Cubs interested in Berkman..

[bleedingblue]

The Cubs are in pursuit of a first baseman this offseason and one option could be Lance Berkman. He told FoxSports.com that the Cubs are one of the teams that has talked to his agent. Berkman said the A's have been the "most aggressive" but they want someone who will DH. He would like to return to the National League, which would work in the Cubs' favor. Berkman made $14.5 million last season and would have to accept less money to sign with the Cubs.

 

http://muskat.mlblogs.com/archives/2010/11/1123_berkman_wants_to_play.html

 

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I thought Berkman was against ever playing at Wrigley. Did they all of a sudden change because no one wants an aging infielder with bad knees?

[javy knows my name]

I think he'll come back as long as we promise there won't be any more scary storms

[Outshined_One]

Give the man a pallet of Twinkies and he'll sign.

[The Logan]

We probably can't afford his salary

[Northside Blues]

Yes please. Perfect stop gap until Adrian Gonzalez is available. If he busts and Gonzalez is available in July then great.

[UMFan83]

I still hate him for the phantom HBP incident at Wrigley several years ago.

 

I'd take him but I think he'll want too much money for someone who declined heavily last year.

[Little Slide Rooter]

While Im not in love with the idea, as far as realistic options go, he may be our best bet.

[CUBZ99]

I like the idea of signing him to a 1 year deal as long as it is cheap.

[The Logan]

Lance Berkman will not sign a 1-year "prove your worth" type deal. His down year he posted a 114 OPS+ and the year before he posted an OPS+ of 140. He's probably hoping for 4 years, is willing to accept 3, and will settle for no less than 2. Only way he does a 1-year deal is if he gets a player option for the 2nd year.

 

I don't have faith in his ability to turn it around and put up another 140 OPS+ type of year again, but he's still an OBP machine. Someone will give him multiple years, and I pray that it isn't the Cubs.

 

If we're looking for a 1-year stopgap that could provide high upside on a 1-year bounce-back deal, Carlos Pena is the guy we need. He should be able to get multiple years, too, but the fact that he was a smidge over league average this year at the plate while hitting under the Mendoza line would probably lend his services towards a 1-year deal moreso than Berkman.

 

That being said I still want Dunn

[mookie]

I still want Chris Davis.

[SouthSideRyan]

We probably can't afford his salary

 

You sensationalist hack

[Northside Blues]

Lance Berkman will not sign a 1-year "prove your worth" type deal. His down year he posted a 114 OPS+ and the year before he posted an OPS+ of 140. He's probably hoping for 4 years, is willing to accept 3, and will settle for no less than 2. Only way he does a 1-year deal is if he gets a player option for the 2nd year.

 

I don't have faith in his ability to turn it around and put up another 140 OPS+ type of year again, but he's still an OBP machine. Someone will give him multiple years, and I pray that it isn't the Cubs.

 

If we're looking for a 1-year stopgap that could provide high upside on a 1-year bounce-back deal, Carlos Pena is the guy we need. He should be able to get multiple years, too, but the fact that he was a smidge over league average this year at the plate while hitting under the Mendoza line would probably lend his services towards a 1-year deal moreso than Berkman.

 

That being said I still want Dunn

 

Right now the Cubs, A's and Orioles are rumored to be interested in him. There are other teams who have contacted his agents, but my guess is that most of them are looking for him to DH like the O's and A's are. Since the Cubs would be willing to give him a shot to play the field, perhaps we can get him to settle for a one year deal with a mutual option or player option.

[rawaction]

I'd take Berkman. As far as stopgaps go, I don't think you can do much better (at any position) than Berkman or Pena at 1B, right after that is Nick Johnson because of health.

 

Even if they all hit at the career lows they hit at last year (which they won't) you still get a guy in the middle of the lineup that will get on base 36-42% of the time and hit for some power from the left side. None of them are a super old, Moises Alou type signing. None of them are going to require a deal more than 2 years. And I think all of them could get back to a .900 OPS sooner rather than later.

[JeffH]

The Cardinals will sign Berkman to play RF and he'll put up three consecutive .320/.450/.550 seasons.

