Even though fantasy baseball is not directly dependent upon what team the player’s you draft are on, there actually is a hidden impact that you might not be aware of. The repercussions are most deeply felt by pitchers, and the recent trades right before the deadline in the MLB reflect this quite well.
There are two big things that pitchers benefit from depending upon the team that they are in. The first is their offensive counterparts. A great pitcher cannot rack up their stats if their teammates are not doing their job, specifically scoring the runs that create wins. A pitcher is more likely to get a win–and have more fantasy importance–when their teammates are doing their jobs on a routine basis. It’s hard for even the best pitcher in the world to have a good win-loss ratio when they struggle to find a win on their best days.
The other factor is what the home park advantage brings. Jon Lester, who was a strong pitcher with the Boston Red Sox, now has a pitcher’s park as his home field now that he has been traded to the Oakland A’s. Since he’ll be playing more games here than anywhere else, it is very likely to see his stats start creeping upward. For fantasy managers, this brings extra value out of an already great player.
The best time to take advantage of the trade deadline’s impact is right away. You will see that on one day fantasy league sites, the top pitchers are valued at their old teams still–especially in salary cap leagues. The price you pay for a player is dependent upon their past performance, and not their perceived future. And that means, if you take a pitcher who suddenly find themselves on a team that can help them boost their stats, you are getting a discount, and thus giving yourself an advantage over your competition. These little edges add up a lot over time, so taking them when you can get them is going to help you a lot over the course of a season when you are playing single day fantasy baseball regularly.
