26 News just did a 5-min interview with Berkman about his pending free agency. It's impossible to predict what will happen but some team may get an extremely good hitter for a good price next season. Given his age, I don't think he'll be putting up numbers like he did in his prime (although anything is possible) but if things fall into place health-wise and he's getting regular plate appearances, I can see him being around a .900 OPS guy, maybe a little better. He hasn't lost his plate discipline and if he can come into the season healthy, he may be able to slug the ball a lot better even with the inevitable decline in bat speed. If a team can land him for anything under $10 mil per on a 1 or 2 year contract, it may turn out to be a really good investment. And I do think that he'll get offers in the $10 mil range as crazy as that sounds given the way the market works as well as his track record combined with the circumstances of last season (starting out injured).
I would bet money on either Texas or Tampa winning his services. He would do some serious damage in Arlington and provide some nice leadership.
It's entirely possible that he has another very disappointing season but the risk is probably worth it for the right team for the right money. I think the big question is whether he can still make contact and drive balls at a good clip with his increasing age and declining bat speed. The eye and the plate discipline are still there. He is absolutely still elite in that respect. Of course, there is also the question of whether he can stay healthy for a full season. It's possible but reasonably questionable for any team considering him. He's not going to be slugging around .600 like he did in his prime and he's not likely going to be a .300 hitter again but if he can give you .275/.375/.500, that's a very good hitter... not elite but pretty close.
10 Million Dollars? Seems a bit steep to me. I'd say 3-6 Mil per season. Max 7 million. We saw Abreu come off a 100 RBI season with the Yankees a few years ago and he only got 5 million. Also saw Vlad get 5mil per with the Rangers this past season. I don't see Berkman getting a higher salary than the two listed above.
^^^ Yea, you could be right. I was just speculating and was probably off. Either way, I still think that whatever the market for him dictates, it has the potential to be a very good signing for some team.
Vlad is actually getting $6.5 mil this season including what I believe was a pretty loose bonus schedule and that was after posting a sub-.800 OPS in 2009 and missing 22 more games than Berkman did this season: http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/texas-rangers.html And being that Vlad is an extreme free-swinger who relies heavily on bat speed, age should have been even more of an issue in negotians than it would be with a guy like Berkman who has derived his value from his eye and plate discipline as much as his slugging. As far as Abreu, he's never been as good of a hitter as Berkman and his numbers actually declined in 2009 with the Angels and they still at some point ended up signing him for nearly $20 mil over 2 years: http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/los-angeles-angels-of-anaheim.html I don't recall everything that went into those 2 contracts for Abreu but it's odd that he got worse and then made nearly $10 mil per for 2 more seasons. And that latest contract was signed in the offseason. I really wouldn't be surprised if some team offers Berkman around $7.5-8 million but he may have to prove himself on a lower 1-year deal first.
I almost forgot the best part of the interview: Berkman and had a Moe cut. No exaggeration. It looked almost exactly like this:
I hadn't been keeping tabs on anything baseball but just saw that Puma got 1-year, $8 mil from STL. That was roughly what I figured he'd get. Good for him. No big deal for the Stros since we're gonna be suckin' for a while anyway.
Man am i pissed at the astros I bought a berkman jersey around 140 and two months later they trade him and now i see the jersey is on sale bleep
Obviously it was going to go down, because he was traded. I stopped buying expensive jersey because everything I did the player eitherbwas traded, retired, or became injury prone. From now on, I only buy merchandise that states the team's name or city on it. All my Texans gear is with the logo and city name etc. Same with the rockets. The one that really pissed me off is when I got a scottie pip jersey for Xmas. Couple weeks later....dude went off the deep end and I relegated that jersey to my dogs as a towel.
The Big Puma is on pace to hit 54 home runs and have 135 runs batted in. Some start he's had so far...
Yup I heard the Cards announcers today talking about how he has been a savior both on the field and in the club house for the team. He is definitley performing at an all-star level right now and showing vintange Berkman. Won't be surprised to see him keep it up. He has much more protection in that line-up and is in great shape this year.
Lance not being fat elvis is really helping his play this year. But I have a feeling he looks this good because of Pujols and Holliday in that lineup. He's experiencing the so called "Ryan Ludwick Effect" where a good player looks like a fantastic player because they are getting good pitches to hit.
Change of scenery and his weight loss are the main reasons in my opinion. If he can maintain this for a whole season the Cardinals are going to continue to score a TON of runs. He is still only 35 and can probably produce at least 2-3 more above average seasons. Definitley still a great player to have in the line-up. He has always gotten on base at a great clip even when he isn't hitting.
