Red Sox Acquire 1B Adam LaRoche from Pirates
July 22nd 2009 16:40
It appears that Adam LaRoche, who is not in the starting lineup for Pittsburgh today, has been traded to the Red Sox. There is no word yet on who it is for. I will update/analyze as soon as further information is revealed.
Update: The Pirates received SS Argenis Diaz and P Hunter Strickland in return. More analysis in a moment.
Update: Everyone seems to be in agreement that 22-year-old SS Diaz is a tremendous defender, but he has done next to nothing from the plate in four years of Minor League ball. Unless he magically learns how to hit someday, he is probably nothing more than a solid defensive replacement in the bigs. He is definitely not a potential replacement for Jack Wilson, unless the Pirates want an even poorer-hitting version of Jack Wilson.
The buzz on (almost) 21-year-old RHP Hunter Strickland is that he throws around 90 mph and could eventually make his way into a major-league bullpen, but his stuff is only about average.
As for Adam LaRoche, he has struggled mightily so far in July, he has an OPS around .775, and he is no better than average in the field. On the plus side, he generally performs well in the second half, the Red Sox only have to pay for 2 months from him, and the Red Sox may be compensated with a draft pick when he becomes a free agent this offseason.
At the end of the day, the Red Sox got themselves added hitting depth without having to give up any important pieces, and the Pirates were able to unload an extraneous member of their team who would have been gone in two months anyways for a future defensive replacement at SS and a future arm in the pen. This trade will take years to determine the winner, but for right now, a slight edge to the Red Sox because they received the only clear major-league talent in the deal, and the Pirates may end up covering the cost of LaRoche for the rest of the season.
Update: The Pirates received SS Argenis Diaz and P Hunter Strickland in return. More analysis in a moment.
Update: Everyone seems to be in agreement that 22-year-old SS Diaz is a tremendous defender, but he has done next to nothing from the plate in four years of Minor League ball. Unless he magically learns how to hit someday, he is probably nothing more than a solid defensive replacement in the bigs. He is definitely not a potential replacement for Jack Wilson, unless the Pirates want an even poorer-hitting version of Jack Wilson.
The buzz on (almost) 21-year-old RHP Hunter Strickland is that he throws around 90 mph and could eventually make his way into a major-league bullpen, but his stuff is only about average.
As for Adam LaRoche, he has struggled mightily so far in July, he has an OPS around .775, and he is no better than average in the field. On the plus side, he generally performs well in the second half, the Red Sox only have to pay for 2 months from him, and the Red Sox may be compensated with a draft pick when he becomes a free agent this offseason.
At the end of the day, the Red Sox got themselves added hitting depth without having to give up any important pieces, and the Pirates were able to unload an extraneous member of their team who would have been gone in two months anyways for a future defensive replacement at SS and a future arm in the pen. This trade will take years to determine the winner, but for right now, a slight edge to the Red Sox because they received the only clear major-league talent in the deal, and the Pirates may end up covering the cost of LaRoche for the rest of the season.
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