Earlier today, the Washington Nationals acquired Jonny Gomes from the Cincinnati Reds for two minor leaguers, so let’s take a look at the fantasy impact of that trade.

Gomes: Unless Gomes is flipped, expect him to platoon with Laynce Nix in left for the Nationals. The right-handed Gomes has a .333/.439/.537 slash line with three HR’s versus left-handed pitching.

Even he gets the majority of starts in left for the Nationals, he has very little fantasy impact.

Yonder Alonso: To replace Gomes on the roster, the Reds have called up Alonso. The 24-year-old Alonso has made the transition to full time left fielder in 2011, so he is no longer blocked by Joey Votto.

Alonso was hitting .296/.374/.486 with 12 HR’s in 409 PA’s for Triple-A Louisville at the time of his call up and he is expected to share time with Chris Heisey in left for the Reds. My gut tells me the Reds view Heisey as more of a fourth outfielder type, so I would expect Alonso to get the lion’s share of the action in left.

Fred Lewis is a factor as well, but if Lewis gets playing time over Alonso or Heisey then Dusty Baker should be relieved of his duties. Alonso has more value in keeper leagues than he does in standard leagues. I don’t think he will get enough AB’s to make a serious impact in fantasy.

By The Baseball Index