RotoWire announced Wednesday that it has purchased fantasy-draft site MockDraftCentral.com.

“It’s a great fit because both businesses have subscription models that focus on customer service and offering products that are worth paying for to give a fantasy owner a competitive advantage,” RotoWire president Peter Schoenke said in the company’s news release.

RotoWire stated that MDC will remain as a standalone site and said that existing customers should count on the same subscription packages and customer service as before. Mock Draft Central founder Jason Pliml will work with RotoWire during the transition period.

Pliml and his company’s board of directors put Mock Draft Central up for sale in the fall, when Pliml said he was ready to take his career in a different direction. Pliml said at the time that MDC carried a user base of about 128,000, and the company won Fantasy Sports Trade Association awards for its technology in 2007 and 2008.

The concept was born back in 2001, with MDC going live online in 2002.

FSB.com will have more on the acquisition as we talk to those involved.

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

- For the first time, RotoWire customers can buy the site’s fantasy baseball draft kit as an application for their iPhone (or iPod Touch).

- The FSTA announced Tuesday that former Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle John Randle will attend the upcoming conference in Las Vegas, as part of his promotional deal with TrenchFantasy.com. No word yet on whether he’ll be painting his face.

- Let’s just say that Charlie Brown probably wouldn’t have made for a high fantasy draft pick …

- BizofBaseball.com’s new player salary database isn’t really related to fantasy at all, but it’s awesome — worth checking out. The database includes inflation adjustments to give a better idea of what old-timers made in current terms. (Hint: Still a ton less.)

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Last week, we passed along a link to a blog that reminded everyone of when the three most popular fantasy-baseball sites opened their games the past two years.

Although looking back at recent history should provide a pretty good general idea of when the 2010 commissioner products will get rolling, we figured that it made much more sense to just go ask the folks in charge of the sites.

So, based on e-mails from insiders at all three sites, here is when you can expect to start building your fantasy baseball league for the coming season …

CBSSports.com

Just like in 2008 and 2009, CBSSports.com should be the first of the big boys to have its game available this year. FSB.com has been told that the commissioner product will be rolled out on Jan. 19 (next Tuesday), with the other single games following a week later.

ESPN.com

Although the date has not been finalized, ESPN’s plan is to basically split the difference between its release dates of the past two seasons. Users should be able to create leagues and teams there on or around Feb. 9.

Yahoo!

The most-trafficked online fantasy site told FSB.com that it chooses not to target specific dates, instead allowing time for complete testing and preparation. After starting up within the first 10 days of February in each of the past two years, though, Yahoo! says it is targeting the same time frame this year.

So, even without final, official dates, it appears all but certain that the majority of fantasy baseball players itching to get the season going will be able to do so within a month.