3 points
1. I like the trade: classic case of giving up real, considerable value to get real, considerable value that's more in line with what the team needs.
2. Yonder Alonso will hit. He has all the tools he's shown all along: extremely early pitch recognition, great balance at the plate, good control of the strike zone. He'd have hit a lot of home runs in GABP to LCF. Unfortunately he's limited to one position and apparently there was no chance that Votto could be moved to LF to open 1b for him. Still, if that had been possible, our lineup would be much better balanced right now and we wouldn't be fixating on Juan Pierre types for balance.
3. I think we'll miss Alonso and also Grandal, who I'd guess is only 50/50 at C going forward but who will, I think, have a much better offensive career than Mesoraco, who nevertheless was the better one to keep because he's going to be more than acceptable at C for a long time to come.
But I think there'll be days when we look back at Alonso and Grandal and regret the trade. And if Latos gets hurt, these days will be frequent. That, in my view, is still the biggest risk in this kind of deal for a SP.