The AP is reporting that the Braves and Orioles have discussed a straight-up swap of Adam LaRoche for Brian Roberts. They further indicate that Mark Loretta‘s agent has spoken to Baltimore; he could replace Roberts at 2B.
LaRoche’s power numbers would benefit from a switch to Camden Yards, though not significantly. Turner Field suppresses home runs for left-handed hitters by about 11% while Camden suppresses them by around 4%. The figures come courtesy of the Bill James Handbook.
LaRoche turned 27 recently and offers three full years of service time. Roberts turned 29 this year and has two years of service time left. LaRoche made $420,000 in ’06 while Roberts made $3.075MM. According to WARP, LaRoche was worth 6.2 wins in 2006 and Roberts 4.7. Fan favorite or not, the O’s should swap Roberts for LaRoche if given the chance.
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