We’re much closer to the 2009 fantasy baseball season than to the 2008 edition, but it’s still time to recognize the top writing efforts of the year past.

For starters, the list finalists for top magazine is a carbon copy of that from football, with CBS, Rotoworld and Rotowire vying for the honor. Among the 18 total finalists in the six baseball categories, just two come from outlets that launched in the 21st century — Eno Sarris of Baseballguys.com (best Web article) and Tommy Landry of RotoExperts.com (best series).

Otherwise you’ll see lots of representatives from the big boys of the industry, starting with the fantasy veterans that constitute the top writer category. RotoWire’s Jeff Erickson and ESPN’s Jason Grey are the only two writers up for more than one award in baseball, while Yahoo! boasts the only two analysts to have qualified in multiple sports. Scott Pianowski is up for writer of the year in baseball and hockey, and Andy Behrens could come away with top-writer honors in football and best print article in baseball.

The full list follows, with winners to be announced next Tuesday on the first day of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association winter conference.

Baseball Writer of the Year
Tristan Cockcroft — ESPN.com
Jeff Erickson — RotoWire.com
Scott Pianowski — Yahoo!

Best Baseball Article in Print
Andy Behrens — Yahoo!
Jason Grey — ESPN.com
Tim Heaney — KFFL.com

Best Baseball Article on the Web
Jeff Erickson — Rotowire.com
David Gonos — BaseballHQ.com
Eno Sarris — BaseballGuys.com

Best Baseball Article in Major Media
Bill Bender — Sporting News
Christopher Harris — ESPN.com
Matt Lutovsky — Sporting News

Best Baseball Series
Jason Grey — ESPN.com
Tommy Landry — RotoExperts.com
Scott White — CBSSports.com

Best Baseball Print Publication
CBS Sports
RotoWire
Rotoworld

Most fantasy owners who drafted Derek Anderson as the sixth quarterback off the board probably had a rough season. That ranking didn’t keep Roland Wood of Dynasty Rogues from outpacing a field of 20 fantasy football experts.

Wood still managed to win the quarterback category in the 18th installment of Fantasy Football Index’s Expert Poll, en route to claiming the overall title. Wood also ranked second at running back and third at tight end.

The Expert Poll asks 20 fantasy football writers to rank their top 20 at the six positions. Yahoo’s Scott Pianowski finished second, while Michael Nazarek of FFMastermind came in third.

The final tally

Points
191,712 Roland Wood (dynastyrogues.com)
190,254 Scott Pianowski (Yahoo Sports)
189,705 Michael Nazarek (ffmastermind.com)
189,630 Dan Bakley (thefantasypoint.com)
189,566 Lenny Pappano (draftsharks.com)
189,441 David Dorey (thehuddle.com)
189,347 Tommy Stephens (fantasyfootballedge.net)
189,024 Bob Henry (footballguys.com)
188,122 Greg Rosenthal (rotoworld.com)
187,995 Louis Tranquilli (bfdfantasyfootball.com)
187,802 James Serra (footballsoftward.com)
187,800 Scott Endsley (fantasydraftedge.com)
186,173 Christopher Liss (rotowire.com)
184,990 Ryan Houston (fanball.com)
184,511 Craig Davis (fantasyfootball.com)
184,485 Jeffrey Kamys (docstats.com)
184,309 Sam Hendricks (ffguidebook.com)
184,242 Nathan Zegura (thefantasyconsultant.com)
183,239 Greg Alan (4for4.com)
179,432 Kevin Marshall (draftwizard.com)