While many of us sports fans were enjoying the NFL playoffs these last few weeks, the MLB Hot Stove League turned up the heat recently with a couple signings, a big trade and an international free-agent. All of this is well and good for Major League Baseball, but more importantly, how do these moves impact fantasy baseball (and NFBC) owners?

Veteran fantasy owners know that identifying position scarcity is as important as finding stolen bases on Draft Day. If you don’t identify the positions without depth before your draft you will definitely be the last one standing without a chair when the music stops.

Championship rosters in head-to-head leagues are built on a combination of good fortune, good health, and most importantly consistent performance. On a weekly basis, fantasy managers search for the elusive balance of production from studs and role players alike. The Consistency Review for 2011 will highlight top performers, and will also take look around the diamond at everyday players who were a liability for H2H formats. Keep in mind, the data here reflects small sample sizes, and this analysis is not intended to predict future performance.

The biggest news of the baseball off-season for fantasy owners came during the heart of the football season when we learned that Ryan Braun (OF, MIL) had tested positive for Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). The potential 50-game suspension of the National League’s reigning MVP rocked baseball and dramatically changed the early rounds in fantasy baseball.

The complete overview of the Mayberry Method

A look at early pitching values in NFBC formats.

Everyone goes into the off-season these days looking for the next great Sleeper. Unfortunately, by the time Draft Day rolls around everyone has identified those sleepers. So now the key isn't FINDING those sleepers, it's knowing WHEN to draft those sleepers.

This has the potential to be a very solid rookie class and fantasy owners would be wise to put these 8 players on their Cheat Sheets:

Did you ever consider that WHERE you draft from plays a big factor in how you handle that draft plan? Do your player evaluations allow you to win from any spot? I hope so.

The last pitch of Major League Baseball's 2011 regular season was barely in the books when the 2012 season officially began in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship (NFBC). It's a tradition in the NFBC for 15 die-hard owners to start the next season with an email draft the day the off-season begins.

Doug Dennis brings home the LABR-NL title.