Merged: LaRoche coming back to Braves

[HawkItus]

I saw this coming a mile away.

[frosgrim]

According to SI.com the Braves just sent Kotchman to the BoSox for LaRoche.

Why would this trade be made? Just seems like shuffling deck chairs and Adam is just a strange dude.

[APE]

Now everyone can bash on Casey's ZERO errors, I'll miss his defense

Edited July 31, 2009 by Bruin

[gsuteke]

Laroche is supposedly the better offensive player and he's left handed. He had no value to the Red Sox after they acquired Martinez.

In theory the Braves got the slightly better end of the deal - that is unless LaRoche's ADD starts acting up again.

[Plainview1981]

Laroche is supposedly the better offensive player and he's left handed. He had no value to the Red Sox after they acquired Martinez.

In theory the Braves got the slightly better end of the deal - that is unless LaRoche's ADD starts acting up again.

Adam is not great, but he will help the struggling offense somewhat.

[APE]

Who else thinks Casey had a legitimate shot at a Golden Glove this year?

[KB21]

This is a deal that trades contact for slugging ability, and there is really not much of a drop off defensively. Casey was fielding at 1.000%, and Adam fields at .999%.

Adam strikes out too much for my taste, but he has hit 20+ home runs in each of the last four seasons and could very well get to 20+ HR's this season.

[frosgrim]

Looks like this might also be a contract move. Kasey is up for arbitration over the next two seasons. LaRoche's deal expires at the end of the season.

For me, I am not excited by the deal at all. I never was a LaRoche fan, so getting him back isn't really that great.

That said, he's Brave again so I hope he adds that needed pop to the line-up.

[Admin]

The Red Sox supposedly made the deal because they felt that Casey would be a better bench option than LaRoche and he's a better defensive player. Seems like a good trade for the Braves to me.

[coachx]

LaRoche is pretty slick with the glove too.

We needed some more power in the lineup. Ideally we needed some power from the righ side of the plate. Oh well.

LaRoche has hit over 20 HRs for four seasons in a row. He has hit over 30 once.

Kotchman had never hit more then 14 HRs in a season.

I like the deal.

[mrhonline]

LaRoche is a second half player.

A good move for the Braves.

[CBAreject]

Who else thinks Casey had a legitimate shot at a Golden Glove this year?

If offense didn't matter in gold glove voting, casey would've won it, sure. Problem is, it always has mattered to voters, and they just won't award the glove to a poor offensive player unless he plays SS or catcher.

To the question of who got the better deal, I think this is a coup for Atlanta. LaRoche is better than his current numbers, and he's consistenly hit better in the 2nd half throughout his career. The year we traded him, he posted almost a 1.000 OPS in the 2nd half. He at least has the potential to post that high-.800's OPS we need from our 1B-man. Kotchman had no shot at being even adequate offensively. Oh, and this defense question is ridiculous. LaRoche is a terrific defensive 1Bman. The difference between the two there is nominal if there is one at all.

Edited August 1, 2009 by CBAreject

[Bahamut]

Who else thinks Casey had a legitimate shot at a Golden Glove this year?

Count me in :handshake:

[codyatl]

Well, like Joe said during game it was prolly more of a move to free up 1st base for Freeman next season. We are gonna be very young with Heyward and Freeman in there. Hopefully it will free up some cash to sign a LF with some pop.

[KB21]

Looks like this might also be a contract move. Kasey is up for arbitration over the next two seasons. LaRoche's deal expires at the end of the season.

For me, I am not excited by the deal at all. I never was a LaRoche fan, so getting him back isn't really that great.

That said, he's Brave again so I hope he adds that needed pop to the line-up.

The Braves may be thinking two things here. One, they are banking on Adam's trend of being very hot after the AS Break to push them into contention for the wild card spot and a playoff berh. Adam has a career .899 OPS after the ASB and hits .294 for his career after the AS Break. Two, they may be thinking that Freddie Freeman will be ready to compete for the 1B job in spring training or will at least be ready at some point in 2010 to allow them to sign a cheap stop gap option to fill in.

Edited August 1, 2009 by KB21

[DrReality]

Maybe it's a feel good move? Ha.

[KB21]

Changing the subject a bit, the league should really think about doing something with the Pittsburgh Pirates if they continu to be managed the way they are. I know the excuse of being a smaller market team gets used, but look at the players they have traded in the past few years. This could have been a very competitive team. The Pirates, just in the past few years, have traded away Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, and Nate McLouth in the outfield, Aramis Ramirez at third base, Jack Wilson at short stop, Freddy Sanchez at second base, Jason Kendall at catcher, and now Adam LaRoche at first base. It won't be long before they deal Paul Maholm and Zach Dukes, and how much longer will they keep Ryan Doumit at catcher?

[KB21]

Adam went 2 for 3 with a walk and a run in his first game back. The Braves won 4-3.

Rafael Soriano got his 18th save of the season. Derek Lowe won for the first time in a while. There has been some buzz that when Tim Hudson gets back, Derek Lowe may be the odd man out and could get moved back to the bullpen. That wouldn't be good considering what Atlanta is paying him.

[KB21]

Oops. I think I misheard who the report was talking about. It looks like Kenshin Kawakami will be the odd man out in the rotation, which makes more sense to me. Derek Lowe's pitching has picked up in his last three starts whereas Kawakami's pitching has tailed. I wonder if I am alone in being not all that impressed with Kawakami this season?

When Hudson gets back, this pitching staff has a chance to be nasty:

1. Javier Vasquez

2. Tim Hudson

3. Jair Jurrjens

4. Derek Lowe

5. Tommy Hanson

It's an all righty staff, but it's a good one. The next starting pitcher to come out of the system is probably in A ball right now. Two guys I have my eye on are Zeke Spruill and JJ Hoover. I anticipate JJ Hoover will move fast once he moves up and gets out of Low A ball.

[APE]

Changing the subject a bit, the league should really think about doing something with the Pittsburgh Pirates if they continu to be managed the way they are. I know the excuse of being a smaller market team gets used, but look at the players they have traded in the past few years. This could have been a very competitive team. The Pirates, just in the past few years, have traded away Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, and Nate McLouth in the outfield, Aramis Ramirez at third base, Jack Wilson at short stop, Freddy Sanchez at second base, Jason Kendall at catcher, and now Adam LaRoche at first base. It won't be long before they deal Paul Maholm and Zach Dukes, and how much longer will they keep Ryan Doumit at catcher?

Don't forget Mike Gonzalez. Last week ESPN showed what their lineup would've been with everyone they traded and it was REALLY good.