If you have been browsing Operation Sports during the last few weeks, you may have noticed the occasional ad for "Baseball Boss" (baseballboss.com), which is billed as an online trading card game with hints of fantasy baseball. Like other "free" online games, such as whatifsports.com or goallineblitz.com, this might not take time away from MLB: The Show or NCAA Football 09, but could serve as a fun distraction now and again.

Once registered, Baseball Boss invites you to select a "starter pack" of cards. You can choose from historical players, modern players, a mix or a pack heavy on players from your favorite team. One neat aspect is that you can actually reveal the cards one at a time, preserving the fun of ripping open a physical pack of cards.

For this article, I decided to choose the "mixed" deck. I was a little disappointed to find that my mix was actually only from three years: 1907, 1957 and 2007. My talent ranged from the venerable Pee Wee Reese and Roy Oswalt to an assortment of modern "scrubs" whom I have never heard of.

From there, I was led to the "create-a-team" page. For an online game, there are actually a fair number of logo options available, complete with the ability to change their colors. Also included, and reflecting the "officialness" of this game, are all the current MLB logos.

I took Reese and company and created the Roarkville Raiders; the team logo ended up resembling Mr. Met in a pirate outfit. I tweaked the colors a bit and jumped into my inaugural season.

Immediately, I was challenged by a computer-controlled "practice team." Another unique aspect of Baseball Boss is that most challenges consist of a five-games series, making depth a crucial element of managing a team.

After accepting the challenge, all five games were simulated at once. However, in an effort to keep up the suspense, you view the results one game at a time. Additionally, there are some random stat changes that occur before the series. The stat changes are apparently meant to simulate streaks, practice and nagging injuries. These can be viewed on the "pregame" tab (more on this later).

Like other online-only games, the simulation options are limited. You can set the lineup and rotation before the game, but you do not manually control the substitutions. Also, left/right matchups are not factored in. Additionally, depending on the scenario, you may have a salary cap to deal with.

Results can be viewed in a box score format or listed "play by play." There is also a delightfully "old school" animated-game option, though, I think it is a little too slow to watch all five games this way. Stats are tracked for each game and for each series. A summary of the series shows the top performer in a number of categories, as well as line scores for each game.

The Raiders took the opening series 3-2, which was not too promising, considering they were a practice squad. My first baseman, Jim Nealon (Pirates, 1906-07), led all offensive categories, while my ace Oswalt dominated the pitching stats.

After this initial practice session, the rest of Baseball Boss opened up. You can work through "milestones," which are essentially like Xbox Live Achievements. These serve as a good way to progressively experience the different aspects of the game (scrimmages, historical challenges, seasons and so forth). Achieving a milestone grants you tickets, one of the currencies in Baseball Boss.

The other currency is called Challenge Coins; these coins basically symbolize the end of the "free" aspect of Baseball Boss. Challenge Coins (CC) can only be bought with real money, not won. 20 CCs cost $5. That said, your tickets can be exchanged for CCs by using a variable exchange rate. As of this writing, 3,000 tickets gets you one CC. As a guide, I earned eight tickets for my series win, and milestones typically earn you between 100-300).

So if you shell out the cash or earn an insane amount of tickets, what can you do with them? Well, you can always buy packs of cards, either the cheap (National) or premium (Spire) brands. There are also limited quantities of special series for sale and an auction house to spend some tickets at. You can also raise the limit of total cards you can own at one time with your tickets.

The commercial aspect does not end there either. You can buy bundles of "stuff," which may be the best way to go if you are planning on spending real money. These bundles include tickets, CCs and cards. You could also drop real money on a monthly membership that provide ongoing perks.

There does seem to be a lot to do without spending money though, and depending on how interested you are in collecting virtual cards, you may get a lot of enjoyment out of Baseball Boss. I would also add that the fun increases if you have friends playing. You can challenge other players, take part in a multiplayer season or trade cards. But, like many online multiplayer games, there are many "dead" teams out there. Honestly, I am curious how many people play past the point of "needing" to spend money.

That said, should you decide to pull out your wallet, there are lots of pricing options to choose from. Just remember that you are not getting any "actual" cards, and that your enjoyment could depend on how active other users are.

Finally, a word or two about the cards. They are pretty well designed, with clear differences between both the different brands and the different eras. The player abilities are clearly marked, and it is easy to find out how these numbers affect the simulation.

These online cards mirror real cards in that their quality degrades over time. As cards go through "wear and tear," you will get less lucky with those pregame stat changes. But (surprise!) you can always spend tickets to restore their value.

I think if you are a baseball fan who enjoys collecting cards, Baseball Boss is worth your time; it is up to you if it is worth your money.