Then your easily amused by dumb things. Instead of attacking my point LTS made a snide comment as usual. I maintain my position...Laroche sucks. He's a lesser version of Nick Swisher as Swish has more pop and gets on base more often.
Considering Swisher is only slightly behind considering the ALBATROSS of a year he had in chicago, whereas LaRoche's number are consistent with what he's done in his career I still take Swisher... ...besides I didn't know the red sox made this move based on career numbers. I thought when you trade for someone your getting them in the hopes that they'll either continue stellar play or improve. LaRoche might improve due to the fact he'll be hitting in a much better lineup. But I still take Swisher over him because of the fact he gets on base at a higher clip, and has more pop in his bat. And by the way in Swishers awful one year in Chicago his OBP is STILL higher then where LaRoche's is at now. My original point and the point I'm sticking to is this. It's not a move that's going to come close to lighting the world on fire. I would've been more afraid had they gotten a professional hitter like Nick Johnson. The more they waited the more his price would've come down but instead they got LaRoche. It cost them nothing. But don't be surprised if he gives you NOTHING at the plate.
He's an improvement over any bench options they had before, has very good second numbers in his career, and cost almost nothing. It's a good deal.
It's an ok deal. It's not something thats going to come close to putting anyone over the top. His second half numbers are usually when he's playing for nothing.
MJ, you and Cappy should hang out. You both love to fight straw men. No one said this deal was a move to put the Sox over the top. It's simply a move to bolster the team in the event they lose Lowell. Comparing him to Swisher is ridiculous. Swisher was brought in to be a starter from day one (whether that was at first or in the outfield.) LaRoche is going to Boston to help them have an additional option. It'll be hard for him to put up comparable numbers to Swisher while sitting on the bench 5 days a week.
To expand a bit on this, he has had 0 protection in the lineup since Bay left. Like everyone above has said, he is not here to win us a title, he is here to give our title winning players a rest and to be an off the bench option.
Swisher and LaRoche are nearly dead even for their careers in weighted OBA (http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-joy-of-woba), with LaRoche holding a .001 advantage. Not to mention that you brought Swisher into this as a complete strawman anyway. They're bringing LaRoche in to take at bats away from guys like Kotsay, Baldelli, and Bailey. Guys who haven't hit as well as LaRoche the first half of this season, and given that LaRoche has such a clear propensity for second half performance that it can't be written off as a fluke, guys who are clearly a cut below him. They gave up pieces who were presumably not a part of their long term outlook, and they improved the team. Why bother trashing it? EDIT: Well fuck. I started writing the post, left to pick my brother up from somewhere, come back, finish it, and see that everyone else already made all my points.
This does basically ensure that they won't make another big move. The pen is set and any help needed can be found in the rotation (Smoltz) or minors (Bowden). There's already a surplus of starters. Unless they trade Penny for a B prospect, I bet this it about it. There's no way they get Rollen or anyone else like that now.
I wouldn't mind seeing Delcarmen shipped out for a bat. I've disliked him for a long time now, and he could be a centerpiece in a trade for a bat.
Unless LaRoche is part of that deal. Or a Penny for prospects which are then spun for something else type deal. Who knows.
I'm not going to pretend to know what the Nationals wanted for Johnson. If it was Delcarmen, fair enough if they didn't want to trade him. But this Adam LaRoche is a hot second half hitter stuff is crap when not one of those at bats ever meant a thing. It's a little different when your on the Pirates playing out the season and when your thrown into a pennant race. It's not a bad deal. But it's not a cure and I'm a lot more scared of the Sox when Lowell plays third and Youk plays first, now when Youk plays third and they have Adam LaRoche at 1st. Lowell kills us.
If that's how you feel then you should be pissed they just didn't grab Nick Johnson. Professional hitter and in his limited time playing the Yankees once a year he always seems to kill us. Plus he's a plus defender.
Which is EXACTLY why LaRoche was brought in. To give Lowell/Youk days off against lesser teams, so when we play the Yankees, we have our #1 players rested and healthy. Not to mention have a significantly better bat off the bench than we previously had. Given all that, I still want to see a HR threat added.
Is there a more meaningless argument then arguing that a guy's at-bats were meaningless? Exactly what high-pressure situations was Nick Johnson involved with during his past 6 seasons with the Exponationals?
Please, dear god, it's Delcarmen. The C is not capitalized. I don't know why but that bugs the shit out of me haha.
Nick Johnson's career numbers vs. the Yankees: 3-for-14, 2 doubles, a triple, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 2 K. Absolutely killer. Definitely what you want to base a trade around.
