Gonzalez to Braves, two prospects exchanged
Thursday, January 18, 2007
By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Adam LaRoche, the young, square-jawed, sweet-swinging power hitter the Pirates had atop their wish list all winter, is headed to Pittsburgh.
As one team official exclaimed, "Finally!"
Yes, finally.
And this time, for real.
After two months of haggling, the Pirates and Atlanta Braves yesterday reached agreement on a four-player trade that will send closer Mike Gonzalez to Atlanta for LaRoche, a left-handed hitting first baseman. The teams also exchanged minor-league prospects, the Pirates giving up promising shortstop Brent Lillibridge for outfielder Jamie Romak.
The transaction is pending physicals, and neither team will comment until those are complete, probably not until tomorrow.
The Pirates' management, staff and players were ringing cell phones and typing text messages to each other yesterday afternoon when word began to circulate of the franchise's most significant trade in the past three years.
"Gosh, this makes the coming season so exciting," shortstop Jack Wilson said. "To hear and read about Adam LaRoche the whole offseason, and to finally get him ... that's exciting for all of us. I don't want to put pressure on Adam or have the fans in Pittsburgh expect him to be a savior, but I really think this changes the whole dynamic of our team."
To be sure, LaRoche has the potential to deliver a wow factor.
He is 27, entering his fourth year of Major League Baseball and coming off a 2006 season in which he batted .285 with 32 home runs, 38 doubles, a triple and 90 RBIs. Platooned early last season, he took off once given a chance to play every day, batting .323 with 19 of his 32 home runs after the All-Star break. Part of the reason for his success, he told reporters during the season, was that he began taking medication to address the attention deficit disorder that has affected him since high school.
Perhaps LaRoche's most impressive statistic was his .915 on-base plus slugging percentage, or OPS. It is considered by some baseball numerologists to be the most telling figure for a hitter, and LaRoche ranked 10th in the National League.
Some scouts consider LaRoche -- a complete player who learned the game from his father, former All-Star pitcher Dave LaRoche -- to have Gold Glove form at first base, too, and his statistics support that: He made five errors in 1,219 chances last season.
"With that great swing he has, you can forget how good he is in the field," one scout said. "But you shouldn't."
LaRoche did not return calls seeking comment.
Without LaRoche, the Pirates' lineup was too right-handed and too lacking in power, as evidenced by their league-low 141 home runs.
With him ...
In all likelihood, he will bat cleanup, behind National League batting champion Freddy Sanchez and in front of two-time All-Star Jason Bay. And, if those three perform to their recent precedent, it would give the Pirates their strongest heart of the order since the early 1990s, when Andy Van Slyke, Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla were there.
"I know this: I'm going into my seventh year with the Pirates, and this will be the first time I'll feel like we can stack up with other teams' lineups," Wilson said. "He's going to add all those home runs to our lineup and, what I think is just as important, he's going to make everybody else better."
"I think you're going to see a big difference in how teams approach us," Bay said. "To get that guy, that big bat we've been looking for, means a lot. But it also means a lot, I think, that he's left-handed. He's going to force the other team to do some things that maybe they didn't have to do in the past."
Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield focused on LaRoche from the outset of the offseason. And he nearly had a deal done with Atlanta Dec. 6 at Major League Baseball's winter meetings in Orlando, Fla., that would have swapped Gonzalez for LaRoche one for one, but Braves general manager John Schuerholz backed out because he wanted an additional player.
The disappointment was palpable among the Pirates' staff afterward, but all concerned insisted the deal was not dead. And, although Littlefield entertained other possibilities, LaRoche remained the top priority.
Atlanta asked for center fielder Chris Duffy in addition to Gonzalez, and Littlefield refused. The same thing happened when the Braves sought one of the Pirates' four young starting pitchers.
Being that this trade took so long to complete and spring training was only a month away, some inside the Pirates -- including several players -- began to get antsy in recent weeks, wondering if Littlefield would get LaRoche or a similar player. But that sentiment shifted 180 degrees yesterday.
"Give a lot of credit to our general manager," one Pirates official said. "He did a tremendous job in sticking with this."
Wilson echoed that.
"Kudos to management," he said. "They never took their eye off the guy they wanted."
Ultimately, according to several accounts, the deal was done because the Braves decided they wanted Gonzalez to bolster a bullpen that had 29 blown saves last season, and because they felt they had an adequate replacement for LaRoche in talented Scott Thorman, 25.
Gonzalez, 28, converted all 24 save opportunities and had a 2.17 ERA last season in his first full year as the Pirates' closer. Atlanta's plan is to use him as veteran Bob Wickman's setup man in the short term, but to take over as closer before long.
"It's always flattering when anyone wants you, especially when it's a team like Atlanta," Gonzalez said. "It's another step in my career."
Gonzalez missed the final five weeks of last season to elbow tendinitis, but he has been examined twice by the Pirates' medical staff since then, including earlier this month. He resumed a long-tossing program two weeks ago and said he feels "like I'm ready to pitch tomorrow."
With Gonzalez gone, the Pirates almost surely will turn to Salomon Torres to be their closer. Torres, 34, had a 3.28 ERA while leading the majors with 94 appearances last season. More relevant, he converted 12 of 13 saves when he replaced Gonzalez as closer for the final five weeks.
The money factor in the trade is a virtual wash.
The Pirates and Gonzalez agreed Tuesday to a one-year contract with a $2.35 million salary and $200,000 in performance bonuses. LaRoche, first-time eligible for arbitration, exchanged salary figures with the Braves at the Tuesday deadline. He submitted a salary of $3.7 million, and the Braves submitted $2.7 million. If no settlement is reached between now and the hearing -- those take place Feb. 1-20 -- an arbitration panel will choose one figure or the other.
Lillibridge, 23, was considered the fourth-best prospect in the Pirates' system. In his first full professional season, split between Class A Hickory and Lynchburg, he batted .305 with 13 home runs, 71 RBIs and 58 steals. He would have started next season with Class AA Altoona.
Romak, 21, batted .247 with 16 home runs and 68 RBIs for Class A Rome. He was not considered among Atlanta's top prospects.
NOTES -- Yesterday at Major League Baseball's owners meetings in Phoenix, the executive council recommended that the owners approve the Pirates' proposed change in the ownership structure. Approval is expected today. The Pirates want to make chairman of the board Bob Nutting the controlling owner, taking over from chief executive officer Kevin McClatchy.
No comments:
Post a Comment