So long, Lance Berkman and Michael Young

A couple of Texas institutions during the past fifteen years hung up their spikes this week. Between the two of them, Lance Berkman and Michael Young banged out 3,940 hits while wearing the uniform of teams from Texas. Berkman, of course, was the first round draft pick of the Houston Astros who had quite a career there and Young plied his trade with the Texas Rangers for his long career.

Though they were both drafted in 1997 and both were institutions where they played and banged out consistent .300 batting averages over the years, the similarity between the two players pretty much ends there. If the sun were Cooperstown, Lance Berkman was the Earth and Young, probably Jupiter. I said Pluto last night on Twitter, but that was a bit unkind and in response to another blogger who stated that Young retired on the cusp of Cooperstown. Young was not even close to that kind of player.

But Lance Berkman was. If he could have stayed healthier, he could have really put up the kind of numbers that would get him a plaque. Berkman's injuries led him to have only twelve seasons where he played more than a hundred games. Out of those twelve, he slugged over .500 eleven times and had over a .400 on-base percentage eight times.

Just to give you an idea of how different they were offensively, Lance Berkman had a career wOBA of .400 on the dot. Michael Young had a career wOBA of .342. Lance Berkman's offense was worth 433.6 batting runs during his career. Young's offense was worth 44.2, almost ten percent of Berkman's contribution. Berkman finished with a 144 wRC+ (same as his OPS+) and Young, 104.

Interestingly, they finished within six total bases of each other for their career, but Berkman compiled his in almost 800 fewer plate appearances. Berkman's 1,201 career walks more than doubles Young's career total.

Young was much more durable. In one twelve year stretch, Young played more than 150 games in eleven of those seasons. He also led the league in hits twice and batting average once. He made seven All Star teams and finished in the top ten in MVP voting twice.

Young was more of a cog in a wheel of some very good Rangers teams (and some very bad ones). Berkman was a contemporary with Biggio and Bagwell for years and was just as much as an offensive star as either of them.

Young will always be marked down a bit because he played half of his games in Texas Rangers' home parks, always considered hitters' paradise. Indeed, his home OPS for his career is 108 points higher than his road OPS.

Berkman just flat out hit no matter where he was. For his career, Berkman a .946 OPS guy at home and .940 on the road. His OPS was over .900 for every month of the year--over .950 for three of those months. He had a career .970 OPS with two outs and runners in scoring position, a .926 OPS in late and close games and a .956 OPS in tie games.

Young played more valuable positions on the field and his versatility is somewhat what kept him a fixture for so long. That is not to say that he always played them well. Berkman played the bulk of his career as a left-fielder (while Bagwell was at first) and then as a first baseman: two positions that do not rate highly on the positional skill ranking. But he played them reasonably well most of the time.

Young was strictly a right-handed batter who was consistent against pitchers who threw with either arm. Lance Berkman was a switch-hitter who was much, much better batting left-handed.

Both players were considered good clubhouse guys. Berkman was known for his humor and for keeping things loose and teammates laughing. Young was a leader of his clubhouse in Texas for many years.

Both played quite a few post-season games. Berkman over-performed his career numbers there was killer in his two World Series appearances. Young under-performed in his post-season career.

As you have seen, Lance Berkman was twice as valuable a player than Michael Young. But both are gone now and after watching them for all these years, they are going to be missed. Baseball goes on, but every so often, you lose players that have seemed to be with you forever. Michael Young and Lance Berkman were Texas baseball and it won't be the same without them. 

Six things you might not know about Lance Berkman

There have been a lot of mixed feelings out in the blogging world on what the Texas Rangers have done by signing Lance Berkman. There is a palpable risk for the Rangers since Berkman only played 32 games in 2012 due to continued problems with his knees. But what if Berkman could play a hundred games in 2013? If that could happen or more, then Lance Berkman will be worth every penny of that $10 million the Rangers will be paying him. At times quietly (most of his seasons in Houston) and at other times noisily (Cardinals in 2011), Lance Berkman has been one of the best offensive players of his generation. Don't think so? Check out these six things you may not know about him.

