Let's be honest.  If you are reading this, you probably already know about the Holy Trinity of shortstops (that's what we call them here at GSI)--Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez and Jimmy Rollins.  You also probably know that they will be drafted early in the first round of almost everyone's draft, including yours.  If you are one of the fortunate to a draft slot that high, you can stop reading now.

Seriously.  Stop now.  You're set at this position.  Move on.

But what if you're not one of the fortunate?  What if you know that there is no chance in H-E-double hockey sticks that one of the Trinity will fall to you?  What do you do?  Be patient and wait. 

An old adage says, 'Patience is a virtue'.  It works in life.  It works in a fantasy.

Shortstop is one of the deeper positions in the game, especially if you are participating in a mixed league.  It is also a position where you can get good value later in your draft. 

Why?  Because there is a second, and even third-tier of shortstops that can be had in the middle-to-late rounds of your draft that are going to provide you with excellent production, and as an added bonus (wait for it....wait for it....) they are interchangeable. 

That's right.  I said interchangeable.  As in you don't have to think, just name one. 

Choosing anyone of the second-tier shortstops is like being in the middle of a Florida orange grove and being asked to pick an orange.  Any orange.  In much the same way you would just reach up and grab the first orange you see, you can simply reach out and snag a shortstop whenever you feel like.

Here's what I mean.  I believe the second-tier of shortstops to be Jeter, Carlos Guillen, Tulowitski, Michael Young, Edgar Renteria.  That's because all of these guys are going to give you solid production in all five categories (AVG, HR, RBI, R, SB), without forcing you to have to compensate in a particular area because of a deficiency.  Using ESPN's fantasy guide (you should be using GSI's, but for the purposes of remaining unbiased, I chose to go outside the company), let's take a look at the projections for these five.

Derek Jeter:  .327 / 14 / 79 / 109 / 20
Carlos Guillen:  .305 / 19 / 91 / 91 / 14
Troy Tulowitski:  .288 / 24 / 99 / 107 / 13
Michael Young:  .305 / 11 / 97 / 90 / 10
Edgar Renteria:  .311 / 10 / 62 / 100 / 12  

You can now see what I mean by interchangeable.  Select anyone of these guys and you're going to grab someone who hits over .280, steals you double-digit bags, scores in the neighborhood of 100 runs, and drives in around 80 RBI or better.  The only difference is in home run stats, and even there, there isn't a significant gap that would cause you to lose an overall point or two in that category.  

Now for the patience side of things.  You don't have to grab any of these guys too early.  You don't need to spend your first-round pick on them.  You don't even have to feel antsy if you still don't have one of them in the third round.  According to Mock Draft Central, the first one of the above being chosen is Jeter.  On average, he's going with the 37th pick.  If you play in a standard 12-team league, that's early fourth round.  Tulowitski follows closely after, being drafted around the 46th pick (also 4th round).

Our own mock draft here at GSI bears that out as well.  Jeter and Tulowitski both went in the fourth round, with Guillen following in the fifth.  Renteria may be the best value as he isn't even listed in the Top 75 picks by Mock Draft Central, and in the GSI mock he didn't go off the board until the 11th round.  Not bad to pick up a guy that will hit above .300, score 100 runs and steal double-digit bags in the 11th round, huh?

But the great thing about shortstop right now is that you can even wait longer.  Value can still be had even after the second-tier group.  Players like Orlando Cabrera, Jhonny "Who put this H in my name?" Peralta, Miguel Tejada and Kahlil Greene can be selected even later in most drafts.  However, this group of players' value is limited.  You have to draft anyone of these with that caveat in mind.

Tejada may not play for 50 games because of the Mitchell Report's investigation.  Peralta will kill you in stolen bases.  Greene will kill your average.  Cabrera will kill your power.  If you are prepared to draft so as to compensate for those deficiencies, then even these guys will be valuable late in the draft.

So if come draft day you don't have a top selection slot, don't worry.  You let the owners ahead of you grab the Holy Trinity.  You'll be secure in the knowledge that you can build your team around other studs like Howard, Fielder, Holliday or Pujols, or maybe develop a serious rotation with arms like Santana, Peavy, Webb or Beckett, and still have plenty of juice at the shortstop position waiting on you in a couple rounds.

