Me, I'll take Phat Albert, no matter the cost. He plays 1B and hits third and we build the rest of the team around him. My second through 10th picks are probably pitchers and maybe a shortstop and catcher.

If it isn't Albert, it's Mauer.  An elite fielding catcher who gets on base about 40% of the time, in his age 26 season. The surge in power to this height was unexpected, but I don't think anyone would be surprised if Joe knocked out about 25 dingers and 35 - 40 doubles while maintaining an OBP around .400 (if not north of!) for quite a few years. He's 6'5.   The fact that I drafted him in the 6th round of a 10 player league is ridiculous, and certainly supports the theory that this man is probably amongst the most undervalued players in all of baseball.

The gap between Mauer and the next best catcher in the game might be larger than the gap between any other two players at the same position in baseball.

I'd take Longoria over Mauer and Pujols. Pujols is 29, and plays a non-premium defensive position. Mauer (26) plays catcher, and while he's had the greatest two months of his life, I don't think he's suddenly made the leap from great hitter for a catcher to one of the greatest hitters of all time. Barring a major slump, his end of year numbers will look great, but I don't think he's nearly as great as he has been for this year (no one is, aside from Bonds at his peak). Mauer is also a free agent relatively soon.

So, Longoria - plays top rate defense, he's 23, is one of the best hitters in the league already, is signed long-term, and doesn't sop up much payroll yet. I'm assuming that I'm building for the future, not trying to win this year, though. Valuable in this context is fuzzier than the regular MVP balloting - Mauer is the AL MVP this year so far, even having missed a month. But that doesn't mean he's the most valuable player to have on your team if you are trying to have a great team for the next 10 years. The same goes for Pujols. Although I can see the argument for both, and Longoria is just 1.5 years into his career, so I am "rolling the dice" a bit on a player with little track record.

Hanley Ramirez easily.  Plays SS, is only 25 years old, and is a terrific hitter.  Gets on base and has 30 HR power.  OPS roughly .950 each of last 2 years, and did that playing half the time in a pretty good pitchers' park.  Good percentage base stealer and has stolen an average of roughly 45 bases a year for the last 3 years.  Stays healthy - over 150 games played each of last 3 years.  As a Blue Jay fan, very happy the Red Sox traded him.

I'm a little lost on the parameters. First you say, "If every player in the game was a free agent entered into a common draft, and you had the first pick, who would you take?" and then you tell us to consider salary!

There's no question Albert Pujols is the best player in the game, and that you're taking him #1 if all else is equal. But, knowing everybody's current contract situations, there's only one right answer to this question : Evan Longoria. He's currently in a 6 year, 17.5m deal with team options from 2014-2016 that amount to 30m, which is what ARod makes in one year. Just crazy.

I'm not quite clear exactly how to make a decision either. But I'm inclined to go with either Mauer or Ramirez. If I can't have Pujols, I'll happily settle for Adrian Gonzalez - he's younger, and he's been almost as productive as Albert the Great (even though Petco is absolutely killing him.) And if I can't get Longoria, David Wright is a pretty awesome second choice - he's actually only 26 right now (two and a half years older than Longoria.)

But there's no one quite like Mauer or Ramirez at the two most important defensive positions on the field. I'm inclined to go with Mauer, because I think he's a better catcher than Ramirez is a shortstop; because it's not at all uncommon for guys to increase their power significantly around age 26-27 (in other words, I think what Mauer's doing this year is a new level of ability); and because the AL is the AL.

MVP talk, and it isn't even a rain delay.  Bill James would be honoured.  We've got the guy in his mid-20s with the power spike (Mauer instead of Boggs) and several other familiar archetypes.  Alas, no Rickey the 2nd. 

Once you start taking into account salary,  it gets messy.  What do you do with Matt Wieters?  If you don't take into account salary, it's pretty close between about five different players.

It seems people are scared off by pitchers...Tim Lincecum will be my 'contrarian' pick, due to his age, repertoire, and heck, he's only making $650K this year, with arbitration up the road (and presumably those years can be bought out)

If this question were posed after Strasburg mows down the opposition with devastating power for a season, would folks be tempted to jump on his bandwagon as they did for Kerry Wood and then Mark Prior when they looked like the next big thing? Or did those two guys single(double?)-handedly destroyall hope of putting hope in a young starting pitcher?

Also, if you are to take Hanley Ramirez you will have to remember to stack your bullpen with fireballers who will pepper the opposing team with fastballs whenever Hanley feels threatened. Or else Hanley will just stop playing.

Longoria or Lincecum. The former is an exceptional package of talent under club control for a lengthy period, and the latter is slightly more risky but potentially even more valuable as a young pitching ace whose ceiling is nearly limitless.