1. Lance Berkman has a career on-base average over .400 (.409). That is 38th all time. He has walked more than 90 times in a season in ten of his fourteen seasons and three of those were over a hundred times. Only ten players in history have walked more than 90 times in a season in more seasons than Berkman. And they list like the Who's Who of baseball history. Since 2009, which includes some injury-riddled seasons, he is tied with Jose Bautista for the highest walk percentage at 16.2%. If you go back as far as 2004, Lance Berkman is fourth in the majors in walk percentage (min 3,000 plate appearances) behind only Thome, Dunn and Giambi. And this is despite not being in the top 30 in plate discipline as far as swinging at pitches outside the strike zone. Berkman has been an on-base machine.

2. Since 2004 (the post Bonds era), Lance Berkman has the seventh highest wOBA in baseball among players with more than 3,000 plate appearances. Those ahead of him?  It's a pretty good list: Pujols, Votto, Manny, Miggy, Big Papi and Braun. So getting on base is not his only strength. Berkman also has a career Slugging Percentage of .544 and his rank since 2004 with the same criteria as before is 12th. If you go by OPS+, Berkman is fifth in baseball since 2004 behind only Pujols, Votto, Cabrera and Manny. In other words, one of the best offensive players of his generation.

3. Can we dare say that Lance Berkman is as clutch a player as there has been in baseball? Yeah, people hate that word. But consider these facts. First, since 2004, Berkman is third in all of baseball (position players) in WPA behind only Pujols and Cabrera. For his career, Berkman has an OPS of .984 with two outs and runners in scoring position. In tie games, his OPS is .969. In high leverage situations, his career OPS is .970.  For his career, he has a .954 OPS in the ninth inning. That's a pretty good argument, is it not?

4. Lance Berkman is remarkably consistent. He has a career OPS of .914 or higher in every month of the season. His career OPS at home is .955. On the road it is .950. He's had a .909 OPS at every position he's played except as a pinch hitter. His OPS with no outs in an inning is .978. His OPS with one out is .946. His OPS with two outs is .936.

5. There is one exception to Berkman's consistency. He is no where near as good a hitter when batting from the right side against left-handed pitching as he is from the left side against right-handed pitching. His career OPS on the former is .777. His OPS in the latter situation is 1.007. That is a 230 point difference. It is a little better against left-handed starters where his career OPS is .833. But still, this is a huge difference.

6. If the Rangers are going to the post season, Berkman is a great guy to have along for that ride. Berkman has been as good or better in the post-season as he has been in the regular season. In 233 post season plate appearances, Berkman's triple slash line is: ..317/.417/.532. Yeah, that will do, eh?

Hopefully, the case has been made here of Berkman being among the best offensive players of his generation. Hence the Rangers' risky move here. If Berkman can slot into the DH and get 350 to 400 plate appearances, he should reward the Rangers' risk. And of course, he has always been highly rated for those clubhouse intangibles. But if his wheels are as toasted as they were for the Cardinals last season, then the Rangers' risky move will blow up big time. Health will be the key.

Top Ten Position Players of the Past Ten Years

Putting lists together is sort of like trying to run across the highway. Somebody is bound to run you over for your efforts. But lists are fun even if, in the end, people end up poking holes in your logic. For this little exercise, this writer went to Fangraphs and used their handy and amazing leader board to find the top ten position players for the past ten years (2002 through 2011). The criteria used was fWAR. Again, you can poke holes in that logic. But so what? The amazing thing about the list is that all of the players on it are still playing. Yeah, a few of them are getting ancient now, but they are all still with us. Such long term performance signifies greatness in this writer's book. There are a few obvious players on the list and a few that may surprise you.

