Adam LaRoche fits the White Sox's roster very well.
Adam LaRoche fits the White Sox's roster very well. (USATSI)

With Paul Konerko retired and Adam Dunn traded away (and retired), the White Sox had a hole to fill at either first base or DH this offseason. AL Rookie of the Year Jose Abreu would play one position while a new addition would play the other. That new addition is Adam LaRoche:

Our Jon Heyman has confirmed the signing.

LaRoche, 35, hit .259/.362/.455 (124 OPS+) with 26 home runs for the Nationals last season. He has 79 homers and a 118 OPS+ over the last three years. Only 11 other players can say that and they're basically the 11 best hitters in baseball. (Here's the list.)

Washington surely would have loved to retain LaRoche, but with Anthony Rendon entrenched at third and Ryan Zimmerman's throwing issues forcing a move to first, the team had no choice but to move on. I'm sure they would have tried to re-sign him if the NL had the DH. The Nats' loss is the White Sox's gain.

LaRoche moves from a neutral home ballpark (doesn't favor hitters or pitchers) to one that favors hitters. Specifically, Nationals Park had a 95 Park Factor for lefty home runs in 2014 according to FanGraphs, meaning the park suppressed homers by left-handed hitters by about 5 percent. US Cellular Field had a 106 Park Factor for lefty homers. That's a swing of 11 percentage points in LaRoche's favor.

The White Sox are also adding some balance to a lineup that included right-handed hitters Abreu, Alexei Ramirez, Avisail Garcia, Tyler Flowers, Marcus Semien and possibly Dayan Viciedo. LaRoche joins Adam Eaton and Conor Gillaspie as the club's regular lefty hitters, and Gillaspie could soon lose playing time to righty hitting third base prospect Matt Davidson.

Viciedo is a prime non-tender candidate and GM Rich Hahn may need to replace him, plus Ramirez's name is popular on the trade rumor circuit right now, but for the time being Chicago's lineup looks something like this:

  1. CF Adam Eaton
  2. SS Alexei Ramirez
  3. 1B Jose Abreu
  4. DH Adam LaRoche
  5. RF Avisail Garcia
  6. 3B Conor Gillaspie
  7. C Tyler Flowers
  8. LF Dayan Viciedo
  9. 2B Marcus Semien

That's a sneaky good lineup. Two legitimate power threats in Abreu and LaRoche, plus a third in Garcia, who missed most of 2014 following shoulder surgery. Eaton and Gillaspie quietly had a 117 OPS+ and a 113 OPS+, respectively. Flowers had a 95 OPS+ in 2014, which is perfectly acceptable for a catcher.

That's six MLB-caliber hitters plus Flowers, more if Semien blossoms and/or the club finds an upgrade over Viciedo. That doesn't sound glamorous, but you know what? These days having six average or better hitters is a luxury. Offense is way down around the league and the White Sox have some guys who can put runs on the board.

As Dayn Perry wrote recently, Hahn has quietly built the White Sox into a potential 2015 contender through a series of lower-profile but effective moves. The LaRoche signing is another example. Affordable, impact hitter, great fit for the lineup and ballpark. I don't know if Chicago will contend next season, but the Sox are in much better position to do so than they were two years ago thanks to Hahn.