Comments on: Rangers and Lance Berkman agree to one-year, $11 million contract

By: stevincinci

stevincinci — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 00:45:33 +0000

Reds killer. Glad he’s
in the American League.

By: jeffa43

jeffa43 — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 17:58:00 +0000

Short memory kids… He replaced an Albert year before last… And they won the Series… Btw … Berkman was only hitter to hit over 400 in the Series win, including the best at bat of the series that tied the game late that was won later that inning.

Ya I know Albert played in the Series, but Lance was the one with the spotlight on him.

Nice job Ryan… Again.

Ps… Astros blow it again!

By: stiefert

stiefert — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 16:16:01 +0000

As a Cards fan, I hated him when he was with Houston, loved him while he was here, respect him now that he’s moved on. Thanks for your time here Big Puma and good luck with the Rangers!

By: materialman80

materialman80 — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 14:57:01 +0000

Thanks for your efforts with the Cards Lance, we will miss you.

By: joegolfer

joegolfer — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 08:53:53 +0000

Yes, there is some nifty math going on here, what with all the stats on wRC+ listed.
I heard a nice quote while watching college basketball today: “Statistics can be what a lampost is to a drunk: more for support than for illumination”.
That’s often the case with all these posts that list tons of handpicked stats. One can pick and choose whatever stats one wants to support their point, such as leaving out a year when Hamilton was injured quite a bit but including a year when Berkman was injured.
Same goes for all the arguments about whether a guy belongs in the Hall of Fame or not. You can’t go simply by statistics or sabremetrics or whatever, as there are intangibles to the game that aren’t measured on paper, and the game is much more than what happens solely in a boxscore or stat book.

By: joegolfer

joegolfer — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 08:42:26 +0000

The amount of the contract surprises me too. 10 to 11 million for a guy whose health has been so bad of late. I could see it if it was heavily incentive laden, such that he had to reach milestones in order to get that money, such as have 500+ plate appearances and a certain level of batting avg or slugging percentage or OPS.
Berkman should feel lucky that anyone wants him anymore at all. An incentive laden contract ought to be something he’d sign out of a sense of being honorable, considering his recent history.

AJ Pierzynski got 7.5 million, and it seems like he’ll have more impact than “the Big Puma”, especially since Berkman hardly moves like that puma anymore. At least Pierzynski has stayed healthy every year, despite being around the same age as Berkman.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 04:06:29 +0000

I wonder how he and Pierzynski will get along.

By: kirkvanhouten

kirkvanhouten — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 03:50:26 +0000

Seems like a bit of an overpay, but it worked out pretty well for the last team that signed up to a one year deal after everyone was convinced he was washed up…

I think this deal mostly revolves around his health. If he can give them 500 PAs, then it will be fine. If not, well…it’s only a one year deal and not a terribly expensive one at that. The Rangers will survive.

By: kirkvanhouten

kirkvanhouten — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 03:45:46 +0000

@ “thereisaparty”

Well, that was some nifty math, what with excluding Hamilton’s 2009, presumably because he wasn’t healthy and yet having no problem including Berkman’s 2010 and 2012 when was also injured.

At this juncture in their careers, I agree, Hamilton is almost certain to be better hitter. But if you just take the last four years, Berkman does top him in OPS+ by four points. Hamilton tops Berkman tops him by 7 points in OPS+ if you go by the last three years.

By: kirkvanhouten

kirkvanhouten — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 03:36:41 +0000

If by “fairly well” you mean “was healthy enough to put up exactly 97 plate appearances”…then yes, he did a wonderful job replacing Pujols.

By: cur68

cur68 — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 02:48:03 +0000

Phat Elvis in Texas? Like wow, man. Hope he can hold his ailing frame together for the season.

By: sportsnut101

sportsnut101 — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 00:45:18 +0000

11 mil for him. U got to be kidding. Hope they got insurance

By: genericcommenter

genericcommenter — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 00:33:47 +0000

I guess the Mule got his Carrot.