Like picking oranges in China Grove (had to get a Doobie Brothers reference in). 

The University of Cincinnati basketball team is riding high a year earlier than expected, currently a surprising sixth (8-5) in the Big East Conference.

The buzz around town is not only about UC's near-guarantee of postseason play in the NIT, but maybe taking the Big East tournament title - and the automatic NCAA Tournament bid that comes with it - all the way to those hallowed March brackets.

But not even 20 minutes away lies a team in waiting; a team finding success right under the city's nose.  Sure, you hear about it, but there's not a whole lot of discussion about the remarkable season Xavier is having.

Maybe it's the stigma that the A-10 is a has-been conference, but anyone who has watched this team play would be hard-pressed not to root for them.

Earlier this year, when so-called experts proclaimed Xavier to be a three-seed in disguise, no one payed attention.  Not even Skyline-eating, pig-run-training Cincinnatians.

Yet, here they are, decimating the A-10 and dominating the month of February like they have for the past few years, and only after they crack the top 10 do they get any credit.

Still, it's only a blip on the radar in this self-proclaimed college basketball town.  Even the uncharacteristically average Kentucky Wildcats are getting more love.

There is no doubt that UC is making an incredible showing of their own, and Big Blue supporters have their eyes set on an outside chance to make the tourney as well, but Xavier deserves all the fan support they can get.  They play like a team (something fans from this area typically admire) and have a good shot at running deep come March Madness time.  No coaches are there threatening the fans (ala the Bearcats) to show up or else; Sean Miller continues to steer the ship and his players are putting their nose to the grindstone regardless of the amount of praise they get for doing it night in and night out.

Unfortunately, Xavier has tried to make noise through their stellar play and no one notices.  Many trees have fallen this season at the hands of the Muskies, but area sports fans for some strange reason aren't around, and are wondering if any noise is being made at all.  They will miss out on one of the greatest local seasons in recent history, and will swear they were there all along as the accolades come in March and April throughout their long tournament run.

File this under the odd "Where are they now" folder.  The intrepid bloggers over at The Meaningful Collateral have discovered the whereabouts of David Klingler - I wasn't worried about him, but I'm sure he's glad that someone was interested in his recent pursuits.

Apparently Klingler has found God (clearly God was wearing the opponent's jersey, because David could never find his own receivers), and is currently pursuing his PhD at the Dallas Theological Seminary.  He's also taught at the College of Biblical Studies, and preaches every Sunday.

"If I didn’t prepare or if I didn’t perform on game day, then not only I but my whole team suffered," Klingler told the Seminary’s Kindred Spirit magazine. “In my studies at Dallas Seminary I have come to realize that my life and ministry affect me, and that my actions affect the body of Christ as a whole.

"And I apologize to anyone in Cincinnati who wanted to jump off the Carew Tower after watching me play" …

(ok, he didn't say the last line)

One can only assume this is the first step in a process to beg forgiveness of the loyal Bengal fans who tolerated his ineptitude for four years.  Granted, that's not going to probably help my family get back the money we paid for season tickets for those years...or the pieces of our souls that he helped to rip out...but it'd be a start.

Lucky number 13 is all wrapped up and quite a few owners rolled the dice in this one. The list of players includes Japan's latest import, a couple of young guys hoping to avoid a sophomore slump and two veteran pitchers that are no strangers to the DL. Take a look:

ROUND 1 | ROUND 2 | ROUND 3 | ROUND 4 | ROUND 5 | ROUND 6 | ROUND 7
ROUND 8 | ROUND 9 | ROUND 10 | ROUND 11 | ROUND 12

145) CLASGENS - Willy Taveras, OF, COL

146) SIMONS - Ben Molina, C, SF

147) MURDICO - Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, BOS

148) HUMBERT #1 - Kosuke Fukudome, OF, CHC

149) FISCHER - Kevin Kouzmanoff, 3B, SD

150) MUEHLENKAMP - Dustin Pedroia, 2B, BOS

151) DINSMORE - A.J. Burnett, SP, TOR

152) BARTEL - Aaron Rowand, OF, SF

153) BOLTON - Todd Helton, 1B, COL

154) WETZEL - Pedro Martinez, SP, NYM

155) POLKING - Rafael Soriano, RP, ATL

156) HUMBERT #2 - James Loney, 1B, LAD