The Pirates finally made the deal, tentatively, to land Adam LaRoche, while dealing away closer Mike Gonzalez. According to our colleagues at Bucs Dugout, the complete deal is Gonzalez and Brent Lillibridge for LaRoche and outfielder Jamie Romak. I'll give Littlefield credit (if true) for not giving up players that were reported to be included such as Duffy, Maholm, or Castillo.
Several different stories spawn out of the deal finally being made;
- Tough to see Mike go. Good guy, reportedly a good teammate and clubhouse guy. Not a Mariano Rivera-like shutdown closer, but pretty damn close. 24 for 24 last year, obviously perfect, although many of those were pretty hairy during those 9th innings.
- Tough to lose a closer like that. However, the Bucs were going absolutely nowhere unless they at least pulled the trigger on this trade. Shit, they still might not be going anywhere. Personally, my goal for the team is just to finish over .500 for a change.
- So does this annoint Solomon Torres as the defacto Bucs' closer. Not a bad selection at all. Torres won't be your typical 98 MPH closer, but I love his sinker, that in itself gives the job to him.
- LaRoche is the perfect PNC Park hitter. I used to think Brian Giles was that type of player, but in retrospect I don't think he took advantage of it as much as I expected. LaRoche has a little bit more of a golf swing for a lefty, perfect for the short porch in right and the Clemente wall.
- I would imagine that puts LaRoche in the cleanup position, with Bay 3rd and Nady 5th. Now if we can only get Jason to cut down on the K's this year....
- I continue to wonder if this was spawned by the "Bob Nutting coming out of hibernation party".
- Come on McClatchy, quit stalling, when's Adam's bobblehead night, you need another sellout.
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