New Stadium, New Rules

"Here's the pitch... a pop up towards the right fielder... he's drifting back, back, back, on the track, against the wall... GONE! Another home run!" A pop up that goes out? Coors Field? Little League? Wiffle ball? Nope, New Yankee Stadium. Get the ball in the air heading towards right field and you may have a 4 bagger. It's early in the season but there have already been 26 home runs hit so far in the new Yankee Stadium (not counting pre-season)! To make matters worse, it's not even warm out yet. The potential is there for an astonishing amount of home runs this summer. We will know how these stats hold up as time goes on, but both managers and hitters are saying the same thing, the ball really carries to right field. The early indication is that there is some sort of 'wind tunnel' that is blowing out to right due to the design of the stadium. Regardless of the science, the results have been pretty clear so far - new Yankee Stadium is a hitters park. So much so that it is being used in the same sentence as Coors Field! That is not a favorable comparison, especially since the altitude in Coors is something that cannot be overcome, but new Yankee Stadium is about 5000 feet lower then Coors. What does this mean to your fantasy team? The answer is simple, treat the value of players the same way as you would players for Colorado. Hitters are better, especially hitters who hit to right field (Giambi might have hit 40+ dingers if he still played for the Yanks). Pitchers on the other hand are to be viewed with a little less value. A good pitcher is a good pitcher, so I'm not saying don't own Sabathia, what I am saying is that if you had Sabathia ranked higher then say, Lincecum or Santana (who is now pitching in what is looking like a pitchers park), you may want to drop him below them. Still worth a lot, just moved a notch down. So, when looking at two equal hitters between a Yankee and another team, give the edge to the Yankee. When looking at two equal pitchers between a Yankee and another team, give the edge to the other team. (Along these lines, read Scout Berardi's article - 'Know Your Home') There is talk about the Yankees investigating the stadium and even making adjustments to try and correct the 'wind tunnel', but until that happens, be a little wary of pitchers (Yankee or visitor) in Yankee stadium and be ready to play your hitters there. - Scout Monkey (scout_monkey@gmx.com)