So here's the list in descending order with a few comments:

1. Albert Pujols: (80.1 fWAR): Ten of Albert's eleven year career are covered by these stats. And they are amazing. Everything about his ten seasons lead the world. In those seasons, he had the highest wOBA, the highest wRC+, the highest ISO, the highest slugging percentage, the highest batting average, the highest on base percentage. He scored the most runs, drove in the most runs, hit the most homers and struck out fewer than any player that follows him on this list. Incredible. But what about the next ten years?
2. Alex Rodriguez: (67.9 fWAR): This is the Pujols Era and everyone else is chicken fodder. But with all the negative press he's received, A-Rod has been an amazing player. And even with a few years of late that were below his standards (he is getting old), he's been just below Albert in most every category.
3. Carlos Beltran (51.2 fWAR): Surprised? You shouldn't be. Not if you have been a steady reader here in the FanDome. Beltran easily earned (as the Fan proved) his Mets contract with a decade of good defense, good base running and consistently good offensive numbers. He is the best centerfielder of his era.
4. Chase Utley (50.6 fWAR): Utley has the fewest games played over the ten years of all the players on this list. But when he has played, he's been amazing. Great fielding metrics, very good base running and good offensive numbers. He might not be the best second baseman in baseball right now, but over the last decade, he has been.
5. Lance Berkman (49.7 fWAR): Another surprise. Tucked away on the Astros for most of his career, few have really noticed how excellent he has been. It took a comeback year for a higher profile Cardinal team to show how really good Lance Berkman is and has been. Berkman has the second highest on base percentage on our list and third best slugging percentage and wOBA. If it wasn't for his positional adjustment (1B), his less than stellar fielding and his leaden base running, Berkman could easily have been third on our list. Even so, he's been far better than most realize.
6. Ichiro Suzuki (46.9 fWAR): Ichiro along with the next two players on our list built his high fWAR based just as much on defense as he has on offense. He's not a great on-base guy and he has shown no power, his ability to blow past 200 hits every season takes somewhat of a hit because of those facts. But according to Fangraphs, Ichiro has saved 104.6 runs with his defense over the past ten years and has been an above average base runner. This writer would put him in the Hall of Fame already.
7. Adrian Beltre (46.7 fWAR): Seattle Mariner fans might choke a bit on this one. But he was much better for them than people thought. And his overall defense for the past ten years make him the best defensive player on our list with 138+ runs saved at third base. His offense had some off seasons (hence the Seattle hate) but he's averaged 28 homers and 88 runs driven in over the ten year period. Hardly shabby. He's been a great, great player.
8. Scott Rolen (46.3 fWAR): Rolen is the third of four third baseman that will make our list. And he is a surprise of sorts to be here. But he has saved 114.5 runs with his defense and his ten year slash line of: .281/.360/.485 is not chopped liver either. It's a shame that injuries have kept him from building more WAR and being the household name that he should be. He's played the third least amount of games of our list of ten players.
9. Chipper Jones (46.2 fWAR): It's a shame that a lot of baseball fans will only remember the last couple of broken down memories of Chipper Jones. His offense might be the third best of our ten players with a ten year slash line of .302/.404/.521. Defense has chipped away a bit of his value and he hasn't been a great runner on the bases. But he's a first ballot HOF guy in this Fan's book.
10. Derek Jeter (45.6 fWAR): Yes, Jeter has given away 48.9 runs on defense over the ten year period. But he's also averaged 189 hits, 100 runs scored, 70 RBI and 20 stolen bases. His base running over the decade was excellent (though he's stumbled the last two years). His offense put him four wins above replacement above Jimmy Rollins over the same time period.

So that's the Fan's list. The compiler will now commence dodging speeding cars on that highway! Happy Boxing Day everyone!

Confused by the Comeback Player of the Year Award

Award presentations get wackier every year. In the entertainment business, there are so many award shows that any day now we could soon get the "Entertainer of the Year on Shows That Nobody Watches on Cable" awards. In college football, there are so many bowls every year that soon we might get the Rent-A-Wreck Bowl. Fortunately, baseball has kept the awards to somewhat of a minimum. But among those awards, the Comeback Player of the Year Award might be in that Rent-A-Wreck category. What does it mean exactly?

According to some of the sites scanned today, the award is given to a player who has re-emerged with his play this year. What does "re-emerge" mean? Does it mean that a player had to emerge in the first place to be eligible? Does that leave out players like Ryan Vogelsong who never had a good season in his life before this one? If so, should it? Did you have to be somewhat of a star before to get the honor when you are sort of a star again?

