Washington Nationals will be deciding fate of Adam LaRoche in offseason - MLB News
One of the players that require attention in the offseason from Washington Nationals is Adam LaRoche. The Nationals may be offering him contract extension following his impressive performance in the season.
If they do not retain him, LaRoche will end up playing for some other club in the next season.
Against the backdrop of his splendid offensive record, it can be believed that he will be acquired by any organisation as soon as the Nationals unload him from their roster.
LaRoche signed a two year contract with the Nationals in 2011. As far as his offensive contributions are concerned, he justified with the money that he was granted in the deal by putting up splendid shows at the plate frequently.
In the recently concluded regular season, he was among the most successful hitters of the team. Right from day one, he kept the Nationals’ offence afloat by slamming home-runs.
Regardless of the injuries that some of their players sustained during the season, he did not experience a decline in his production.
At one stage, the Nationals were without Ryan Zimmerman and Michael Morse in the line-up. Such a situation could prove disastrous for the offence of the team but thanks to LaRoche the Nationals produced runs and won matches on a consistent basis.
Even in the playoffs when most of Washington’s batters were finding it difficult to perform under pressure cooker circumstances, LaRoche struck hits and did not let the team down.
In light of this, overlooking LaRoche in the offseason will not be a good sign for their expedition next year. His absence in the line-up can weaken their offence.
However, the Nationals may think that by ignoring LaRoche they will be able to spend the same amount of money for buying new players.
They may be of the view that even without LaRoche their offence will not be affected much and that they address those issues which can hamper the team's progress potentially.
It is hard to make any premature conclusion about the intention of the Nationals regarding LaRoche.
Regardless of the declaration they make about LaRoche, it is doubtless that he is capable of becoming an important component of the offence of any team.
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