Boston Adds a Bat

The Red Sox have aquired a new left handed bat and insurance if 3B Mike Lowell needs to miss any time in the second half. This will be an upgrade over Jeff Bailey, Adam Bates and even Mark Kotsay (who can still play in the OF). Here is what Boston’s sports talk radio station WEEI, via their Full Count Blog, had to say about the deal:

Image by David Watson via Flickr

1B Adam LaRoche is a power-hitting first baseman who has averaged 24.5 homers over the past four seasons with the Braves and Pirates. He is hitting .247 with a .329 OBP and .441 slugging mark for the Pirates this year, down from career totals of .269/.338/.486.

In exchange, WEEI.com has learned from multiple baseball sources that the Red Sox will send Double-A shortstop Argenis Diaz and Single-A pitcher Hunter Strickland to Pittsburgh once the deal is finalized. Diaz is known as a gifted defensive player, but there are questions about his bat. The 22-year-old Diaz is hitting .253/.309/.310 with Double-A Portland this year. Strickland, an 18th round pick in 2007, is 5-4 with a 3.35 ERA for the Greenville Drive of the Single-A South Atlantic League this year. The 6-foot-5 20-year-old has shown excellent command for the Drive, with a 51-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 83.1 innings this year.

Hopefully a deal for Lugo will follow as I’d hate to hear that the Mets were able to just pick him up after he hits the market! I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Penny or Saito moved within the next week and a half either.