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Gregor Blanco is the newest National, acquired from the Royals on Sunday for a player to be named.
Blanco is 27, is predominantly a center fielder who has strong defensive skills and a propensity for getting on base. His career big league OBP is .358; in all or part of nine minor league seasons it's .369. A lefty swinger, Blanco has no power to speak of, but he can swipe a base. He's played all of 2011 in Triple-A, where he's struggled at the plate, hitting just .196 in 23 games, but with 17 walks, for an OBP of .384.
So, where does he fit in with the Nats? I can't help but think that this deal is designed to make sure everyone knows that Roger Bernadina is really a left fielder. Blanco was traded from Atlanta to Kansas City last July for Rick Ankiel; will Ankiel's lack of offensive production cost him his job sooner rather than later?
The Nationals were known to have interest in Houston center fielder Michael Bourn. Blanco is kind of a Bourn-lite: a lefty singles hitter with some occasional extra-base pop, capable of drawing a walk, defensively sound, though with far less big league experience at a similar age.
There's still the issue of a spot on the 40-man roster for Blanco, but I don't have the feeling that they got him to spend the rest of the year at Syracuse.