It's difficult to argue with the choices presented by this year's award.  Lance Berkman had a great year for the Cardinals (at least offensively) after so-so years the last two due to injuries and probably a lack of inspiration and conditioning. His WAR matched his last two years combined. But it also fell a bit short of his great years of the past (mostly on his poorly rated defense). Jacoby Ellsbury had a fantastic year and is an MVP candidate after missing virtually all year last year after hurting himself in a collision with a teammate. But there are some inherent issues with both picks.

First, Jacoby Ellsbury did come back from injury to have a superb season and that appears on some level to be a "re-emergence." But the fact is that Ellsbury was never this good before. Wouldn't his season be more of an emergence than a re-emergence? What if 2011 turns out to be a career year or an outlier for Ellsbury? Remember when Wade Boggs hit 26 homers? Remember when Joe Mauer hit more than five? If so, shouldn't Ellsbury's season qualify more for the Outlier Award or the Budding Superstar award? He so blew away anything in the past that it's hard to call what he did a re-emergence. Ellsbury's previous high fWAR was 4.3 but he blew the doors off of that and more than doubled it this season. It was more of a butterfly coming out of a cocoon than a re-emergence.

This writer really loves Lance Berkman. In fact, this writer called Berkman's great season back in February of 2011. So it's a bit gratifying to see the season he's had and to see him playing in the post season. But it's also this writer's belief that Berkman became disinterested in Houston and got himself out of shape. There were several stories in the preseason that he went on a fitness kick to prove that he was still a good player this season. Having to sign a substandard contract (for him) will do that for you. So should his 2011 season be rewarded when he kind of got himself into his own mess to begin with? The Yankees, who had Berkman last year, were shocked at how well Berkman played for the Cardinals.

In case you get the wrong impression, this writer is not against Berkman and Ellsbury getting these awards. Both players are well liked in this space. Let's just say this Fan doesn't understand the spirit of this award. Is it the "I got hurt and now can play again" award? Or should it be someone who overcame heavy obstacles to succeed. Ryan Vogelsong seems to more fit the spirit of what the award should be. The guy never stopped working and after missing five seasons in the majors, put together an unbelievable story. The same could hold true for Brandon McCarthy and others who battled from obscurity to grab some positive value as major league players. Was there any better comeback than James Shields?

Of course, we could go into a whole other post about this award's tie in with a sponsor like Viagra, but we'll let that rest for now. Though if this award stays in your mind for more than four hours, you should probably call your doctor.

Some Amazing Lance Berkman 2011 Facts

Before the season started, Lance Berkman was this writer's pick for Comeback Player of the Year. Wasn't that genius? The year he is having for the St. Louis Cardinals has truly been one of the coolest stories of 2011. We can't be concerned about whether Berkman can keep up his heroics. We can't worry about whether he will get hurt. All we can do is enjoy the ride as long as it lasts. After his game winning single sailed over the center fielder's head last night to beat the Phillies, the thought struck this Fan that Berkman got that hit batting right-handed. And that's just part of the interesting story of Lance Berkman's 2011 season.

Here are some facts concerning Berkman's amazing season:

• Lance Berkman has a career OPS as a right-handed batter of .783. He's made his career on batting left-handed, where is OPS is over one for his career. Last year, his OPS as a right-handed batter was .517. Yeah, .517. He hit just one homer that way. The year before (2009), his OPS against lefties was .710. This year? As a right-handed batter, his OPS (before last night's game) is 1.098!
• Before last night's game, Berkman had played as many games for the Cardinals this year as he played for the Yankees last year. In those same 37 games, he has 21 more runs scored, 15 more hits, two more doubles, ten more homers, 25 more ribbies and two more walks. The Yankees have to be scratching their heads.
• Lance Berkman has walked more than once in a game this season seven times. He is on pace to walk more than 90 times this season.
• Lance Berkman has not been on base in only six of his 38 games this season.
• Berkman now has ten go-ahead hits this season. What that means is that ten times this season, his hit has put the Cardinals ahead when they were either behind or tied.
• Of Berkman's 35 RBIs, 27 of them have plated either Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday or himself.
• Lance Berkman has walked more than he's struck out this season.
• Berkman has an OPS at home of 1.126. His OPS on the road is 1.142.
• Lance Berkman has a .526 on base percentage at home this season.
• Berkman has only popped out to the infield once all season.
• Berkman's fWAR of 2.1 is already tied with his entire 2010 season.
• Lance Berkman is making $8 million this season and has already provided the Cardinals with $9.6 million in value.

