RotoSynthesis

Show Notes: 6/1

Sun, 2 Jun 2013 3:2:00 GMT

Opening Thoughts

Stephen Strasburg owners shouldn't be too worried about his injury as far as panicking and selling low. Further, the oblique injury has nothing to do with him being shut down by the Nats last season.

Accounting for the likelihood of a couple missed starts, Strasburg now falls just behind Justin Verlander, Felix Hernandez and Adam Wainwright (sixth among starting pitchers) for the rest of the season.

Building the Perfect Beast

Fri, 17 May 2013 0:50:00 GMT

Like everyone else, I'm looking for that edge in my leagues to skew the odds in my favor. Many fantasy players traditionally load up on the stud hitters and stream pitchers at the end of their staff to pick up those counting stats without killing the ratios. I'm one of those people, however, my pitching stream has been as weak as a 70 year old with a bad prostate.

15 Reasons Why You Never Draft Pitching Early

Sat, 11 May 2013 15:27:00 GMT

Revisionist history is fun, right? Hind sight is always 20-20. But this theory is neither revisionist nor hind sight. Not drafting pitchers early in fantasy baseball drafts is not new. The following is a fifteen-pitcher starting pitching staff (fourteen of them not named Matt Harvey) with an ADP of 200 or higher (as of 4/4/13) on Mock Draft Central. It will make you feel kind of silly for drafting David Price, Cole Hamels, Gio Gonzalez, or others of their ilk.

A Little Knowledge is Dangerous: Overreacting to Velocity Readings Early On

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 23:40:00 GMT

In years past, I would have offered the panicked Tim Lincecum and Roy Halladay owners 50 or 60 cents on their draft-day dollars for their struggling former stars. But even though I intended to offer Hyun-Jin Ryu for Halladay in NL Tout after two starts, I didn't because Halladay's velocity was down. From 92 mph in 2011, to 90.6 last year to 89.7 in four starts this season.

Can You Beat The Rotowire Experts?

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:58:00 GMT

We have once again partnered with DailyJoust.com to give our users an opportunity to compete against Rotowire experts in Daily Fantasy games this baseball season. This promotion is exclusive to Rotowire referrals only.

More Marlins Mayhem

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:6:00 GMT

There are no words left to describe how badly the Marlins franchise is run.

Long Game Extra: Live-tweeting the Auction

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 14:39:00 GMT

Yes, it's that blog you've all been dreading... the one all about someone else's team.

More Late Spring ADP Risers and Fallers

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 14:14:00 GMT

With the season opening on Sunday night, it’s time for our last look at some of the risers and fallers in the recent ADP rankings. Again, since we’re just looking to identify simple trends we’re going to stick with the trend report on Mock Draft Central

My Portfolio

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 3:26:00 GMT

Having finished NL Tout Wars in NY, I'm done with all seven of my drafts (not counting a Scoresheet League I co-own with Jeff Erickson.) I like to double down on as many players as possible as diversification leads to lukewarm rooting interests in virtually half the league. Here are the results:

Last Minute ADP Risers and Fallers

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 2:43:00 GMT

As we start to wrap up spring training and head into the gloriousness that is the 2013 MLB season, fantasy baseball drafts are nearly finished. Sure, there are a few that may trickle into the first few days of next week, but for the most part, draft season will be completed by Sunday.

Interesting Spring Performances, Part Two: The AL

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 3:6:00 GMT

More spring mirages of dubious validity to make you do silly things at your draft table. Huzzah!

My NL Tout Team

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 21:19:00 GMT

I rarely go into an auction with a plan and to the extent I do, it's always pretty loose, something along the lines of: "Make sure to get two decent catchers who won't hurt your batting average." But this year - after observing the NL player pool and broadcasting the NL LABR auction - it was different. I was going to buy Bryce Harper, Giancarlo Stanton and Stephen Strasburg hopefully for about $100 (but more if necessary), get at least one more star hitter - likely Troy Tulowitzki (whom Stephania Bell assures me is healthy) or Justin Upton and then target some lottery tickets like Billy Hamilton and other top prospects like Shelby Miller and Oscar Taveras. Here are the results:

More ADP Analysis From the Mock Draft Army -- Part 2

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 15:46:00 GMT

It’s time to take a look at the rest of the most recent Mock Draft Army ADP taken from a draft done in the middle of last week. There have actually been a few changes since this draft was completed, such as

Interesting Spring Performances, Part One: The NL

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 5:14:00 GMT

As spring training ambles nonchalantly towards the finish line, it's always fun to take a look at spring stats to see who really jumps off the page and might be making some kind of statement or other...

