Fantasy Baseball Interleague Effects: AL Teams in NL Parks

With Interleague playing returning next weekend, let’s look at which AL teams will be playing in NL parks and how it could affect their lineups:

Seattle at San Diego
Mike Sweeney has been the main DH for Seattle.  Through Thursday, he had gone 2-21 with 0 HR, 0 RBI and 3 R in his previous five games. 

I know he had been hot for a little while, but he’s too big of a gamble to be considered fantasy usable outside of the absolute deepest of formats.

LA Angels at LA Dodgers
Hideki Matsui is the DH, but you can’t expect him to sit on the bench for three straight games.  He’s been too hot of late and the Angels need his bat in the lineup with the loss of Kendry Morales. 

It would be easy if they had an outfielder he could move to 1B, but I don’t think you’ll see Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter or Juan Rivera there any time soon. 

Matsui is going to play, so look for the Angels to use this series as a chance to get Rivera and Abreu a little bit of rest.  My guess is they all play two games, meaning if you are using Matsui, he still has value.

Toronto at Colorado
This is an interesting one.  Adam Lind has been the DH, but we all know he’s not going to be benched, considering he’s an integral part of the middle of their order. 

It would be great if Lyle Overbay could be the odd man out, but there is no obvious choice to fill in there.  It’s most likely Fred Lewis who finds his way to the bench, making him a risky play.

Kansas City at Cincinnati
Jose Guillen is the protection the Royals use for Billy Butler.  Struggles or not, their lineup looks a lot worse if he’s not in the middle.  It’s probably Mitch Maier or Scott Podsednik who gets benched, with Guillen missing maybe one of the three games.

Chicago White Sox at Chicago Cubs
There’s no effect to the White Sox.  Carlos Quentin, Juan Pierre, Mark Kotsay and Andruw Jones will see time on the bench, but not enough to affect anything for fantasy purposes.

Texas at Milwaukee
There’s no way Vladimir Guerrero sits out the series in Milwaukee.  My guess is he’s in the outfield in two out of three games, so keep him active in all formats.

Oakland at San Francisco
Do you really think the A’s will trust Jack Cust enough in the field to sit one of their other outfielders?  If he’s lucky he gets one start, but most likely he’s used as a late inning pinch hitter.

I wouldn’t bother using him in any format for the upcoming week, he just doesn’t have enough potential value.

What are your thoughts?  Which player loses the most value?  Who is unaffected?

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