Argenis Diaz Traded, Sea Dogs Receive Yamaico Navarro from Salem
July 22, 2009 - Eastern League (EL1)
Portland Sea Dogs News Release
Portland, Maine- The Boston Red Sox today traded Portland Sea Dogs' shortstop Argenis Diaz along with Single-A Greenville right-handed pitcher Hunter Strickland to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for first baseman Adam LaRoche. Shortstop Yamaico Navarro has been promoted to the Portland Sea Dogs from Single-A Salem. Navarro will wear uniform number 5.
Diaz, 22, hit .253 (70-for-277) with 24 RBI in 76 games at Double-A Portland this season. Originally signed by the Red Sox as a non-drafted free agent in July 2003, he is a career .268 hitter with four home runs and 127 RBI in six seasons in Boston's farm system.
Navarro is the tenth ranked prospect in the Red Sox organization according to Baseball America. The 21 year-old suffered a wrist injury in Salem's first game of the season. After hitting .238 (5-for-21) in five rehab games with Single-A Lowell, he returned to action with Salem on June 25th. In 23 games with Salem, the righty is hitting .319 (30-for-94) with four home runs and 17 RBI.
In 2008, Navarro combined to set career highs with a .304 (154-for-506) average, 11 homers and 77 RBI in 125 games split between Single-A Greenville and Single-A Lancaster. Navarro was signed by the Red Sox as a non-drafted free agent on September 23, 2005.
LaRoche, 29, is batting .247 (80-for-324) with 12 home runs and 40 RBI in 87 games for the Pirates this season. He ranks seventh in the National League with a .338 (54-for-160) average at home. Among current members of the Red Sox, only Jason Bay and Kevin Youkilis (each with 42) have more extra-base hits than LaRoche's 38, 27 of which have come at PNC Park. The left-handed hitter has committed just one error in 836 total chances and ranks second among N.L. first basemen with a .999 fielding percentage.
He has reached double digits in home runs in each of his six Major League seasons, including a career-high 32 for Atlanta in 2006. Since 2004, only six other N.L. lefties have more round trippers. Overall, LaRoche owns a .269 career batting average with 123 homers and 426 RBI in 775 games with the Braves (2004-06) and Pirates (2007-09).
The former first-round draft pick has posted second-half OPS of .941 since 2006, 12th in the N.L. during that span. He has belted 10 of his 12 home runs off right-handers this season and owns an .866 OPS against righties since the start of the 2006 campaign. He has appeared in eight career post-season games, going 8-for-25 (.320) with two homers and 10 RBI.
Strickland, Boston's 19th selection (18th round) in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, was 5-4 with one save and a 3.35 ERA (31 ER/83.1 IP) in 18 appearances/12 starts for Single-A Greenville. In three professional seasons in the Red Sox organization, the 20-year-old posted a 10-9 record with one save and a 3.66 ERA.
The Portland Sea Dogs return to Hadlock Field on Friday, July 24th at 7:00 PM for a three game series with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Tickets for most 2009 Portland Sea Dogs' home games are available. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Sea Dogs Ticket Office at 207-879-9500 or online at www.seadogs.com.
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