One could say that Lance Berkman is having fun again. One could also say that Cardinal fans have a new hero to love.  His season is just a fabulous story and this Fan is enjoying every single moment in watching it develop.

Digging Into Lance Berkman's Hot Start

It's been since 2008 since Lance Berkman was a force in the National League. Up until 2009, Berkman was one of the premier players in the senior circuit until injuries and age slowed him down for progressively worse 2009 and 2010 campaigns. Then the Cardinals signed him and announced that he would be their starting right fielder and people either gasped or laughed. But now, Berkman is one of the early fascinating stories of 2011 and though thirteen games is way too small a sample size, let's dig a little into his numbers and see if this falls under the fluke category.

A few things jump off Berkman's stat page over at Fangraphs.com for his 2011 start. The first is that Berkman is being much more aggressive in the strike zone. The last two years, it seems Berkman was tentative in that area. In 2009, he swung at 68.1 percent of pitches in the strike zone. The following year, that figure dropped to 66.4 percent. This year, that figure is way up to 79.1 percent which is much more reminiscent of the 74 percent rate he had during his good years. Perhaps this shows a confidence and well-being factor that wasn't there the last couple of years.

The second thing noticed was that his BABIP is sitting at only .278. Since that figure should be around the league average of .299 or .300, Berkman isn't getting lucky on balls in play. Despite the lack of balls falling in for him, Berkman is batting a healthy .327. This seems to indicate a sustainability for his average, if not his current home run rate.

On the negative side, Lance Berkman's line drive percentage is way up at 23.8 percent, much higher than his career norm of 19.7 percent. Berkman has not had that kind of line drive percentage since 2005. Perhaps the swing percentage in the strike zone and his line drive percentage add up to Berkman getting a lot of good pitches to hit early in the season. This might also reflect in his walk percentage, which is way down from his career norms. Berkman's walk percentage has always been consistent, so look for that to improve as the season goes along. Or perhaps, Berkman made a decision to be more aggressive this season and it's paying off. If you account for the extra line drives, Berkman's ground ball and fly ball figures fall in line with his career averages.

The power numbers shouldn't surprise anyone. Berkman now has 333 homers in his career and has hit over 40 homers in a season twice and over 30 three other times. All of Berkman's homers have been hit as a left-handed batter. The switch hitter has been vulnerable from the right side against lefties for quite a while now and he's only had eight at bats in that situation thus far this year with only one hit. Berkman will need to prove he can still be effective when the Cardinals face more lefties in the future. The likelihood of that happening will increase and Berkman has only hit one-sixth of his career homers against left-handed pitching.

Lance Berkman also has a really good situation thus far with how deep the Cardinals' line up has been. Theriot has been getting on base, Colby Rasmus is hitting near .400 and after pitchers get through Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday. Berkman has been making pitchers pay for any relief they have been feeling once they get through those two guys.

One last thing on the negative side of his numbers. Berkman is killing fastballs, which he is seeing about sixty percent of the time. But he has negative values against curves and change ups. That isn't the norm for him as he's always had some success against those pitches in the past. But for some reason, he is vulnerable against those this year. But even that negative can be a positive if you figure he will bounce back on those pitches to get back to his career norms.

The bottom line here is that this Fan doesn't think Berkman's early start is a fluke. He's in a good line up and in a good situation. Unlike the last few Houston years, he is playing for a contending team that has more professional players to inspire him. The big thing, of course, will be his health. Every time he trots out to right field, we will be holding our breath that he doesn't hurt himself out there. He needs to have a full and uninterrupted season to continue to be successful. But if he can manage to do that, Berkman is going to have a really nice season.

Oh! And one last thing. According to baseball-reference.com, Berkman is holding his own in right field. Negative numbers, but not a disaster. So far, so good it seems.

Berkman Great Pick Up for Cards...But Wait...

