Nationals Agree To Sign Adam LaRoche

[Elite]

8:09pm: Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post reports (via Twitter) that the deal includes an option for a third year at $10MM that can be bought out for $1MM. LaRoche will make $15MM in the first two years of the contract.

7:42pm: MASNSports.com's Ben Goessling tweets that the deal is believed to be in the neighborhood of $16MM, though that remains unconfirmed.

6:40pm: The Nationals have agreed to sign Adam LaRoche to a two-year deal, according to MLB.com's Peter Gammons (on Twitter). LaRoche had alternatives and so did the Nationals, but once the Orioles agreed to terms with Derrek Lee, Washington offered a two-year deal and the sides came to an agreement quickly. He'll take his physical on Thursday.

Like Adam Dunn, the Nationals' previous first baseman, LaRoche is consistent. The 31-year-old has hit at least 20 homers and posted an OPS of .775 or better for six consecutive seasons. LaRoche has hit exactly 25 homers in each of the past three seasons and has a career .271/.339/.488 line.

The D'Backs will obtain a supplementary first round pick since LaRoche, a Type B free agent, turned down arbitration. However, the Nationals do not have to surrender a draft choice to sign the first baseman.

LaRoche joins Ryan Zimmerman, Danny Espinosa and Ian Desmond on the Nationals' infield. The team has expressed interest in adding a veteran utility infielder before the season starts, but the starters are in place.

As MLBTR's Free Agent Tracker shows, the first base market has thinned out considerably now that Lee and LaRoche have agreed to deals.

GM Mike Rizzo and the Nationals front office negotiated the deal with LaRoche's representatives at SFX. Rizzo's predecessor, Jim Bowden of Sirius XM Radio first reported that the sides were nearing a deal (on Twitter).

MLBTR

Pretty good deal for the Nats. They get a nice left-handed bat and fill their need at 1B.

 

[tbuc]

Good move. After the lost out on Lee, it was only a matter of time for this signing to happen. Michael Morse was not the answer.

 

[playmaker7]

Yeah I like it for the Nats. I hope it doesn't work out though >_>

I still don't see them making any noise though

 

[cruzg24]

Decent move by the Nationals to replace Adam Dunn. He has a good grasp of the pitchers in the NL East so he should be fine. The crazy part is that he hit 100 RBI's with the Diamondbacks which is a great feat within itself.