RotoSynthesis Blog Posts for schoenke

RotoWire Poker Tournaments

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:00 PM 0000

RotoWire has added a poker area to our web site. Play poker for free with our downloadable software.

http://poker.rotowire.com

It's free.

To get things started, we're having a a few no-limit, hold-em poker tournaments this week. There is no entry fee.
The winner of each gets a RotoWire T-Shirt.

Here are the upcoming tournaments:

Thursday Oct 1, 9pm EST
Password to enter = RotoWireWK4Th

Sunday Oct 4, 9pm EST
Password to enter = RotoWireWK4Su

Registration is 6 hours prior to each tournament.

It's open to anyone, but we should have a good group of RotoWire members and staffers.

Once you download the software, go to "Tourney" and then "Private" to enter.

We tried to have our first tournament last week on Sunday, but managed to screw up the times and some other issues. We apologize for any problems. Hopefully we'll get a good crowd this time. Let us know how to make it better!

RotoWire Poker Tournament

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:00 AM 0000

RotoWire has added a poker area to our web site. Play poker for free with our download able software.

http://poker.rotowire.com

It's free.

To get things started, we're having a no-limit, hold-em poker tournament this Sunday (9/27 - today) at 8 Pm CT. The winner will get a RotoWire T-Shirt.

The password to enter is: RotoWireWK3

It's open to anyone, but we should have a good group of RotoWire members and staffers.

Once you download the software, go to "Tourney" and then "Private" to enter.

RotoWire iPhone App

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:00 AM 0000

RotoWire has released an update to the "Fantasy News Center" iPhone app we first released in August. Version 1.1 cleans up a few things, such as correcting a flaw in the sort order of player updates, adding more info to the players (team designations, etc.) and a color scheme that reflects the web site.

You can download the app at the iTunes Store.

My '09 Sleepers

Tue, 8 Sep 2009 51:00 PM 0000

"Who are your sleepers?" It's the question I get asked all the time working for a fantasy sports company. Of course, the context of your league might make one player a sleeper and another overpriced. But after just finishing my 10th draft, here's who I targeted late in many leagues - mostly the second half of the draft. This list is late, but hopefully helps since many are probably still on the waiver wire.

Draft Logistics Advice

Tue, 1 Sep 2009 12:00 PM 0000

What's the best way to conduct a fantasy football draft or auction? Here's some advice and tips from someone who's in 30+ fantasy drafts/auctions per year.

Picking My NFFC KDS - 3RR and Banzai Analysis

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:00 PM 0000

I'll be drafting in the National Fantasy Football Championship this season. If you're not familar with this high stakes league, it uses two relatively new additions to the fantasy football landscape. The first is "3RR" or third-round reversal. In this format a regular snake draft has the third round "flipped" so that a 14-team league goes 1-14, 14-1, 14-1, 1-14,14-1 in the first five rounds and snakes like usual until the end of the draft.

The second feature is "KDS" which is a method for people to chose their draft position before the draft. The draft of draft slots is modeled after the lottery to pick starting post spots in the Kentucky Derby (thus the KDS moniker).

I'm trying to figure out what spot I want in my two NFFC leagues this season. I'm drafting in both the NFFC Classic 14-team main event on Saturday at noon CT and the NFFC Primetime main event on Saturday at 5 pm CT (12-team format) in Chicago.

Here's my take on what spots to take in each format.

RotoWire Recent Media Appearances

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 29:00 AM 0000

The staff of RotoWire.com is privileged to make appearances on many media outlets across the country.
Here are some clips from our recent appearances.

Tuesday MLB Pregame Notes & Snapdraft Lineup

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 32:00 PM 0000

There's a full slate of games on Tuesday, here's my look at tonight's game plus my SnapDraft lineup.
Here's who I went with:

C Joe Mauer - MIN @ MLW - Tue @8:05 PM $2,610,000

1B Albert Pujols - STL @ NYM-Tue @7:10 PM $3,670,000

2B Chase Utley - PHI @ TB - Tue @7:08 PM $3,040,000

3B Chipper Jones - ATL vs. NYY-Tue @7:10 PM $2,880,000

SS Hanley Ramirez - FLA vs. BAL - Tue @7:10 PM $3,320,000

OF Jason Kubel - MIN @ MLW - Tue @8:05 PM $1,760,000

OF Nate McLouth - ATL vs. NYY - Tue @7:10 PM $2,350,000

OF Michael Cuddyer. - MIN @ MLW - Tue @8:05 PM $1,820,000

P Tim Lincecum - SF @ OAK - Tue @10:05 PM $3,030,000

P Zack Greinke - KC @ HOU - Tue @8:05 PM $2,370,000

Last 300-Game Winner ... Ever!

