Braves trade Kotchman for LaRoche

To fill Kotchman’s spot in the lineup, the Braves called up Barbaro Canizares from Class AAA Gwinnett to fill in at first until LaRoche arrives, which is expected to happen on Saturday.

LaRoche, 29, came up in the Braves organization and played his first three seasons for the Braves through 2006, when he set career-highs with a .285 average, 32 home runs and 90 RBIs.

“He’s a big-time run producer in the second half, year-in and year-out,” Braves general manager Frank Wren said of LaRoche, whose career statistics after the All-Star break influenced the Braves’ decision.

It clearly wasn’t his stats this season that made them do it.

LaRoche, who’s eligible for free agency this fall, has a career-low .248 average with 13 homers and 43 RBIs in 93 games, including 87 games for Pittsburgh before a July 22 trade to Boston for two minor-league prospects.

For his career, he has a .252 average and .733 OPS before the All-Star break, and a .295 average and .900 OPS after the break. He has averaged one homer every 25.2 at-bats before the break, and one every 17.7 at-bats after.

“Adam has historically been a slow starter and an offensive force in the second half,” Wren said. “Obviously we’re counting on that.”

The Braves were also confident that LaRoche’s personality would fit seamlessly into a clubhouse chemistry that Wren wanted to be careful not to disrupt.

“Adam’s grown up a lot since he was left here the first time,” said third baseman Chipper Jones, a regular offseason hunting partner of LaRoche’s. “He was a team leader there in Pittsburgh; people looked up to him. Hopefully he brings that same mentality and work ethic back here and makes a good impression.”

Wren said the Braves didn’t make this trade with the future in mind, but rather with the belief that LaRoche’s bat would help them more the rest of this season.

LaRoche has hit 20 or more homers in four consecutive seasons. Kotchman, 26, has never hit 20 homers in a season at any level.

Kotchman’s been hot lately — .317 with four homers and 15 RBIs in his past 30 games — and raised his average to .282 with 41 RBIs, but he had only six homers.

Braves first basemen were tied for last in the National League with seven homers, and their .401 slugging was better than only Arizona’s first basemen.

“A little surprised but not overwhelmingly surprised — [it’s] how the game is, the business is,” Kotchman said of his reaction to the trade. “... I’m just thankful for the opportunity to be here and play for Bobby Cox. That’s been a privilege to play for him and his staff, the teammates here.”

The Braves got him from the Angels in the Mark Teixeira trade on July 29, 2008. Kotchman hit .267 with 24 doubles, eight homers and 61 RBIs in 130 games for Atlanta, with a .346 on-base percentage and .378 slugging percentage.

In that same span, LaRoche played the same number of games (130) and hit .258 with 37 doubles, 23 homers, 75 RBIs, a .330 OBP and .483 slugging percentage.

It seems unlikely the Braves would be interested in signing LaRoche to anything more than a one-year deal after the season. Highly regarded first-base prospect Freddie Freeman could be ready by 2011 or sooner.

The Braves and Pirates had discussed a possible LaRoche trade until Boston finalized its deal for LaRoche a week ago.

As the Red Sox worked on a trade for Cleveland’s Victor Martinez this week, Boston GM Theo Epstein checked with Wren to see if the Braves were still interested in LaRoche.

The Braves and Sox finalized the deal in a day, completing it before Friday’s 4 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline. Epstein thought Kotchman might fit better in a part-time role than LaRoche.

“I’m disappointed because this is an unbelievable team on the field,” LaRoche told Boston reporters. “It just didn’t work out, but it’s nice to go somewhere where I’ve been before. The bottom line is, I understand. I consider myself an everyday player and I’ll get the chance to go be that with the Braves.”