LaRoche brothers may not be together long

(Sarasota Herald-Tribune Staff Photo by Thomas Bender)--- The LaRoche Brothers. Andy and Adam LaRoche both play for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Photograped at McKechnie Field in Bradenton Thursday morning March,12, 2009. [Click to enlarge]

"A lot of times I was that little brother tagging along and it made him mad," Andy LaRoche said.

They became closer, though, as they grew and began talking regularly on the phone about hitting as their baseball careers blossomed.

As much as they dreamed of playing together, they never would have guessed that some day Adam would be making room for his sibling in the next locker of a major league clubhouse.

But that's what has unfolded for the brothers, who are teammates for the Pittsburgh Pirates, occupying side-by-side locker stalls and playing in the same infield.

Adam, 29, is the Pirates first baseman and Andy, 25, will be the third baseman. They were in the lineup together Monday night for the Rays-Pirates game at McKechnie Field, where they have adjacent locker stalls, as they do at PNC Park.

"It's about as cool as you could imagine," Adam LaRoche said. "It's something you dream about growing up, how cool it would be to be on the same team, but you never think it's going to be a reality."

Andy LaRoche came to the Pirates from the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in the three-way trade last July that sent Jason Bay to Boston and Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers.

"I was smiling for about a week after that," Adam said.

"It's awesome, we were both pretty excited about it," said Andy, who played 49 games last year for the Pirates, after the trade. "We were separated when I first got here. He made one of the guys move so I can go be next to him in the clubhouse up there."

The LaRoches are the one of two sets of brothers playing together on a major league team this year, according to Baseball Almanac, the historical publication which states there have been 102 brother combinations to have played for the same team at the same time.

The LaRoches will be the seventh set of brothers to have played together for the Pirates at the same time, dating back to 1909, according to Baseball Almanac.

Adrian and Edgar Gonzalez are entering their second season together with the San Diego Padres.

The other most recent sets of brothers to have played together in the majors were the Giles brothers, Brian and Marcus, for San Diego in 2007, and the Weavers, Jeff and Jered, for the Angels in 2006.

Baseball is one of the few things the LaRoches have in common. Adam is married, Andy is single. Adam likes to hunt and fish in the offseason. Andy likes to travel.

"I play golf," Adam said. "He doesn't."

"A lot of brothers aren't really compatible, don't really get along," Andy said. "Off the field, they're friends but don't really hang out. We're exactly alike, in our attitude, and what we like to do, besides the fact he hunts all the time. We're pretty much the same personality, joke around, make fun of each other."

But Andy points out they are different on the diamond.

"He's a lefty, he's in the (batters') box relaxed, I'm righty, more tense," Andy said.

They enjoy time together off the field during the season.

"For as opposite as we are, we hang out quite a bit," Adam said, noting that they go out to dinner or movies together. "He loves being around my kids."

"This is great being able to hang out with him, see the kids, his wife, all the time," Andy said. "Makes it easy on the parents also."

Adam most cherishes their baseball time, like when he throws ground balls across the infield to his brother before an inning.

"The coolest part is being around here with him, on the field with him," Adam said. "Looking across the diamond and seeing him over at third."

Center fielder Nate McLouth said that they are bound to get on each other's nerves.

"Having a family member there with you every day, I'm sure, like anything they get sick of each other a little bit, too," McLouth said.

"No, not yet," Adam said. "We haven't been together long enough yet."

He might not, either, because being teammates could be temporary for the LaRoches.

Adam will become a free agent after this season and the Pirates have not been inclined to offer him a long-term contract extension.

"I would trade anything to have a chance to finish out my career with him, or get one more year (playing together), whatever it is," Adam said.

Staying in Pittsburgh appears unlikely for Adam.

A good season will push his market value beyond what the rebuilding Pirates might be willing to spend to keep him.

If he does not have a good year, or gets off to one of his routine slow starts early in the season, he could be traded in midseason, or simply be allowed to walk as a free agent.

"I'm trying to enjoy every day with him as much as I can," Adam said "I don't know how long I'll be here...how long he'll be here."

Their father is Dave LaRoche, who pitched 14 seasons with five teams in the majors and is now the pitching coach for the Toronto Blue Jays' Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas. He sees a way the Pirates would keep Adam.

"Hopefully Pittsburgh could get off to a great start, maybe get some excitement going there and Adam showing that he could have a good first half, too, and both of them being a big part of the team maybe getting into contention," Dave LaRoche said. "Maybe that could change."

Pirates general manager Neal Huntington, who brought Andy to Pittsburgh, is luke-warm about keeping Adam.

"I don't want anybody to feel like if (Adam) gets off to a good start, now we're going to jump in and look to sign him to a multi-year contract," Huntington said. "The multi-year contract might come because of the entire fit for the organization.

"In Adam's situation, it's going to come down to dollars and other options," Huntington said. "If we feel he's our best option at the right dollar figure, then we move forward."

Adam LaRoche has posted decent numbers in his two seasons in Pittsburgh (25 HR, 85 RBI in 2008, 21 HR, 88 RBI in 2007), he is a notoriously slow starter who is said to have hit many of his home runs when they counted least, with the Pirates already out of contention.

"Typically he's undigging himself from the hole he's dug himself for the first couple of months," Huntington said. "As much as this is a 'people business' it is still a business, and the toughest elements are the choices that we have to make going forward."

Andy is in the Pirates' plans, long-term.

"He certainly has the upside to be a good major league third baseman, perhaps, maybe an above-average major league third baseman," Huntington said. "Those are the types of players that we need here. Will it play out that way? Time will tell."

Tom Balog covers the Pittsburgh Pirates spring training for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.