Adam LaRoche Photo: David Watson.

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Let the community projections begin! For those who weren't around the last two years, what we do here is we all try to guess how various Pirate starters will do, and then at the end of the year we review the projections to see who came the closest and how close we got as a group. Any registered user can participate; all you've got to do is leave a comment guessing the player's (in this case, Adam LaRoche's) 2008 batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage).

I'm starting with LaRoche because beginning with Ronny Paulino would just be too depressing, and anyway I'd rather wait for a week or two on Paulino just in case the Pirates acquire another catcher. (Which seems unlikely, but it's more likely than the Bucs dealing LaRoche or something.)

I think the most interesting aspect of the LaRoche projections will be seeing what people think his performance last April means. How much does it matter relative to the other months of the year, when he performed pretty well? Can we expect another slow start?

For the curious among you, here are our 2007 projections for LaRoche, and here is the review of those projections I did in October. It suggests that more April struggles may be in store. Here are LaRoche's career stats.