Cardinals sign Lance Berkman

email
print
Facebook
rss
December 4, 2010

Berkman brings a career .296 batting average, 327 home runs and 1,099 RBI with him to St. Louis. (Getty Images)
By B.J. Rains
FOXSportsMidwest.com
Dec 4, 2010

ST. LOUIS – Safe to say, the St. Louis Cardinals lineup is going to have a different look to it next year.

The Cardinals continued their busy offseason Saturday, signing veteran slugger Lance Berkman to play the outfield and provide another dangerous bat in the middle of their lineup.

A five-time All-Star with the rival Houston Astros, Berkman turned down more-lucrative, multiyear offers to come to St. Louis.

“He’s a winning player,” Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said. “He brings tremendous leadership and respect to a clubhouse. I think he has a great appreciation for the game of baseball and for the history of it, and I can sincerely say that he looks at the St. Louis Cardinals as one of those just premier places to put on a uniform.

“When you look at what we were trying to accomplish this offseason, one of the things we wanted to touch on was our offense. We didn’t know exactly we would be able to address it. We were focusing on the middle infield, but as the winter has worn on, we realized that maybe the best way to address this would be looking at right field and giving a hard look at Lance Berkman.”

A 34-year-old switch-hitter, Berkman brings a career .296 batting average, 327 home runs and 1,099 RBI with him to St. Louis. His career .409 on-base percentage ranks fourth among active players, and his .545 slugging percentage ranks 10th.

Berkman hit .248 last season with the Astros and Yankees in 122 games, with 14 home runs and 58 RBI. Mozeliak said some of his down numbers were because of a knee injury that Berkman said never fully healed all season.

Berkman, who has six seasons with at least 100 RBI and eight seasons with at least 25 home runs, passed a physical in Orlando, Fla., earlier Saturday before the deal was finalized.

Manager Tony La Russa was one of several within the Cardinals organization who lobbied for the club to pursue Berkman.

“Over the last couple of weeks, if you asked me to handicap it through the process, I would have probably thought it was less than 10 percent of accomplishing it up until the last 72 hours,” Mozeliak said. “Then I felt there was a chance to get some momentum to get it done. It really was a situation where it took two parties to get this deal done.

“I think he had greater opportunities out there financially, and I think he felt this was a place he wanted to play. Based on his desire to be here, that’s when we really started to realize we had a chance to get this deal done.”

The Cardinals had envisioned taking a platoon of Jon Jay and Allen Craig into the season in right field before the Berkman deal materialized. Left fielder Matt Holliday has volunteered to play right if Berkman goes to left, but the Cardinals haven’t decided which one of them will play where.

Mozeliak said the Cardinals will look at Craig more as an alternative at third base in spring training.

Berkman last played the outfield in 2007, when he made 27 starts in right field for Houston. The Cardinals seem convinced he can handle a full season in the either left or right field in 2011.

“Well, obviously, that’s a question," Mozeliak said. "But one of the things that we looked at during the physical was where was he at, and today he looked in great shape. He’s lost some weight. He feels like he’s running very well, so we have a high level of confidence he can do that.”

The move was the second in four days for the Cardinals, who on Tuesday added Ryan Theriot in a trade from the Dodgers to play shortstop. Both deals give the Cardinals a pretty much set club heading into the Winter Meetings, except for a remaining opening at backup catcher.

The moves also bring a more veteran presence to the clubhouse, something the Cardinals felt they missed last season.

“I felt like that was just something we needed to address,” Mozeliak said. “I didn’t want it to be where it was an afterthought or something we were going to let pure performance dictate it, but if we could find performance with character, we really valued that this year and wanted to do it. In both cases, when you look at the Theriot deal and the Berkman deal, both deals we ended up being a little more aggressive.”

Mozeliak said interest in shortstop Brendan Ryan was high and they would listen to trade offers for him at the Winter Meetings, but the GM also said he could see a scenario in which Ryan returns to the club as a utility player next season.

Tags: MLB, St. Louis Cardinals, John Mozeliak, lance berkman, Brendan Ryan, Jon Jay, Allen Craig, B.J. Rains
email
print
Facebook
rss
Add your comments below
You need to log in to post comments.
Username: password:
HEADLINES
GAME SCHEDULE
COMMUNITY POLL
Favorite Tony La Russa team
Which was your favorite Tony La Russa managed Cardinals team?
: '96 Cardinals (First season)
: '98 Cardinals (McGwire HR record)
: '04 Cardinals (NL Champs)
: '06 Cardinals (WS Champs)
: '11 Cardinals (WS Champs)
WHAT IF SPORTS
Please update your flash player to view this element

Microsoft©2012 Microsoft