With the trading deadline now just nine days away the Red Sox have gotten a head start by acquiring veteran first baseman Adam LaRoche from the Pirates in exchange for prospects Argenis Diaz and Hunter Strickland.
LaRoche is an interesting pickup for Boston, because if everyone is healthy and productive he'll be a part-time player. However, he also provides the Red Sox with a backup plan that basically covers three positions.
He can sub for Kevin Youkilis at first base or David Ortiz at designated hitter, and can essentially be the backup for Mike Lowell at third base as well because of Youkilis' ability to move across the diamond.
And while not a big name LaRoche has been a solid player in both Pittsburgh and Atlanta, hitting .269/.338/.486 in 775 career games. His overall numbers are dragged down by a measly .249/.308/.435 line against left-handers, but he's unlikely to face many southpaws in Boston if Lowell is healthy and is a career .275/.347/.500 hitter against right-handers.
LaRoche is an impending free agent with about $3 million remaining on his contract, so Boston is more or less paying that much for an insurance plan. Most teams can't afford that luxury, but for the Red Sox it makes sense and if nothing else he's a sizable upgrade over Mark Kotsay (or Aaron Bates and Jeff Bailey). They may also be able to recoup some of the value given up to acquire LaRoche if he qualifies as a Type B free agent.
For the Pirates, trading LaRoche is about saving money and cashing him in before free agency. While a solid player and a sensible pickup for a contender, LaRoche turns 30 years old in a few months and certainly didn't fit into Pittsburgh's latest rebuilding effort. Presumably not many teams were hungry for a platoon first baseman with two months left on his contract, because Diaz and Strickland isn't exactly an impressive haul.
Diaz is a slick-fielding shortstop and at 22 years old still has time to develop further offensively, but has hit just .253/.309/.310 in 76 games at Double-A this year after batting .284/.332/.382 in 110 games between Single-A and Double-A last season. He's no doubt being viewed as a potential replacement for Jack Wilson, who may soon be following LaRoche out of Pittsburgh.
Strickland was an 18th-round pick in 2007 who has a 3.35 ERA and 51/13 K/BB ratio in 83.1 innings at Single-A this season. He's years from the majors and doesn't have a particularly high ceiling, but the 6-foot-5 right-hander throws in the low-90s and certainly looks capable of developing into an MLB-caliber pitcher if things break right for him.
_
Leave a Comment:
Saving...
Smart move by the smartest GM in baseball. Prepping for an injury instead of being the Mets and not knowing what to do when those injuries hit. Expect Boston to retop the Yankees and take the division.
YEAH, OMAR should have predicted that Delgado, Reyes, Beltran, Maine,Perez , Cora, Sheffield, Pagan, Putz etc. were going TO BE INJURED.
Oh yeah he should have known D-Wright would have only 5 homers .......
Yeah Omar doesn't know what todo, like give up ALL the guys because the GM on the other end of the line knows u have NO CHOICE so he has A GUN TO YOUR HEAD ..............
Imagine, ALL OMAR had to do was call a Washington National fan the team with the WORST record in the league for ADVICE because clearly u know how TO RUN A TEAM, INTO THE GROUND, HEY DIDN'T OMAR BUILD THE TEAM UP WHEN THEY WERE IN MONTREAL ??
dcfan, go play JUMP ROPE with the girls and leave baseball to the MEN
Classic. Truly classic. Your post just shows how bad the Mets really are. As a DC fan, we know where we stand. And we are not the worst team in baseball. We are the worst team in baseball by far. And injuries are part of baseball. But your wonderful GM has no farm system to call up, and no bench players. Sure its bad luck how many injuries, but not a single backup plan. And as a REAL baseball fan, i know this is NOT the first time the Mets have had no backup plans under Omar. So why dont you reread my comment, check your Mets history, and hope our pethetic excuse of a baseball team the Nationals don't leapfrog your sorry excuse of a team the Mets, who by the way have the second highest payroll in baseball. Doesn't it just suck to look so stupid sometimes?
Your proof in your " classic " reponse is that you said so ??? WHO ARE YOU ??? OH MY BAD YOU ARE A REAL BASEVALL FAN, sorry wasn't aware your self descibed HIGH OPINION OF YOURSELF is enough CREDENTIALS, YOU OBVIOUSLY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BASEBALL BECAUSE YOU FOLLOW A LOSER ......... I KNOW THEY HAVE NO BACK UP PLAN AND THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME, GIVE EXAMPLES DON'T JUST THROW STUFF OUT THERE..... YOU HAVE A GOOD IDEA ABOUT LQQKING stupid, everytime u LQQK in the mirror.
I have no time to waste on u, uand your team r losers........
NOW GO PLAY DOLLY HOUSE WITH THE OTHER GIRLS..........