Tue, 2 Jun 2009 48:00 AM 0000

Starting pitching is a different animal than it was 20, 40, 60 or 100 years ago: pitch counts, lefty specialists, etc. All reduce the number of wins a starting pitcher may earn in his career.

But the prognostication powers of the media haven't changed. Check out these examples of how each of the last few 300-game winners may be the "last one ever!"

Is Johnson the last Big Winner? - John Shea, San Francisco Chronicle

T-Wolves Lottery Drought

Tue, 19 May 2009 22:00 PM 0000

The Minnesota TImberwolves have been in the lottery 13 times in 20 years. Many seasons it was the only thing to look forward to. Yet on Tuesday, the T-Wolves continued their streak of never improving even one spot in the draft order.

They've basically had the worst pick possible every year.

Tue. Pregame Baseball Notes

Tue, 5 May 2009 16:00 PM 0000

Three day games are underway, so this is a little late. Still, here's what I'll be watching for tonight and thoughts on daily lineups (for SnapDraft and other daily games):

-Paul Janish is starting for the Reds with Alex Gonzalez out. Worthy of picking up in NL-only leagues?

-Guys who may return from injury: Jermaine Dye, Khalil Greene, Garrett Anderson, Ryan Braun and Kevin Youkilis.

MLB Monday Pregame Notes

Mon, 4 May 2009 55:00 AM 0000

There's a full slate of games on Monday, here's what to look for in tonight's games game plus my SnapDraft lineup.
Here's who I went with:

C Russell Martin - LAD vs. ARZ - Mon @10:10 PM    $2,590,000
1B Albert Pujols - STL vs. PHI - Mon @8:15 PM    $3,670,000
2B Chase Utley - PHI @ STL - Mon @8:15 PM    $3,040,000
3B Evan Longoria - TB vs. BAL - Mon @7:08 PM    $2,500,000
SS Derek Jeter - NYY vs. BOS - Mon @7:05 PM    $2,600,000
OF Grady Sizemore - CLE @ TOR - Mon @7:07 PM    $3,610,000
OF Adam Lind - TOR vs. CLE - Mon @7:07 PM    $1,220,000
OF Carl Crawford - TB vs. BAL - Mon @7:08 PM    $2,530,000
P Felix Hernandez - SEA vs. TEX - Mon @10:10 PM    $2,540,000
P Aaron Harang - CIN @ FLA - Mon @7:10 PM    $2,630,000

In SnapDraft/daily leagues I usually first look for the best aces, then the batters against the worst pitchers, then batters at Colorado or at Texas. Few of those conditions apply for Monday.

It's a very even slate of games. King Felix, Harang and Javier Vazquez are probably the best aces on the board. I went with Harang since the Marlins are slumping (losing 10 of last 13 games).

At the same time there are few terrible pitchers going. I went against Adam Eaton for Baltimore (probably the worst going) and against Fausto Carmona (and with the Blue Jays' offense hot). I then took stars in remaining spots and Derek Jeter at home (maybe we should be taking Yankees at home in these types of daily games until the new Yankee Stadium proves it isn't the new Coors Field).

Other things I'll be watching tonight:

Friday SnapDraft Lineup & Notes

Fri, 1 May 2009 16:00 PM 0000

I've become an active player of RotoWire's new daily SnapDraft fantasy game. You can play for as little as $1 and win money each night. It really forces you to check out each night's lineup (deadline to enter is generally 7 pm ET each night).

Here's my SnapDraft lineup for Friday:

C Kurt Suzuki - OAK @ SEA - Fri @10:10 PM    $1,470,000
1B Justin Morneau - MIN vs. KC - Fri @8:10 PM    $3,260,000
2B Ian Kinsler - TEX vs. CWS -Fri @8:05 PM    $2,340,000
3B David Wright - NYM @ PHI - Fri @7:05 PM    $3,720,000
SS Orlando Cabrera - OAK @ SEA - Fri @10:10 PM    $2,430,000
OF Matt Holliday - OAK @ SEA - Fri @10:10 PM    $3,490,000
OF Jermaine Dye - CWS @ TEX - Fri @8:05 PM    $2,740,000
OF Carlos Quentin - CWS @ TEX - Fri @8:05 PM    $2,530,000
P Clayton Kershaw - LAD vs. SD - Fri @10:10 PM    $1,410,000
P Roy Halladay - TOR vs. BAL - Fri @7:07 PM    $3,150,000

NFL Draft Initial Fantasy Thoughts

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 34:00 AM 0000

Here's a quick glance through the NFL Draft with my initial thoughts on players that may change the fantasy landscape.

