Chase Utley's production at second base for the Phillies has cemented his status as an annual selection near the top of any fantasy draft.

John Iacono/SI

Listen up folks: The days of winning your fantasy baseball league title by showing up on Draft Day with one pre-season baseball magazine, one sheet filled with names of your favorite players, and a six-pack of your favorite beer are over with. Today's fantasy players are a sophisticated group who run their teams 24/7, 365 days per year. And with this being Leap Year, I trust they've used that 366th day to their advantage as well!

No, to win fantasy league titles these days you need to be prepared well before draft day. You need to follow the Arizona Fall League games. You need to follow the Winter League games. You need to follow the Hot Stove League moves during the off-season and even attend some spring training games if possible. You have to read player notes like you follow the stock market. Any edge you can find in this game, you must take it because the competition is already beating you to the punch.

With all of this in mind, here are 10 friendly tips to prepare for Draft Day:

1. Don't take risks in the first round

There's an old fantasy baseball saying that says, "you can't win your league in the first round but you sure as heck can lose it there." In other words, your franchise foundation can definitely be found in the first round, so don't take risks right off the bat. This year it sure seems like Alex Rodriguez, Hanley Ramirez, David Wright, Jose Reyes, Matt Holliday, Jimmy Rollins and Miguel Cabrera are the "sure things," while someone like Albert Pujols with the ailing elbow is the biggest risk. In the National Fantasy Baseball Championship drafts last weekend, Alex Rodriguez went first in all 30 drafts, while Pujols went no higher than 9th and he fell as low as 22nd in one league. A-Rod seems like the perfect foundation block and Pujols seems like the riskiest pick this year.

2. Set targets in each category to reach

To win in rotisserie baseball, you usually need to earn 80 percent of the available points in your league, sometimes more. With that as a gauge, look at your past standings in your league and shoot for that 80 percent mark in EVERY category. So let's say you need to finish third or fourth in every category and then target those numbers on draft day. In the NFBC, the targets are like 1,100 runs and RBIs, 260 home runs, 180 stolen bases, a .282 team batting average, 100 wins, 80 saves, 1,200 strikeouts and a 4.05 team ERA. You can't win a league title if you don't know how to get there.

3. Target your players to get with ADPs

One of the best tools today is Average Draft Position lists. You can find them on most major web sites that host numerous drafts and it has become a road map to the upcoming drafts. Smart fantasy owners don't use ADPs as gospel, but they get an idea of where their top players are going in other drafts and they realize they may need to grab them a round earlier if they really want them. This past weekend, owners who really wanted Corey Hart grabbed him at the end of the second round or early third round, almost a full round ahead of his ADP (37th overall). Hart actually went 17th in one draft and consistently went between 28th and 32nd. It was the same thing for Jeremy Hermida, Lastings Milledge and Johnny Cueto as owners went after them several rounds ahead of their ADPs. If you REALLY want a player, go get him no matter what anyone else thinks.

4. Target players with upside potential

Novice owners seem to rely too much on last year's statistics and go with proven veterans who may be on their last legs. Astute fantasy players tend to mix in the veterans with the rising young stars, players who have more upside this year. Hitters seem to peak at age 27 - especially young stars who have been in the majors for 5-6 years before that birthday - while pitchers tend to peak at age 29. This year you are seeing owners target rising young stars like Rickie Weeks, Josh Hamilton, Hermida, Matt Kemp, Corey Hart and Ian Kinsler and grabbing them well before their ADPs. You'd be wise to look at all of these guys, too, and grab them on draft day.

5. Watch for position scarcity

What makes Chase Utley such a slam-dunk first round pick? Well, obviously he has the talent to be a top 10 selection as he can hit .330 with 30-plus homers, 100-plus RBIs, 100-plus runs and 15-plus stolen bases. But he's also head and shoulders above a weak second base class, so get your second sackers early if possible. Guys such as Utley, Brandon Phillips, B.J. Upton, Brian Roberts, Ian Kinsler and Robinson Cano are all going in the first five rounds because the talent after them is so week. First base is also weaker than in years past and catcher is obviously a mixed bag of talent. The fact that you need two catchers for your roster makes that position even more troublesome. Also keep in mind that outfield is thin for depth as several teams are using platoons. When you get to around the 40th outfielder, you start to struggle for a legitimate fill-in.

6. Know your league rules

This sounds simple enough, but some owners don't realize what their minimum innings pitched level is, or don't know the position eligibility rules for their league. Every league is different, so make sure you know your league rules before you head into the draft room.

7. Start with a top 250 list: This sounds basic enough, but I've seen too many owners walk in with only position-by-position rankings and miss out on top talent very early in the draft. I'd peruse as many pre-season baseball publications and web sites as possible and get a feel for what others are projecting for a top 250 list. Then I'd compile my own list and have that road map to success right in front of me for the early rounds. After that, you fill in your position needs and win the league title with a strong finish.

8. Bring a detailed Cheat Sheet

Again, whether it's your own cheat sheet or one from a publication, it's essential that you have players ranked to your liking at every position. I can do every draft with just four sheets of paper -- two for my top 250 and two for my positional cheat sheets -- as I have everything ranked the way I want them. The decisions on draft day are much easier that way.

9. Mock draft as much as possible

Practice makes perfect and today's technology allows you to prepare for draft day over and over before the big day comes. Sites such as MockDraftCentral.com allow you to mock draft for a minimal price, and they even contain ADPs of recently completed drafts. The mocks allow you to try out drafts from various spots in the draft order and it also prepares you for certain positional runs, like the closer run or the catcher run. I can't imagine doing a draft these days without mock drafting in a few first.

10. Have fun

Does it get any simpler than that? After all, this is a fun, fun hobby and draft day is like Christmas Day for all of us old timers. We get to unwrap 23-30 presents and then play with them for 26 weeks. Enjoy draft day and the season ahead because nothing is better than a season of fantasy baseball. 

(Greg Ambrosius is the founder of the National Fantasy Baseball Championship. For more details, go to http://www.fantasybaseballchampionship.com/.)