Adam vs Adam
You know I did not know that both Adams were born same month, same year. One was drafted in high school in 1998 and the other in college three years later.
Better defense: Laroche has played only first base since he was drafted. In big leagues, he has three times more experience at 1B than Dunn. Dunn mainly played LF with Reds and moved to 1B with Nationals after Nick Johnson was traded to Marlins in 2009. Be it experience or sabermetric stats, Laroche is considered better defensively than Dunn.
Better RISP numbers: As far as I know, Laroche is supposedly a better hitter with runners on than Dunn. I tried to look up stats on baseball-reference and fangraphs but I was not thoroughly convinced. I have seen Dunn perform couple of years so I know he is not the best hitter with men-on.
Missing power threat: Every year, Dunn guaranteed about 40 HR and 100 RBIs. Nationals will definitely miss that consistency and fear this kind of power hitter puts in opposing pitchers.
Fan favorite: Nationals might receive a slight setback in attendance because Dunn is gone (unless they start winning). It tends to happen when a team loses a slugger of his caliber.
Dunn was also liked his for club presence and as much as he wanted to be in DC, too bad the deal could not work out. Is Laroche a better replacement for Dunn than others or will Laroche contribute more to this team defensively and offensively than Dunn? Only the upcoming season can show us that.
Nationals 24/7 