When this Fan first heard that the Cardinals had signed Lance Berkman, the first thought was, "Hey, the Cardinals got the Fan's sleeper pick for 2011." Then there was the thought that the Cardinals now had a good first baseman. But...wait...DOH! They already have a pretty good first baseman. So where is Pujols going to play?

According to the article reporting the signing, Berkman will be slated to play right field. Seriously? Berkman hasn't played the outfield since 2007. He has bad wheels. Even when he was an outfielder, he was good in left but terrible in right. Why would they play him in right? Oh yeah, they have another clunky fielder in left named Matt Holliday. Mr. Rasmus better get some new track shoes playing between those two guys.

Even so, the Cardinals could get a monster bounce back season from Berkman. And if that happens, then defense be darned. If Berkman hits like he is capable of hitting, he will easily earn his $8 million salary. But the Fan can't help wincing about that outfield defense. Berkman will not want to be a role player. He wants to play every day. He's used to being a star...the star. Perhaps his short time in New York gave him a dose of what it's like not being the big man anymore.

A while back, this writer included Lance Berkman as one of the sleeper hits of the 2010/2011 off season. But the Fan's thinking there was as a first baseman or a DH. It's just hard picturing him as an every day outfielder at this point in his career. Again, we'll see how it all turns out.

Some Free Agent Sleeper Picks

We have all heard the big names of this 2010 free agent class. Everybody knows about Cliff Lee, Adrian Beltre, Jayson Werth, Carl Crawford and Victor Martinez. Jorge de la Rosa's name has been bandied about. Carl Pavano is a free agent. Those two might get some buzz. But who are the sleepers? Who are the free agents that will surprise us with good seasons to help someone in a pennant run? Who will be 2011's Aubrey Huff, Melvin Mora, Adrian Beltre and Colby Lews that out of nowhere gets picked up and helps a team drive toward the playoffs? You know they're out there. Huff and Mora are free agents again. Here are a few who could have an impact:

Lance Berkman: Berkman has been slowed a lot by injuries the past few seasons. His body seems to be brittle at times which has made him age faster than some. But this writer still believes he can really help someone. Berkman would prefer not to be a full time DH, which limits him to the National League. But there are plenty of teams he can help. If Adam Dunn goes elsewhere, Washington is a possibility. The Bay Rays need a first baseman and a DH. This Fan thinks Berkman is going to have a very good season.

Lyle Overbay: The Fan has picked on Overbay in the past. He was over paid with the Blue Jays, but he has some nice qualifications. He gets his fair share of walks, still has pop in his bat and plays a pretty decent first base. He is an excellent option for the Bay Rays to replace Pena. He would easily be an upgrade over what Pena has done the past couple of years. Overbay can help somebody at the right price.

Magglio Ordonez: This Fan isn't sure most people know how good this guy's career line is. His career slash line: .312/.371/.511. A lot will depend on the health of his ankle and how much he is willing to take a pay cut from his far out contract of recent years. But he could help the Padres, the Pirates and the Athletics. He might have one more good year left in him if he is in the right situation.

Manny Ramirez: Yes, the Fan knows. He really does. But what if his down season last year really was due to injury? What if he could land in the right place and hit somewhere near three quarters of his lifetime averages? Couldn't that help somebody? Who knows if anyone wants the potential headaches, but Manny just might not be done.

Brandon Webb: Webb has missed a lot of time due to various injuries. But if he can come back near to his form, he could really help someone. The Twins, with their spacious ball park (somewhat like San Diego) would be an ideal place for him. The Cardinals could probably figure out how to make him effective again. It just seems like Webb will end up someplace and do well.

Kevin Millwood: Yeah, he's scary, eh? But put him in the right situation like maybe St. Louis or Minnesota and Millwood could have a very good season. He'll never be lights out, but he can get you some innings and keep you in the game.

Chirs Capuano: Capuano finally looked healthy last year after several years on the shelf. He was rusty after such a prolonged absence, but looked better as the season went along. In the right situation, Capuano could have a very nice season for somebody.

