this cat.

30.  Lance Berkman:  'Big Puma' got off to a rough start last season, which I believe can be attributed to getting his legs fully under him after recontructive knee surgery in the 2006 offseason.  He'll be back to his .300+/25+ HR/100+ RBI self this season.  And eventhough the Astros rotation is a complete mess, Ed Wade is fielding a potentially destructive offensive lineup.  Good news for both 'Puma' and Carlos Lee.

31.  Alex Rios:  Rios only managed 17 SB's last season.  But it was his first full season, without injury, in the majors.  The potential for a 25 HR/25 SB season is definitely there.  Add in a high average and OBP and Rios has all the makings for an All-Star caliber season.  Only question is how will the change from Troy Glaus to Scott Rolen affect the rest of the Jay's lineup.

32.  Russell Martin:  Some may say this is a little early in the game to be considering my catcher position.  Well, Martin is not your usual catcher.  Most catchers don't steal 20+ bases along with their high average.  Most catchers run like they have a piano tied to thier back.  Did I mention that Martin is not most catchers?

33.  Victor Martinez:  No this isn't a ridiculous run on catchers.  These two just happen to be the Top 2 in baseball.  Martinez won't steal you bases.  In fact, he's one of those "runs like a piano is tied to his back" guys from above.  But Martinez will hit between 25-30 HR and top 100 RBI.  Not many backstops putting up those type of numbers either.

34.  Eric Byrnes:  Byrnes is a bit of enigma.  He literally doubled his SB totals from 2006 (25) to 2007 (50).  You don't see that very often.  Eventhough I think that the D'Backs will have to keep their running ways about them if they want to contend again this season, I don't expect Byrnes to chalk up "fiddy" SB's again this year.  However, 35-40 is entirely possible.  That has plenty of value.

35.  Aramis Ramirez: A-Ram's power totals were a bit off from his norm last season due to wrist and knee injuries.  If he's fully healed, I expect him to go back to topping 30 HR/100 RBI again this season.

36.  Brandon Webb:  All Webb has done from 2004-2007 is start 30+ games each season, throw more than 200 innings each season, have a 3.60 ERA or less each season, and notch 160+ K's each season.  Oh. He also won the Cy Young in 2006.  Not bad for the last pick of the 3rd round.

Don't forget to keep checking back with GSI has continue to get you prepared for the 2008 Fantasy Baseball season with our upcoming Mock Draft.  Don't miss it! 

Last night the heavyweights in the UFC were in the spotlight. The interim heavyweight title was on the line as Tim Sylvia took on Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. A shot at that title may have also been up for grabs as Frank Mir battled against UFC newcomer, Brock Lesnar. Both fights actually ended with the winner snatching victory from the jaws of apparent defeat. So let's not waste any time and get right into last night's results.

MAIN CARD RESULTS

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira def. Tim Sylvia by Submission (guillotine choke) at 1:28 in the 3rd round.
Nogueira made history last night as he became the first fighter to have ever held the PRIDE heavyweight championship and now the UFC heavyweight championship. He did this in very impressive fashion. Most of the fight was dominated by Sylvia. He knocked Nogueira down on multiple occasions but could never finish him. At one point in the first round it looked like Sylvia was going to pull out the victory as he had Nogueira down and was pounding on him. But the referee did a good job of letting the fight continue as he knew how resilient Nogueira was. While on his back Nogueira tried to cinch in a few different submissions but to no avail, until the third round that is. Sylvia had beaten up Nogueira for the first two rounds but couldn't stop Nogueira from taking him down in the third round. Nogueira tried many times to take Sylvia down but it wasn't until the third round that he was able to do so. Battered and bloodied, Nogueira swept Sylvia down to the mat and locked in a guillotine choke. A few seconds later Sylvia tapped out. Sylvia was trying to make history by becoming only the second fighter in the UFC to win the heavyweight title three times. While it looked like he would accomplish that at times, it was Nogueira's unwillingness to be defeated that had him making history instead.