[SouthSideRyan]

The Cardinals will sign Berkman to play RF and he'll put up three consecutive .320/.450/.550 seasons.

 

Yes, this will definitely happen.

[erik316wttn]

I'd rather have Dunn, but if we're not going to go after him, we could do a hell of a lot worse than Berkman.

[davell]

I think the key here is who winds up getting left out, with no team left to sign them. Here are the 1B that are available as of now through FA.

 

Adam Dunn

Lance Berkman

Adam Laroche

Carlos Pena

Paul Konerko

Lyle Overbay

Nick Johnson

Derek Lee

Russell Branyan

Jorge Cantu

Troy Glaus

Eric Hinske

 

Now, here are the teams that either need a 1B or a DH.

 

Rays

Orioles

Blue Jays

White Sox

Braves

Nationals

Cubs

Diamondbacks

 

Basically, there are 11 guys to fill 8 spots. And that's not counting teams that may make a trade to fill their holes either. Plus, there's a chance that the Braves and/or Diamondbacks fill their hole internally. At any rate, I wouldn't expect either of them to fill the need with more than a stopgap that's going to be cheap.

 

The teams I could see actually spending solid money on a 1B this offseason would be the Nats, Orioles, and White Sox. Meanwhile, the Rays are even more cash strapped than we are.

 

If we're actually looking for the best bargain out there, I think we will wait until someone signs Dunn and Konerko. I think the rest of these guys will all get one year deals though. Because there's not a ton of difference between them and they won't all wind up with starting jobs once the musical chair game is over with. There's no reason for a team to cave in on this either. So, after those two are off the board, the thing we don't want is to be the first team to sign one of the rest of these guys. The first few to sign COULD get overpaid a tad anyway.

 

Basically, assuming Dunn is off-limits, I wouldn't mind us waiting this out and letting one of Pena, Laroche, Johnson, Overbay, Berkman, or Branyan fall into our laps for an extreme bargain basement type buy. Then, if we're out of it come the deadline, we may even wind up with a solid trade chip on our hands, due to the price we paid.

 

In the end though, it sucks we're in this position to begin with.

[minnesotacubsfan]

I'd much rather have Berkman and his bad knees then this Davis schmuck, but man if we watch the white sox sign Dunn, we deserve Davis.

 

we'll, not us fans, but in a sense that his suckiness may eventually drive Hendry out the door.

 

I have a Dream.

[daske17]

Oh my God, please do not let Branyan in Chicago, much less near the Cubs. He is by far the worst option available to any team looking for 1B.

[erik316wttn]

Oh my God, please do not let Branyan in Chicago, much less near the Cubs. He is by far the worst option available to any team looking for 1B.

 

Branyan is a slightly better Rob Deer.

[Geech]

Oh my God, please do not let Branyan in Chicago, much less near the Cubs. He is by far the worst option available to any team looking for 1B.

 

Branyan is better than Hinske, Cantu and probably Glaus at this point. He's probably pretty comparable to Overbay, and Laroche, and he could possibly be had for a relative bargain because of his atypical offensive profile and history as a bench player.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Oh my God, please do not let Branyan in Chicago, much less near the Cubs. He is by far the worst option available to any team looking for 1B.

 

Branyan is better than Hinske, Cantu and probably Glaus at this point. He's probably pretty comparable to Overbay, and Laroche, and he could possibly be had for a relative bargain because of his atypical offensive profile and history as a bench player.

 

Thats probably because hes a bench player.

[mhuber92211]

How does Huff getting 2/22 affect what Berkman, Dunn and Pena are asking for? Huff's deal would seem to set the bar for these types of players now

[Geech]

Thats probably because hes a bench player.

 

He is a bench player in that he has filled that role in the past. His play this past two seasons suggests he's more than that to the right teams.

[Outshined_One]

Thats probably because hes a bench player.

 

He is a bench player in that he has filled that role in the past. His play this past two seasons suggests he's more than that to the right teams.

 

Something tells me the Cubs won't be able to look past his batting average and strikeouts. The Cubs sure as heck won't be the right team for him.