The Pittsburgh Pirates have acquired first base/third baseman Jeff Larish for cash considerations from the Boston Red Sox. Larish will be assigned to Indianapolis.
Larish, 29, has a career .224/.308/.380 line in 245 at-bats in the majors, with eight homers. He was rumored to be involved in a potential Jack Wilson trade with Detroit a few years ago (not the Jair Jurrjens rumor, but the following year), prior to the talks breaking down.
Larish is pretty much a 4-A player, and should serve as minor league depth in Triple-A. The Pirates have a lot of 1B/3B types in Triple-A. They’ve got Matt Hague getting regular time at third base. Jake Fox has been playing first base. Jeff Clement has been playing as the designated hitter. There’s no playing time for Larish. One has to wonder if this is a precursor to someone like Jake Fox getting the call to the majors. Without Larish replacing someone, this deal doesn’t make much sense, as there’s no playing time for Larish in Indianapolis.