Glut of First Base/DH Free Agents

It's probably not a good year to be a free agent this year if you are a first baseman or DH. The pond is full of those types of ducks. The list? Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Carlos Pena, Johnny Damon, Lance Berkman, Manny Ramirez, Lyle Overbay, Aubrey Huff, Jorge Cantu, Russell Branyon, Hideki Matsui, Marcus Thames, Troy Glaus, Adam LaRoche, Derrek Lee, Ty Wigginton and Adam Dunn. Obviously, Damon and Ramirez are more known as outfielders, but Damon could probably survive in left field for a couple of dozen games. Manny could not.

That's seventeen players who need to find a job among thirty teams. It seems pretty reasonable that Huff will re-sign with the Giants, so the Fan will leave him out of this conversation. Cantu, Glaus and Thames will be considered role players. The Fan is tempted to put LaRoche in that category, but won't for now. So that brings us down to thirteen to consider as starter types in this position. As the Fan mentioned yesterday, all of the value of these players has to be generated by their bats. Few analysts give first baseman any brownie (or WAR) points for playing first and certainly there are none for playing DH.

Saying all of that, let's take a look at each of the remaining thirteen and rate and rank them and perhaps even make a suggestion or two about which teams they may end up with:

1. Johnny Damon: Surprised? Yeah. Understood. But at 37, Damon still provides flexibility. He can play left, first or DH. Damon can still steal a base for you (22 of 24 the last two years) and hit an occasional dinger. He would be worth a one year deal at $12 to $14. Angels? Tigers?

2. Lance Berkman: Berkman really doesn't want to DH. But he's been a first baseman for a long time and won't hurt you too badly there. Teams shouldn't give up on batting him right handed. The Fan still thinks he has a good year in him. One year deal at $12 to $14 with options.

3. Lyle Overbay: This ranking is surprising the writer as much as you probably. But Overbay is perhaps the best fielder of the bunch at first, has some pop and will give you 70 or more walks a year. Useless against lefty pitchers though. Tampa Bay?

4. Paul Konerko: Last year feels more like an outlier than anything else. It would seem improbable for Konerko to match it. But his problem is that he will want to command the dollars such a year would bring. But at 35, he still may have a couple of valuable seasons left in him. He really isn't much of a first baseman any more but he can play there if that's what you need. He would be an asset for Tampa Bay, but it's doubtful they will spend that kind of money he will want.

5. Derrek Lee: Lee is the same age as Konerko but didn't have the kind of year Konerko did. He looks much older. It wouldn't seem wise to move Lee to the AL, but after watching that World Series, perhaps we have to stop thinking of the AL as the dominant league, eh?

6. Adam Dunn: Dunn is one of the youngest of the bunch, but he plays old. He's slower than a mule and he wasn't disastrous at first base, but he isn't great either. It's also troubling that his walks, long one of his staples, were way down this past year. But he still hit his 38 homers, no? He is another bat that could help the Bay Rays. He would be a perfect fit for them.

7. Carlos Pena: Pena has had two awful seasons in a row. But it really seems like if he had a chance to work with a really good batting coach, he could come back in a big way. His power is still there. He's still a tremendous fielding first baseman. And, best of all, he could be a major bargain for somebody. The Fan doesn't think Tampa Bay should re-sign him as he is in too much of a rut there.

8. Jim Thome: The Twins certainly got their money's worth with Thome last year. He can still hit the ball a mile and can still get his fair share of walks. But golly, the guy has to slow down some time. Shown a willingness to play for peanuts.

9. Adam LaRoche: He may be rated too far down this list. Had a serviceable year last year with 25 homers with 100 ribbies. But this Fan just can't get past the strikeouts. 172 last year is just intolerable. And his power may have been inflated by playing in Arizona for half his games.

10. Ty Wiggintin: Wigginton, by all accounts, is a good egg and a great teammate. His willingness to keep trying hard despite his team's struggles early last year say a lot about the type of player he is. But he's simply a marginal talent who, if put in the right place, could have an Aubrey Huff type season.

11. Vladmir Guerrero: Vlad had a great half of a season last year, but really looked ancient in the second half and in the post season. He can only DH which limits his options. He just might have another league average season in him before he heads to the Hall of Fame. It's too bad that the carpet in Montreal ruined so many legs of so many great players.

