Headlines

  • Blue Jays To Promote Trey Yesavage For MLB Debut
  • Dodgers Place Will Smith On Injured List
  • Dipoto: Mariners Interested In Re-Signing Josh Naylor
  • Anthony Volpe Playing Through Partial Labrum Tear
  • Orioles Promoted Mike Elias Prior To 2025 Season
  • Anthony Rizzo Retires
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Berkman Unsure If He’ll Play After Contract Expires

By Mike Axisa | September 5, 2009 at 10:23am CDT

Astros first baseman Lance Berkman has been one of the best, if not most unheralded sluggers of the last decade. Since his first full season in 2000, a typical season for Fat Elvis has consisted of a .301/.414/.558 batting line with over 30 homers and 100 RBI. After slumping big time this April (.162/.326/.392), he's managed to rebound and is hitting .300/.419/.522 since May 1st.

But now, as MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports, the 33-yr old first baseman is unsure if he'll play after his contract expires next year. Berkman has one more season left on the six year, $85MM contract he signed prior to the 2005 season, but the team holds a $15MM option for his services in 2011. If the option is declined, they'll pay him a $2MM buyout.

Here's Berkman's quotes from McTaggart's article:

"I'm going to play next year because I'm under contract, and if they pick up the option, we'll see where I'm at after that year," he said. "That's kind of how I'm viewing it."

"I don't think that's fair to the team or to me," he said. "If I'm not going to perform a level I'm comfortable with, I'm not going to play. I'm going to play next year because I'm obligated to play. I'm going to give as a good of an effort as I can, and see what happens. If I have a good year and they pick the option up, I'll be committed for another year.

"I don't want to hang around. I don't want to hamstring the organization, and I don't want to take away from my family and things like that. If I'm not as productive as I want to be, I'll take it to the house."

Thanks to the April slump, Berkman is hitting a career low .272 and is slugging under .510 for the first time in his career. Most players would consider .272/.400/.496 with 18 homers and a 79/81 K/BB ratio a career year. For Berkman, it's enough to consider hanging up the spikes.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Houston Astros Lance Berkman

Rockies Release Russ Ortiz
Main
Giants Did Not Discuss Trade For Hoffman
View Comments (0)
Post a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Blue Jays To Promote Trey Yesavage For MLB Debut

    Dodgers Place Will Smith On Injured List

    Dipoto: Mariners Interested In Re-Signing Josh Naylor

    Anthony Volpe Playing Through Partial Labrum Tear

    Orioles Promoted Mike Elias Prior To 2025 Season

    Anthony Rizzo Retires

    Cubs Place Kyle Tucker On Injured List

    Blue Jays Place Bo Bichette On Injured List

    Phillies Place Trea Turner, Alec Bohm On Injured List

    Sean Murphy To Undergo Hip Surgery

    Trea Turner To Undergo MRI Due To Hamstring Strain

    Davey Johnson Passes Away

    Mets Option Kodai Senga

    NPB’s Kazuma Okamoto, Tatsuya Imai Expected To Be Posted For MLB Teams

    Shelby Miller Likely Headed For Tommy John Surgery

    Red Sox To Place Roman Anthony On Injured List

    Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Diagnosed With Torn ACL

    Braves Claim Ha-Seong Kim From Rays

    Jason Adam Likely Headed For Season-Ending Quad Surgery

    Mariners Promote Harry Ford, Release Donovan Solano

    Recent

    Blue Jays To Promote Trey Yesavage For MLB Debut

    Jose Altuve Exits Game With Foot Discomfort

    Dodgers Place Will Smith On Injured List

    Angels Designate Scott Kingery For Assignment, Promote Denzer Guzman

    Giants Place Dominic Smith On Injured List

    Phillies Notes: Wheeler, Romano, Turner, Bohm

    Rockies Place Chase Dollander On Injured List

    Red Sox Shut Down Liam Hendriks Due To Forearm Tightness

    Tarik Skubal Day-To-Day After Leaving Game Due To Side Tightness

    Masyn Winn Shut Down For Remainder Of Season

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Every MLB Trade In July
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version