Frank Mir def. Brock Lesnar by Submission (knee bar) at 1:30 in the 1st round.
While this fight wasn't the actual main event on the card, it was the one that was being used to advertise the PPV. While the fight only lasted 90 seconds, it was one of the more interesting fights of the night. Lesnar, a former college amateur wrestling champion as well as a former WWE heavyweight champion, came out and took the fight to Mir right away. From the word "fight" Lesnar was all over Mir. He took him down to the mat with ease and started dropping hammer fists on Mir's head. At one point Mir rolled over while Lesnar was raining down blows and he ended up hitting Mir in the back of the head. Normally a fighter will get a warning for doing that as you're not allowed to hit the back of the head. But in this case, referee Steve Mazzagatti stopped the fight and made Lesnar get up and told him that he was taking a point away from him for hitting in the back of the head. Not only was I confused by this, but so were the commentators. The fight was restarted (back in the standing position rather than in the position the were in before it was stopped like it normally would have been) and Lesnar went right back on the attack. Mir tried to lock in an arm bar submission a couple different times but Lesnar was so strong and able to pull himself out. Out of nowhere Mir locked in a knee bar and Lesnar could not escape and he was forced to tap out. While this was only Lesnar's second fight in MMA, he looked impressive. He still has a lot to learn but you can count on him being back soon and making noise in the heavyweight division. Mir, on the other hand, could have locked up a shot at the heavyweight title with this impressive win. 

Nate Marquardt def. Jeremy Horn by Submission (guillotine choke) at 1:37 in the 2nd round.
The last time we saw Marquardt was in a loss to middleweight champion Anderson Silva in July of 2007. Last night he took on a very accomplished MMA fighter in Jeremy Horn and looked very impressive. After landing successfully punches from inside Horn's guard, Marquardt almost got caught at the end of the first round as Horn was able to get ahold of his arm and almost cause a tap-out after locking in an omaplata. Marquardt held on and the round ended. Early in the second round Horn took Marquardt down to the mat but the Marquardt returned to his feet. From a standing position Marquardt was able to lock in a guillotine choke. He sunk it in really good and Horn was forced to tap.

Ricardo Almeida def. Rob Yundt by Submission (guillotine choke) at 1:08 in the 1st round.
Yundt took this fight on very short notice, three days notice to be exact. He filled in for Alan Belcher who was suffering from a case of bronchitis. Yundt, a veteran of the Alaskan Fighting Championship, landed a nice uppercut that seemed to rattle Almeida a little, but that would be all the offense he would be able to muster. Almeida scored a quick takedown and after missing on an elbow strike, he cinched in a guillotine choke. Yundt was actually able to get back up to his feet while Almeida was holding on to the choke. He tried to slam Almeida to the mat, actually flipping both of them over in the process, but he couldn't get Almeida to break the hold. Yundt had to tap out just 68 seconds into his first UFC fight.

Tyson Griffin def. Gleison Tibau by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round.
Griffin is known for putting on a great show anytime he steps into the Octagon. His fights have actually been awarded "Fight of the Night" his last few times out. That would not be the case this time around. He took the fight to Tibau, trying to keep the match standing. Tibau was able to take Griffin down a few times throughout the fight, but Griffin was able to escape and get back to a standing position without much of an effort. Griffin landed a lot of good leg and body kicks which helped to set up punches to the head. Tibau never went down though. The fight ended up going the distance and the judges awarded the decision to Griffin. Known for his great fights, the crowd actually booed the decision victory for Griffin. He apologized to the crowd because he knew that he normally put on a good show and it just didn't happen this time out.

PRELIMINARY BOUTS RAPID RESULTS
-Chris Lytle def. Kyle Bradley by KO at 0:33 in the 1st round.
-Tim Boetsch def. David Heath by TKO at 4:52 in the 1st round.
-Marvin Eastman def. Terry Martin by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round.
-Rob Emerson def. Keita Nakamura by Split Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round.

Next up is UFC 82: Pride of a Champion where the UFC and PRIDE middleweight titles will be unified when Anderson Silva takes on Dan Henderson on March 1st from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

PPV Prediction Results: 4-5 (43-32 overall)