By: genericcommenter

genericcommenter — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 00:30:32 +0000

So if the vesting option is for at-bats ( and not PAs), he will be penalized for getting on base. That makes sense.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 23:03:52 +0000

That 114 for 2010 was on one knee all year, he wasn’t healthy then….no more healthy than when Hamilton put up an 85 wRC+ in 2009

By: spytdi

spytdi — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 23:02:58 +0000

Berkman replaced Pujols in Cardinal land fairly well after he left for Anaheim. Wait and see is all I can say. It’s a gamble only because of his health. That’s what a physical is for.

By: tuberippin

tuberippin — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 22:59:52 +0000

“why is it the Red Sox playbook to sign guys to long term big dollar contracts? no other team has ever signed an aging player to a long term contract?”

1) We’re talking THIS offseason.
2) It has been the Red Sox playbook THIS OFFSEASON to sign guys to long-term contracts that overpay them vs. the quality of their play (Jonny Gomes, Shane Victorino, the Napoli deal that’s in limbo, etc.)

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 22:43:58 +0000

paperlions, FYI “Berkman”

By: Jackson

Jackson — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 22:41:39 +0000

Congrats, Lance. I’ll be sure to get you some Mickey Mouse ears

By: bat42boy

bat42boy — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 22:29:00 +0000

He’s an over-the-hill injury plagued DH. They paid way to much for limited production. Don’t see how that helps them..

By: thereisaparty

thereisaparty — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 22:24:15 +0000

Sorry Lions, but Berkman is not a better hitter than Hamilton, when healthy.

Hamilton wRC+ from ’10-’12: 175, 126, 140
Berkman wRC+ from ’09-12: 139, 114, 163, N/A

You have to consider aging curves and regression here. No sensible projection would have Berkman’s offensive production above Hamilton’s.

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 22:09:15 +0000

Eh?

By: paperlions

paperlions — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 21:57:01 +0000

He was one of the main reasons the Cardinals won the 2011 WS….when healthy, he’s still a better hitter than Hamilton usually is….people act like Hamilton is usually the guy he was in 2010, but he was only anything like that guy that one year. Otherwise he’s a .350 OBP that slugs about .550 while playing home games in Arlington, which is nice…but not that hard for a player like Berman to replace.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 21:51:33 +0000

Oh, c’mon. There really aren’t any bad one year deals. If Berkman can’t stay healthy or produce, they can just waive him so they aren’t even wasting a roster spot. This is a far better deal than giving Hamilton $125/5, which will represent a lot more wasted money than the Berman deal if Lance never gets a single AB.

By: quintjs

quintjs — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 21:48:01 +0000

why is it the Red Sox playbook to sign guys to long term big dollar contracts? no other team has ever signed an aging player to a long term contract? no one would ever sign Vernon Wells to a long term deal to watch him to nothing apart from the Red Sox?

By: gt929

gt929 — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 21:37:57 +0000

Aww, looks like you’ve seen right through JD’s complicated strategy.

By: gt929

gt929 — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 21:32:40 +0000

But what are the Rangers risking? A measly (in MLB money) $11mil, for 1 year? If the option vests, obviously he will have done something to earn it.

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 21:16:04 +0000

True, but the Yankees signed A-Rod when he was healthy and A-Rod was one of the main reasons the Yankees won the World Series in 2009. I doubt the Rangers will look back on this signing and award Berkman the same credit.

By: gt929

gt929 — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 21:13:50 +0000

He has to know he’s being signed primarily as a DH due to his above mentioned age and knees. That’s why there were no NL teams interested.

But if he thinks he can come to ST and beat someone out of a job defensively, let’s see him do it.

By: uyf1950

uyf1950 — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 21:13:01 +0000

Actually it’s a 1 year deal with a vesting option for a 2nd year. And considering his age and obvious injury history it has the potential to be a bad signing.