So putting your words in caps, insulting me and my team, and saying i know nothing about baseball because my team is terrible is your rebuttle? Really? If you know your team has no backup plan, if you know this isn't the first time, and you know the examples, then my arguments done. And you still look foolish. As bad as my team is, i know it. I am not mad at shots at my team. There is nothing to defend. Mets fans however have every excuse in the book but what it all boils down to is bad decisions. When you spend that much and lose, you can not blame it all on injuries. Even the Yankees who have excuses out the rear every year still make some playoff pushes. The mets just implode. Face the facts dude, your team is sad, bad, and your just mad at me for no reason.
I wish we could have gotten Victor Martinez instead :(
Unrelated to the trade, but a general Pirates trivia question.
G. Jones hit another HR today. It is his 12th career HR (9 the past few weeks) and every one has been a solo shot. What is the record for most consecutive solo HRs at the beginning of a career?
Oops....11 Hrs, not 12.
But the basic question remains.
It is a smart move. Maybe Victor Martinez is next but he wouldnt play all that much with Variteck doing so well behind the plate. If the Red Sox straighten out their hitting, they'll be fine! Yanks have poor pitching, being 3rd from the bottom in the AL. I cant see them making it. Smoltz to the bullpen. It's gonna be fun I hope!!
Varitek does have everybody and their grandmother running on him. He can not throw out anyone, worst percentage in the league. Expect a change next year at catcher if things don't improve.
The Pittsubrgh Pirates, along with some other teams, such as the Baltimore Orioles should be listed as a AAAA farm team for the "real" major league teams that actually try to build winners. How many years can these teams be in 'rebuilding" mode, sell off any player tha looks even half way decent, win nothing, and still be taken seriouslyu as a "Major League" team?
Exciting.zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Pittsburgh Pirates have developed many a player throughout the years only to see them star in other city's, with other teams, when their on field play warrants a raise in salary. Isn't it about time that ownership take on some partners with wallets? Mark Cuban was interested in the cubs? Mark is from Pittsburgh and at one time offered to partner with Mario and the Pens... City of Champions deserve better. The players deserve better ownership then they have now.
Adam LaRoche is not a good hitter. He has a slow swing, strikes out a lot and has a low batting average. He seems like a nice guy and a good teammate but the Pirates won't miss him. I'm a lifelong Pirates fan, over 40 years, and am as upset as anyone at their 16 consecutive losing seasons, but I think Neal Huntington is improving the overall talent level in the organization and the Pirates will be contenders in 2-3 years (I hope).
and when they can't afford them trade them , it's a cycle. and money is all the owner want's
Hot Rod, what GM do you think ran the DC franchise into the ground? Sizemore, Cliff Lee, and Brandon Phillips for about one month of Bartolo Colon. Jason Bay for Lou Frazier. Don't even offer Vlad arb to get picks. Yeah - Omar really built the Expos up...
Don't bother arguing with him, he doesn't actually use logic when he posts.
This is a good trade for the Sox, they have plenty of farm options so it's not much of a pricetag (for them) and while he may not be the best hitter in the game the backup options he provides make him a good addition. Better to have him and not need him than... well, be the Mets this year...
dude, how can you complain, u got a shot at making the playoffs, propscts are no guarantee, u know how many propects come to fruitation ???
Do you really believe the met's shouldn't trade for Holliday by giving up 4 propects ???
LQQK what we gave up for Santana, LQQK at his numbers imagine him with his complete team........ now check the propects they gave up, one of the pitchers isn't even in baseball anymore............
and on Omar, he got alot out of team going to be contracted.....
the BEST THING IS YOU GUYS HAVE all the answers after the fact........
like Omar said when people he knows and respect and know baseball critisize him then he may second guess himself..............
Don't bother arguing with him, he doesn't actually use logic when he posts.
________________________________________________
Only comment in this blog that truly is a fact...
How can this be a good trade? They brought another bench player like Mark Kotsay. They should have gone for Adrian Gonzalez put him at first and Youk to third. I dont like where things are going.
One evening when Adam LaRoche was playing for Atlanta, he screwed up in the field and the screw-up eventually led to a Braves defeat.
Quite gallantly, the Braves' announcers offered up the tidbit that Adam suffered from attention deficit disorder and implied that that was the cause of Adam's mental error. I thought that was real nice of the announcers to freely divulge that gem.
Hadicapped or not, it will be interesting to see how well Adam fares once he is moved off a mediocre performing team to one of the best performing teams in baseball. Sometimes that winning spirit can be contagious.
Godd luck to you Mr. LaRoche.
Julio Lugo traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for a bag of peanuts! now..thats a good trade!
You were close, the dropped Lugo for Chris Duncan, who's value to the Sox is roughly on par with a bag of peanuts. If we ever need him someone else is in trouble, but they would be in even worse trouble if they needed him and didn't have him.