Courtesy of KRT Campus

There was a hole in the hearts of many.

A void, a vacancy, an empty feeling.

There was reason to live, of course, but what is living without the waiver wire? Why breathe without “Baseball Prospectus?” Why go on without a list to watch?

Like Marty McFly, fantasy baseball is back but without the future.

There is only the present, in the form of Grady Sizemore and Rich Harden. Chase Utley and Albert Pujols. Johan Santana and Hee-Sop Choi. OK, scratch the last one.

My fantasies are back – all four teams.

We have TheBaltimoreAreolas and MikeIGottaPiazza. We have WickedyWhack and ShawnWeinstein’sNo.1. Filling out the lineups every day is a chore, not a pleasure. A career worth of clicking a mouse.

There have been two-for-one trades (Ramon Hernandez and Danny Haren for Rickie Weeks). There have been early season pickups (hello, Matt Murton) and even a few drops (goodbye, Francisco Liriano).

Fantasy baseball is with us for the next six months, and not a moment too soon. If you’re anything like me, you had to curb the addiction with other sports.

Fantasy hockey, fantasy basketball, NCAA Tournament pools. I knew I was a sick, sick man once I registered the team name “Vroom, Vroom” for, you guessed it, fantasy auto racing.

Fantasy, you complete me.

You had me at Helton.

All this talk about fantasy baseball and love got me thinking: What young guns have I gone gaga over?

You can have your Jake Peavy and Roy Oswalt, thank you. Give me Matt Cain in the 10th round or Scott Kazmir in the 14th. Take Andy Pettitte early, I’ll grab Oliver Perez late. Get “risky” with Curt Schilling; I’ll get “frisky” with Ervin Santana. Umm, that sounded bad.

This season, pitchers are about as reliable as a 1992 Buick Regal. I know from experience, in both cases. So far, my staff’s been blown out, and my engine’s blown up.

Here’s hoping you stayed away from pitchers in hitter’s parks. No need to draft Tom Gordon, whose Phillies play 81 games in the monstrosity that is Citizens Bank Park, when you can choose Mike Gonzalez of the Pittsburgh Pirates six rounds later.

But now that pitchers are out of the way, let’s talk about the real steals of the draft – the relatively unknown hitters that were either drafted very late or are still on the wire.

Of course, there’ll be no ordinary Joe (Mauer) here. Victor Martinez was gone long ago. Someone stole Coco Crisp in round nine. There will have to be replacements, there’ll have to be some medicine for the pain of losing out on Matt Holliday.

At catcher, look for a couple of young bucks from the National League’s Eastern Division: Brian McCann of the Atlanta Braves and Josh Willingham of the Florida Marlins. If you choose to pass on the M & M’s, don’t compensate with Javy Lopez in the sixth round. Wait it out until the 18th round and McDraft McCann.

Albert Pujols and Mark Teixeira will be off the board before you have your pen out of your pocket, so, rather than take a guy like Dmitri Young (who’ll be on the shelf for at least 40 games), go for Detroit’s Chris Shelton. Or go for more with Justin Morneau of the Twins, who batted something like .910 in Spring Training.

Couldn’t swing a trade for Chase Utley or Alfonso Soriano? Take Rickie Weeks or Tadahito Iguchi, and you’ll be fine.

There are plenty of steals to be found at all positions. Cleveland’s Jhonny Peralta at shortstop, Colorado’s Garrett Atkins at third base, Tampa Bay’s Jonny Gomes in the outfield.

It’s a buyer’s market for hitters this year, so get out your checkbook.

Before you mortgage the house, though, know three simple rules. Don’t draft a San Diego Padres’ hitter early, don’t waste your last draft pick because you think your choice will make league-mates laugh and don’t take Magglio Ordonez.

He’s no fantasy in baseball.

He’s a nightmare.

-Jon Gold is a journalism junior and Managing Editor of The Daily Aztec.

-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec.