New York Yankees: Lance Berkman Being Targeted

According to Joel Sherman of the NY Post, the Yankees are “definitely in” on Lance Berkman, the first baseman for the Houston Astros.

Earlier in the day we also heard from Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports who reported that Berkman has a no-trade clause in his contract, but would likely waive it to play for the Yankees. Part of his reasoning was that he is good friends with pitcher Andy Pettitte, who played in Houston for three seasons.

This interest from the Yankees in Berkman is not exactly new, they’ve had scouts in Houston a few times this season, but it is coming kind of close to the deadline. That shouldn’t be a big deal though because of Berkman’s contract of which he is still owed part of the $14.5 million he earns this season. That should get him through waivers so he should be on the market in August as well.

Berkman is having a down year this season as his OPS is ‘only’ .808 (I say only because his career OPS is .959). He was injured early in the year, and despite seeming to be mostly healthy these days, he has been very inconsistent.

His splits are also concerning. He only has a .559 OPS against lefties and just a .700 OPS on the road. These two things are going to be flags for the Yankees who aren’t scheduled to make any starts in Houston this season and are specifically searching for an outfielder who hits lefties.

Serious interest is very different from something serious actually happening. Keep checking back here though as we will have constant rumor and trade updates all day long.

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