My AL Tout Wars team

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 18:41:00 GMT

We did the AL Tout Wars draft Saturday morning, once again in "The Bubble" at the Sirius/XM studios. It was a different Tout experience than my usual drafts at Tout - lately I haven't paid for closers there, or spent much on my outfielders. But I'm also one to take the values where they fall. So to that end, here's my squad:

More ADP Analysis From the Mock Draft Army

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 14:54:00 GMT

A couple of weeks ago, we introduced a little project we were working on called the Mock Draft Army. In a nutshell, the Army is a rotating group of fantasy baseball writers from a variety of web sites who gathered and put together a series of mock drafts to help give you a better idea of what the ADP trends looked like in action. The drafts were made up of about half writers and half readers committed to doing the draft in its entirety, hoping to replicate what you’ll actually see on draft day. To keep it fresh, the writers were told to mix up their strategies to provide both a diverse and, hopefully, more realistic looking draft.

We brought you a look at the first Mock Draft Army draft here and compared some of the ADP trends between it and the ADP data from the NFBC. That first draft, however, was just 12 teams. With more NFBC drafts happening this weekend and next, the Army has been doing more 15-teamers lately and we thought now to be a good time to bring you another draft ADP analysis. We’ll take a look at it in the same way we did before. We’ll do two parts over this weekend and bring you a pair of four-round sections from our latest go-around. You’ll get a look at the sixty picks per section and we’ll highlight both the reaches and those who dropped further down the draft board in comparison.

Rotowire/FanDuel $500 MLB Opening Day Freeroll

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:39:00 GMT

If you're into fantasy baseball, you're going to be blown away by FanDuel - where fantasy baseball leagues last just one day. AND you can play for real money. With instant cash payouts and a brand new team every single day of the season - FanDuel takes fantasy baseball fun to a whole new level. Our friends at FanDuel are offering you the opportunity to try out FanDuel for FREE with the chance to win a share of a cool $500.

My NFBC Recap

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 23:16:00 GMT

I have never been one to hold up to peer pressure well. Since Peter, Jeff, and Chris did a NFBC challenge, I had to join the cool kids and do one too.

Recent ADP Trends in the Top 100

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:25:00 GMT

Each day, as we inch closer and closer to Opening Night on March 31^st, the tension just gets thicker and thicker. Most leagues like to wait until the last minute to draft so if you’re in more than one league, this has to be a busy time for you. But it’s crunch time and you need to make sure your skills are sharp and you have as much information as you can.

SiriusXM Host League

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:14:00 GMT

My team:

Beat Peter Schoenke - Draft Results.

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 6:13:00 GMT

My "Beat Peter Schoenke" Draft Results.

My entry in the RotoWire Fantasy Baseball Online Championship was Monday night. Here's my quick take on the draft - this is a 12-team mixed league, 5x5 categories, 30 rosters spots (23 active), with no trades in the league. It has a top prize of $50,000 and a league prize of $1,400.

Recent Starting Pitcher ADP Trends

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 22:12:00 GMT

Wait on starting pitching. That’s what they say. Standard leagues usually have 13 or 14 hitters who play almost every day compared to nine pitchers (usually six or seven starters) who contribute every five days.

RotoWire OFBC Squad

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:22:00 GMT

My draft for the RotoWire Online Fantasy Baseball Championship took place Wednesday night. With the second overall pick in the 12-team mixed league format, I came away with the following squad (commentary below):

ADP Trend Analysis: What's Up With the Closers?

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 3:30:00 GMT

The debate is endless and almost tiresome at this point. Do you invest in closers during your draft or do you wait, pick up whatever is out there late in your draft and expect to play the waiver wire all season long? For every point there’s a counterpoint and the bottom line is that no one is going to fully convince the other side that their way is right. Me? I’m all about investing in quality closers. Two, in fact. And maybe I pick up a low-end third option late just for a quick boost in the saves category. Some people think it foolish and I think spending a big chunk of your FAAB budget chasing saves all year is a waste. Tomato, tomah-to.

My Yahoo Friends & Family Squad

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 19:56:00 GMT

We did the Yahoo F&F draft yesterday. You can read Chris' account of the draft here. Once again, this is a 14-team mixed league, 1,400 innings cap, 1 C, 4 OF, 2 UT spots league. There's no requirement for have a certain number of starters or relievers, just 9 active pitchers at most. I drafted out of the wheel at the 14th spot.