After a disappointing 2010 season for the Washington Nationals, general manager Mike Rizzo allowed first baseman Adam Dunn to enter free agency to the dismay of many fans. With this loss, Washington began their search for another starting first baseman, their fifth in six seasons. On January 4th, 2011, Peter Gammons of MLB Network was the first to report via Twitter that the search was over. The Nationals had agreed to terms on a two-year deal with former Arizona Diamondbacks 1B Adam LaRoche.
LaRoche, 30 years old at the time, had proven himself to be the consistent first baseman that the Nationals needed, both offensively and defensively. In seven seasons with four different teams leading into 2011, he had accumulated six straight 20+ homerun and 78+ RBI seasons along with a career slash line of .271/.339/.488. Defensively, LaRoche had never made more than 11 errors in a season leading to an excellent .994 career fielding percentage at first base. In addition to these alread...
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