12. Hideki Matsui: Matsui had a marginal season for the Angels. This Fan feels he is done as a productive major league hitter. He is a proud man who has done great things in his career. Can you see him being a marginal player somewhere for peanuts? This Fan can't.

12. Russell Branyon: Good golly, can he play for another team? He probably will. His power will always get him a cheap look with someone.

13. Manny Ramirez: Wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole. Sorry. He can ride off into the Barry Bonds sunset.

The first six on this list may get close to what they want for money. But the rest will be scrambling for jobs and it wouldn't be a surprise if a third of this list wasn't signed by the opening of Spring Training. Life goes on.

Lance Berkman Should Be Quiet

Lance Berkman isn't helping the Houston Astros. First, his absence (again) at the beginning of the season for the Astros didn't help them get off on the right foot. Without him being there, the team had no offense and lost their first nine games of the season. Then he finally gets back, but is hitting all of .219 and then comes out (not once, but twice) and says he'd be willing to waive his no trade clause to play for a contender. Nice.

First of all, Berkman has been a part of several Houston teams that looked moribund early in the year only to put a charge in the second half that in some cases put the Astros in the playoffs. It doesn't appear on paper that the Astros have that kind of team to do that this year. But still. Isn't he effectively telling his team that he has given up on them? Sure, he says as a postscript that he would prefer to stay with the team and that they could turn it around, but isn't that just covering his bases? If this Fan was a teammate of Berkman's, he would be called out just for what the comments are doing for his team.

But let's look at it another way? Who would want him? He makes $15 million and his health (especially his knees) is questionable. He only has one position (and DH if he goes to the AL) and he is 34 years old. Plus he has a $15 million option for next year. If the Mariners can stay close in the AL West, they could probably use him. If the Red Sox tire of David Ortiz, they could use him and afford him. If the Twins tire of Kubel/Thome, they could use him. But who else? The Dodgers? They might be so out of the race that they wouldn't bother.

Berkman has had a great career and all of his stats are fantastic for his body of work. But he's on the downside now and he's on a team that isn't going anywhere. The Fan gets that. But shouldn't those conversations be made privately with his general manager (who, by the way, seemed less than pleased with Berkman's statement)? Shouldn't that be the way Berkman handles this instead of throwing his teammates under the bus? The Fan gets a bit fed up with a big time player who gets what he wants in a long term deal with the added bonus of a no-trade clause and then when his team's fortunes go south wants to unmake the bed he put the sheets on himself.

The Fan could understand if Berkman was slugging his usual 140+ OPS+ and killing the ball. But he isn't and his early disabled list stint makes him part of the problem. When you are part of the problem and not the only shining bauble in a team full of misfits, you shouldn't be acting like you are the latter. Berkman should stay quiet in public and if he wants to get out, then work behind the scenes with his team to get out of there. He isn't doing anyone a good hill of beans by making these statements under his and his team's current situation.

Some Quick Observations

Many of these items have stories in them that perhaps can be expanded later. But for the moment, there are too many thoughts swirling around for any of them to gel completely. They are, nonetheless, interesting and worth noting for your digestion.

Pedro pitched decently and got the win. It was amazing to see Pedro Martinez back in the majors and in a game. He gave up three runs in five innings (not much better than Moyer) while allowing eight base runners. He did strike out five while only walking one, so that is a good sign.

The Brewers are a mess. They looked like contenders early in the year but have fallen on really hard times. Yesterday, they cut Bill Hall (not a problem there) and optioned J. J. Hardy to the minors. Hardy still has some pop and it doesn't seem to make sense to dump him like that. If they were trying to send a message, the Hall thing would have been enough. If they are giving up on Hardy, a lot of teams would love to have him. The Brewers also fired long-time pitching coach, Bill Castro, as if it was his fault they lost half of their rotation and the others didn't perform. What a mess.

The Astros activated Lance Berkman and they will be happy to have their big bopper back at first. Doesn't this scenario seem familiar? It seems like every year, Berkman shambles along, then goes on the DL for a while and then comes back and has monster Augusts and Septembers. At least it feels like we have been through this before.

And last but not least, believe it or not, Adam Eaton is back in the major leagues again. Can you believe it! The Rockies are his latest team and they just promoted him from AAA. Man. Go figure.