Squeeze play.(FANTASY SOURCE)

Every fantasy baseball owner should have a war room--a place to keep grand schemes and paperwork for the upcoming season. For some, it's a folder placed neatly inside a workbag. For others, it's a stack of stat printouts on the floor in the basement. And for die-hards, it's piles of stat projections on a desk surrounded by posters of 1980s sports heroes, George Carlin quotes and Polaroids, as well as a stack of printouts on the floor and a folder inside a workbag--not that I know any of those people.

The point: There needs to be a war room somewhere, and now is the time for owners to spend a few minutes each week working in it. Or hours. Or days--not that I know anyone who would take that much time. But if you're taking the time, do it right:

Brush up an trannies. Keeping up with the moves general managers make in the offseason can be as taxing as watching 4-year-olds play. Now is a great time to review the changes and note a handful of guys who will benefit (or slide) from a move to a different situation, ballpark and team.

Place asterisks. Prepare to see the word sleeper plenty in this space in the next couple of months. Leagues can be won with the right mid- or late-round draft picks, and those are the toughest guys to tag. Put an asterisk on breakout candidates such as Rickie Weeks or Ryan Zimmerman and sleeper picks like Francisco Liriano.

Thin the herd. Cross off guys you wouldn't want on your team. The more exposure you have to their names as spring progresses, the better chance your mind will change, and that's usually not a good thing.

Review the rules. Make sure you're on the same page as the commish and look for ways to use the rules to your advantage--not that I know anyone who would do such a despicable thing.

Check your local newsstand for the Fantasy Baseball Owners Manual, or order it at ...