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Andy LaRoche, 29 year old, right-handed hitter got a minor league contract from the Blue Jays with an invite to spring training. The Jays are listing him at 1B/3B, but he's only played 4 games at first in his career. He has played a bit of second and short in the majors, but I don't think that would happen again, unless serious bad things happened.
LaRoche took over the third base position for the Pirates in early August 2008 before they traded Jose Bautista to us in late August. The Pirates might not have made that trade if they didn't have LaRoche.
His major league numbers
| Year | Age | Tm | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 23 | LAD | 35 | 93 | 16 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 24 | .226 | .365 | .312 | .677 | 78 |
| 2008 | 24 | TOT | 76 | 223 | 17 | 37 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 37 | .166 | .252 | .256 | .508 | 36 |
| 2008 | 24 | LAD | 27 | 59 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 7 | .203 | .319 | .322 | .641 | 71 |
| 2008 | 24 | PIT | 49 | 164 | 11 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 30 | .152 | .227 | .232 | .458 | 23 |
| 2009 | 25 | PIT | 150 | 524 | 64 | 135 | 29 | 5 | 12 | 64 | 3 | 1 | 50 | 84 | .258 | .330 | .401 | .731 | 94 |
| 2010 | 26 | PIT | 102 | 247 | 26 | 51 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 43 | .206 | .268 | .287 | .555 | 52 |
| 2011 | 27 | OAK | 40 | 93 | 10 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 19 | .247 | .320 | .333 | .654 | 82 |
| 5 Yrs | 403 | 1180 | 133 | 267 | 53 | 6 | 22 | 113 | 8 | 3 | 121 | 207 | .226 | .305 | .337 | .642 | 72 | ||
It's a fine depth move, it gives Buffalo another good bat. The Jays want the Bisons to do well this year, they only have a two year contract with Buffalo, so they might need a decent season to get them to extend the deal.
Also, as noted in the fanpost, Sam Dyson has been picked up by the Marlins off waivers. I dislike giving up Dyson to get DeRosa but that's the way it is. Not that I thought a lot of Dyson, but letting him go off waivers seems a waste.
Added: Last year LaRoche hit .251 with 23 home runs and 41 RBI in 96 Triple-A games shared between Columbus (Cleveland) and Pawtucket (Boston).