Adam LaRoche. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

Losing Adam Dunn to the White Sox left the Nationals with a hole to fill at first base, and no clear answer as to how to do so. One theory was to move Mike Morse out of the crowded outfield rotation and see how he performed — and after devoting a sizable chunk of payroll to Jayson Werth, a personnel shuffle didn’t seem too far-fetched. Instead, the Nationals did the unthinkable and went and got another free agent, signing veteran first baseman Adam LaRoche to a reasonable two-year contract. If you’re not excited yet, I’ve designed a three-step plan for any Nationals fan to get pumped about our new first baseman.

Let’s get the home run comparison out of the way up front, because LaRoche’s potential value goes far beyond the long ball. While Dunn hit 76 homers the past two years, LaRoche hit 50 — and for what it’s worth, both players evenly divided their home runs over the two seasons.

Step 1: LaRoche Certainly Isn’t Any Worse on Defense. Dunn was never a natural first baseman (or a natural fielder, period), and while LaRoche didn’t exactly have a stellar defensive 2010 on an awful Arizona team, he’s only averaged 6 errors a season over his career, less than half than the number Dunn committed in 2010. While there’s not an airtight case to be made that the infield defense improves that much with LaRoche’s signing (not unless Ian Desmond figures out how to catch and throw this offseason), the prospect of even slightly better defensive performance, especially on a last-place team, is reasonable cause for optimism.