Live From The NFL Draft

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 43:00 AM 0000

I'll be attending the NFL Draft today and will try to provide updates via my cell phone. The RotoWire Fantasy Football player news will give you all the details on picks, trades, etc. .. I'll try to chime in with some of the atmosphere from the event and my take on the picks. I'm hoping for a lot of trades, surprises and chaos. I'll be bummed if we don't hear "with the xth pick, we have a trade to announce" several times in the first round.

Wild Fire GM

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:00 PM 0000

There are reports the Wild have fired GM Doug Risebrough. If so, it's a move that was warranted.

So Much For That New Plate Discipline

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:00 AM 0000

Two of baseball's most notorious free swingers said this spring they'd changed their approach at the plate to take more walks and see more pitches. Last year Carlos Gomez swung at the first pitch 40.6 percent of the time (according to the Bill James Handbook) which was 6th most in the AL and took few walks. Jeff Francoeur swung at the first pitch 42.9 percent of the time - the most in the NL.

It's only a week into the season, so the sample size is small, but so far they look like the same old hackers.

Masters Notes

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 04:00 AM 0000

If you are in a fantasy league where you can set your lineup daily (such as Yahoo!) be wary of players paired with Tiger Woods. According to this Wall Street Journal story, players play about a half to a full stroke worse when in his group.

RotoWire Expands Japanese Coverage

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 44:00 PM 0000

As players from Japan have become more prevalent in MLB, RotoWire has tried to be on the cutting edge of fantasy coverage of top players in Japan and other foreign leagues. We've expanded our coverage this spring by adding Patrick Newman of NPBTracker.com to our staff.

Newman is going to cover Japanese Professional Baseball player news for RotoWire. Newman's blog has drawn widespread industry praise for his coverage of Japanese baseball. He'll add his insight, and ability to read the actual Japanese media sources, to our coverage. Check out our Foreign Player News page, where his work will primarily appear.

In addition to Newman helping our expanded coverage, we've also added two new cheatsheets to our fantasy baseball coverage.

Draft Software & Draft Logistic Tips

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 31:00 PM 0000

If you're not using the RotoWire Fantasy Baseball Draft Software, you should be. It's the best thing since sliced bread. Especially in keeper leagues where you can quickly figure out who's available, who has money left to spend and what the estimated inflation will be for players.

In using the software for a few drafts, here's some tips for even seasoned users.

MLB Win Total Bets

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 04:00 PM 0000

I'm working on my 2009 MLB Win Totals story (67 percent correct over last nine years) and it should debut this weekend ( a little later than I quoted to some folks).

Here's the slate of odds I'm working from that I pulled on Tuesday from Sportsbook.com. If forced to bet on every team on this list, here's where I stand.

Fantasy Focus - Friday

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:00 AM 0000

I'm (Peter Schoenke) filling in for Jeff Erickson as host of our "Fantasy Focus" radio show on Friday.
Listen to it live via BlogTalkRadio at noon ET or download it later via RotoWire's podcast page.

My guests on Friday will be two RotoWire's top baseball contributors:

- David Regan will talk closers, Dodgers and offseason activity.

- Derek VanRiper will talk about the Yankees, Diamondbacks and the impact of the WBC.

A-Rod News Helps McGwire

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 52:00 AM 0000

The one player who benefits from this week's admission from Alex Rodriguez that he used steroids from 2001-2003 has to be Mark McGwire. It won't be too long that he'll just be seen as part of the crowd. Eventually baseball Hall of Fame voters are going to have to just ignore everyone from the 1990s except Maddux or vote the steroid guys in.

RotoWire Leads Fantasy Award Winners

Mon, 2 Feb 2009 51:00 PM 0000

RotoWire.com won six awards from the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and one award from the Fantasy Sports Trade Association when the yearly awards were announced last week at the FSTA winter conference in Tampa, FL.
RotoWire won the most FSWA awards and the most overall awards at the event.
Last year, RotoWire led the FSWA awards with six awards and I didn't think that could be duplicated again. Luckily I was wrong.

Here's an article on the event:

RotoWire Dominates FSWA Awards

Golf Sleepers

Sun, 4 Jan 2009 58:00 PM 0000

We just completed our 13-team RotoWire staff golf auction. Here were my sleeper lists heading into the draft. It's a very deep league, so I'm giving you three levels of sleepers.