The NFBC hosted three drafts during First Pitch Arizona -- with a slight wrinkle from the usual format. Here's how my team is shaping up through 22 rounds:

C - Soto (13)
C - Iannetta (19)
1B - Pena (12)
2B - R. Weeks (5)
SS - Andrus (4)
3B - Bautista (1)
CI - Alvarez (20)
MI - Furcal (21)
OF - Stanton (3)
OF - Stubbs (6)
OF - Bruce (7)
OF - Ichiro (8)
OF - Morrison (14)
UT - (empty)

P - Halladay (2)
P - Bumgarner (9)
P - Beachy (10)
P - Cahill (11)
P - Billingsley (18)
P - Nolasco (22)
P - F. Rodriguez (15)
P - Nathan (16)
P - Street (17)

The wrinkle here will be that rosters go 50 players deep, and there are no in-season pickups or trades. Positional flexibility will be important as the draft progresses, as will having adequate depth at all positions to limit the damage of injuries.

I generally steer toward getting a pitcher within the first three rounds of leagues like the NFBC, a strategy that I seldom employ in other mixed formats. With the 15-team league size and the deeper rosters, waiver-wire upgrades are more difficult to come by and not being able to make adjustments during the season only makes obtaining quality pitching more important.

To say I was surprised that Bautista fell to me at 12th overall would be an understatement.

The pitching pool appears to be very deep, as my run of No. 2-4 guys were all undervalued based on their 2011 production or potential growth in earn values. While Cahill didn't take the leap forward that many expected last season, keep in mind that he would have been at Triple-A Durham if the Rays had developed him.

My hitters are a bit heavier in power than speed, and there are some batting average concerns here that needs to be addressed, but with 28 rounds remaining it shouldn't be overwhelmingly difficult to sort that out.

So much can change in the closer pool, but even with trades and free agency potentially giving all three of my closers a new home in 2012, that should be a strong foundation with 80-90 between them factoring in injuries, etc.