Red Sox Deal Adam LaRoche to Braves for Casey Kotchman

by Adam Hirshfield on Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 3:26PM

With the Red Sox pulling off the big trade for Cleveland catcher/first baseman Victor Martinez, that leaves the team with Martinez, Kevin Youkilis, Mike Lowell and recently acquired Adam LaRoche sharing time at the corner infield spots.

Now you can add Casey Kotchman in LaRoche's place.

LaRoche, who the Red Sox picked up on July 22 from the Pirates, has been traded to the Atlanta Braves for fellow first baseman Casey Kotchman.

With Martinez and Kotchman added to the Red Sox' lineup, there's still a glut at the corner infield spots, meaning that another deal could be possible. Even now that the deadline has passed, it remains possible that a deal was agreed upon before 4 p.m. ET.

The 29-year-old LaRoche played just six games with the Red Sox, hitting .263 with one homer and three RBIs. Prior to being dealt to Boston, LaRoche hit .247 with 12 dingers and 40 RBIs in 87 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Kotchman, 26, who was traded from the Angels to Atlanta in the 2008 pre-deadline deal that sent Mark Teixeira to Los Angeles, has hit .282 so far in 2009 with six home runs and 41 RBIs. The newest member of the Red Sox has been hot of late, going 6-for-15 (.400) with two homers and six RBIs in his last four games.