LaRoche Traded Again

We really needed a clean one-for-one swap that featured players of the same position. Thankfully Boston and Atlanta answered the call, giving us Adam LaRoche for Casey Kotchman.

LaRoche heads back to Atlanta after a few days in Boston and two and a half years in Pittsburgh. His wOBA is an average .328, but he should hit a little better down the stretch as his BABIP recoups to normal LaRoche levels. He’s a touch below average defensively and if nothing else gives the Braves a left-handed bat, but they aren’t gaining much, if any, value here because of LaRoche’s pending free agency.

Kotchman on the other hand is under team control for an additional two seasons. Essentially, Boston traded a third of a season of LaRoche for two additional seasons of Kotchman and the two are basically equals. LaRoche hits a bit better, Kotchman fields better, but at the end of the day they look almost exactly alike in the WAR column.

Presumably Kotchman plays the bench role that LaRoche would’ve, and allows Mike Lowell, Victor Martinez, or even Kevin Youkilis to be lifted or swapped around if needed.

Maybe Bobby Cox doesn’t like Kotchman or Frank Wren wanted to add some left-handed pop, but this is basically a tit-for-tat deal, and tat is a free agent at the end of the season. Unless there’s something beyond the surface here, I’m not really sure I get the move for the Braves.