There might not be an official turnover from fantasy football season to fantasy baseball until some brand decides to be the official soft drink of it — I’m looking at you, Royal Crown Cola — but Monday, Feb. 7, could stake a pretty strong claim this year.

The Super Bowl is now behind us, which officially ends the 2010 NFL season, means at least 14 minutes before the American sports scene jumps completely into NFL Draft hype and gives us about three days before we completely tire of Aaron Rodgers’ face. (That’s meant as a knock on the media blitz, not the player himself.)

On top of that, Baseball Prospectus rolled out early this morning its first batch of PECOTA player projections for the 2011 season.

Although we all wish the system were an annual homage to former Royals infielder Bill Pecota, the acronym stands for Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm and is BP’s “proprietary system that projects player performance based on comparison with thousands of historical player-seasons,” according to the site. (Ed. note: Oops. I guess it is at least somewhat homage to The Real Pecota. I’m sure I knew that at some point and forgot.)

“Nate Silver is probably the most famous sabermetrician not named Bill James, and PECOTA is where Nate made his biggest mark in our community,” BP’s Colin Wyers said in presenting the first season of post-Silver PECOTA numbers. (Silver, of course, has moved on to the much more fantasy-laden world of politics with FiveThirtyEight.com.)

Wyers also acknowledged the strong impact of fantasy on the readership of his site in introducing an update to BP’s WARP stat: “We know that many of you are relying on these forecasts for your fantasy teams, and we thought that it was better to get the forecasts out now rather than wait for when the entire site was ready to transition to new WARP.”

In addition to BP, MLB.com has rolled out its 2011 fantasy coverage with the Player Preview package teased from its homepage.

Of course, others might argue that fantasy football season ended a while ago, and the “experts” draft at the recent Fantasy Sports Trade Association conference that was broadcast live by Sirius XM ushered in baseball time.

Then there are those who might not care about football and point back to the December release of Ron Shandler’s 2011 Baseball Forecaster, or perhaps the November arrival of the updated Bill James Handbook. Still others who might prefer to actually focus on their family for a bit no doubt await pitchers and catchers reporting before moving into baseball mode.

No matter, really. Until RC decides to throw its weight behind one of those dates, every stat geek can pick a favorite. Whether or not you’ve grabbed a guide or fired up Excel, there’s no doubt that fantasy baseball is fast approaching.

Related: PECOTA reaction on Twitter

A roundup of items recently posted on the FSB News page.

– The FSWA is looking for a new secretary, a job whose title might belie its impact. Bob Harris of FootballDiehards.com stepped down from his job as treasurer, which led Perry Missner to slide over from secretary and open up a slot that president Mike Beacom expects to play an integral role to the FSWA’s future. The volunteer should expect as much as 10 hours of work a week, though a range of 3-5 should be more typical. “Yes, it’s a tall order,” Beacom said, “but we feel like we’re looking for a special individual: someone determined to become a leader in our industry. And it’s important that we find someone with the same passion we have for advancing the careers of young fantasy writers.” Details can be found in the posting on our Jobs page.

– Hoops outlet Dime magazine explores the world of “digital basketball,” including Big Lead Sports’ investment in a couple of content sites two years ago. A couple of key questions, though, are what kind of room there is for growth in the fantasy basketball space and at what rate we should expect it.

– Check this out: Apparently the Martin Library in York, Pa., has been hosting season-preview fantasy baseball sessions for the past 20 years. This year’s edition will feature USA Today Sports Weekly editor Paul White and Baseball HQ founder Ron Shandler.

– Canadian Joe LaCova is hoping the horse that he once bought with fantasy football winnings can take home a prestigious harness-racing prize.

Send all of your news, job postings, stories and profile ideas to matt.schauf@worldfantasygames.com. Follow us on Twitter (FSBcom).

We’ve been keeping you up to date since March 2009 on the FSWA’s planned hall of fame, and Tuesday brought the clearest public sign that the process is working.

The Fantasy Sports Writers Association has announced 14 finalists for its inaugural class, which will be rolled out Sept. 9 to coincide with the start of the NFL season. The names (listed alphabetically): Greg Ambrosius, Matthew Berry, William Del Pilar, Scott Engel, Dan Grogan, Kelly Grogan, Bob Harris, Emil Kadlec, Eric Karabell, Greg Kellogg, James Quintong, Brendan Roberts, Peter Schoenke and Ron Shandler.

With its focus on writers and content in general, the FSWA required that any candidate have at least 10 years experience on the editorial side of fantasy. More than just writers, though, this effort is might to acknowledge those who have made significant, lasting impressions on fantasy content.

We’ll have more on the process for whittling this group down to the inductees as well as some background on each candidate in the days to come.

For now, though, FSB.com congratulates everyone who made it this far. The fantasy industry is still new, but to be recognized as one of its most impactful contributors to date is an accomplishment in itself.

Name: Ron Shandler
Nickname: none
Job title(s): Editor and Publisher of BaseballHQ.com, Author of Baseball Forecaster
Full-time in fantasy? Yes, since 1994
Age: 52
Education: BBA Marketing, MBA Management Science, both from Hofstra University
Family status: Married, two daughters (17 and 19)
Favorite fantasy sport to play: Baseball
Favorite sport to watch: Baseball and hockey
Favorite team (any sport): New York Mets
All-time favorite athlete: Tom Seaver
Years playing fantasy: 26

I got my start in the fantasy industry when:
Started publishing the annual Baseball Forecaster in 1986.

Since then, my fantasy résumé includes:
Baseball Forecaster annual book (1986-present)
Baseball Forecaster monthly newsletter (1987-1998)
BaseballHQ.com (1996-present)
First Pitch Forum conference series (1994-present)
RotoHQ.com (established 2001)
Other books published: Forecasting Pitching Careers (1995), Pitchers Almanac (1997), Fantasy Baseball Workbook (1999-2000), Graphical Player (2005-2008), Minor League Baseball Analyst (2006-present), Baseball Injury Annual (2007)

Three questions

1. What was different about the information and methods you brought to light with the 1986 debut of Baseball Forecaster? How did your audience for that title change with the growth of fantasy?

Originally, it wasn’t all that different. My intent for the Forecaster was to provide a centralized source for readers to enjoy the works of many sabermetricians — Bill James, Pete Palmer, etc. — so I presented current data using their formulas and some of my own. Adding projected player rankings in 1988 is what opened up the fantasy market.

2. Many fantasy players and writers dream of working with a professional sports team, an opportunity you got and then walked away from. What about that job didn’t appeal to you? Would you consider another position in MLB going forward?

In 2004, after 11 years out of Corporate America, I was running a successful company. I was quite content with making my own decisions and the independence that goes along with that. Major league teams are run just like any other major corporation — endless bureaucracy, layers of decision-making, stunted communication channels, office politics, etc. I’d consider owning a team, but being an employee again? Not likely.

3. What is it about baseball and its numbers that draws you there rather than to other sports?

Baseball is divided up into easily measurable events, unlike most other sports where the action is more fluid. As such, the sport lends itself to more accessible analysis of individual performance. It also lulls us into believing we can create projections based on this data, which is why it was a natural for fantasy applications.

Bonus: In the Fantasyland film, we saw your disbelief at being met at your door by a trade-talking Jed Latkin. After that encounter, do you just let others in your family answer the door instead?

Ha! At 10:30 in the morning, I am typically the only one home. You can just imagine what it is like when you have a mile-long To-Do list sitting on your desk, and Jed Latkin and a cameraman show up at your door asking for a few hours of your time.