Fantasy Baseball Impact: Jeremy Hermida to Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox have acquired Jeremy Hermida from the Florida Marlins in exchange for a pair of minor league left-handers in Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez.

Neither pitcher is considered a top prospect, as both are relief pitchers who offer little to no upside for fantasy baseball owners.

Hermida, however, is a different story.

Once considered a top prospect, Hermida has done little to back up that billing since debuting for the Marlins in 2005. He has never hit more than 18 home runs in a season. A career .265 hitter, his 23.5 percent strikeout rate in 2009 was the second best mark of his career.

A lot needs to change for him to morph into the player that many believed he could become, but in Boston anything is possible. The park becomes a huge factor and instantly increases his likelihood to be productive, assuming he is in the lineup every day.

Let’s not forget that J.D. Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury are already in place in the OF, and David Ortiz, despite his struggles, is not going anywhere as the DH.

Hermida can be seen as insurance should Jason Bay bolt via free agency and another viable replacement is not brought in. More likely, he’s going to be used as the fourth outfielder and insurance should an injury crop up (and when you are depending on Drew, that’s almost a given, isn’t it?).

At this point, it doesn’t make too much sense to go through all the statistics, because it just isn’t expected that he sees significant ABs. Should things change, we’ll revisit this, but at this point he should be viewed as nothing more than an AL-only option or a player to stash in the deepest of formats.

What do you think? Will Hermida see playing time in Boston? If so, how will he play?

Previous Fantasy Impacts of Recent Transactions

Hardy for Gomez

Teahen for Fields and Getz

Iwamura to Pittsburgh

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