Unbeknownst to many, third baseman Chase Headley nearly won the National League Most Valuable Player award in 2012 as a member of the San Diego Padres. He led the NL in runs batted in that year with 115 while also hitting a .286 clip and slugging 31 homers. Making this feat more impressive was the fact that Headley played his home games in Petco Park, one of the league's top pitchers' parks.
Other than that season, however, Headley has struggled to reach All Star numbers again. He is a career .266 hitter who averages fifteen homers and 72 RBI over 162 games. Not awful numbers by any means, but nothing too impressive.
This season, Headley has struggled again. In 77 games with the Padres, he hit only .229, with seven homers and 32 RBI. Then, on Tuesday, he was dealt to the New York Yankees.
This is a perfect time to add Headley to your fantasy team. He is going from one of the league's worst hitters' parks to one of the best, and he is now in one of the league's worst divisions when it comes to pitching.
As a switch hitter, Headley will be able to utilize the shallow right field porch at Yankee Stadium whenever he is batting from the left side of the plate and will almost certainly see an improvement in his power numbers and slugging percentage.
Headley will also have more opportunities to drive in runs as a Yankee. The Padres are dead-last in baseball in team batting average at a miserable .215. That's not a typo. The Yankees are in the middle of the pack at .252, but their lineup is head-and-shoulders better than San Diego's.
As expected, the same story goes for on-base percentage. The Padres are once again dead-last at .275, and the Yankees are at .313 as a team. Again, not overly impressive, but still much better than San Diego.
Basically, Headley will not only have many more opportunities to drive in runs wearing pinstripes, it will also be easier for him to do so given the surrounding circumstances. Add in the fact that a change of scenery sometimes revitalizes players and you may indeed have a fantasy bargain on your hands.
If you do not own Headley and need a third baseman, trade for him before his numbers start going up. His low stats thus far will make him much easier to obtain and he should be able to have an immediate impact on your fantasy team.