Adam LaRoche

For those of you who are still cleaning up some of the vomit after hearing that the Pirates might go with Trot Nixon as their big acquisition at the winter meetings, do not give up hope quite yet. The rumors of a deal bringing Adam LaRoche to Pittsburgh are still there, and they may be intensifying. The Atlanta Braves website is reporting that the Pirates are the team most interested in LaRoche, and also throws a few other names into the mix. Jose Castillo, Salomon Torres, and Kyle Davies are now all being mentioned as possible pieces in a potential trade. In addition to the Gonzalez for LaRoche rumor, we are now hearing the possibility of a Gonzalez/Torres and Castillo for LaRoche and Davies trade. I would call any of these combinations a win for the Pirates (a Torres and Castillo for LaRoche move wouldn't be bad either). Bringing in both LaRoche and Davies would fill each of the major holes the Pirates are looking to solidify (left-handed 1B or RF and RHP). Honestly, I am not all that familiar with Davies. But from what I do know, he would be as good as any of our current starters. Hopefully the Pirates can make something happen here.

Let's look a bit deeper into the stats of Adam LaRoche. You probably already know that he went .285/.354/.561 with 32 HR in 2006. His Win Probability Added (WPA, a measure of a player's ability to increase his team's chance of winning) was 1.20. His Runs Created per Game (RC/G) was 6.24. Both of these numbers are slightly above average. He is a solid defender, ranking 6th out of 21 qualified 1B in zone rating (.860), and in the middle of the pack in range factor (9.47). These are just some things to think about while we are bored with the limited action in Orlando.

UPDATE (12/06/2006 7:45 PM): According to this article on MLB.com, the Pirates and Braves are getting closer to a Gonzalez for LaRoche deal. This article says that the Braves are waiting only on medical clearance on Gonzo's elbow. Hopefully we will know more tomorrow.

Thanks to Uncle Nate on the comment board over at WHYGAVS for the lead to this article.