Lance Berkman Leaning Toward Retirement

The Pirates reached out to Lance Berkman but were told by his agent that Berkman is leaning toward retirement, tweets Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Berkman, 37, appeared in 73 games for the Rangers this season, batting .242/.340/.359 — hardly the numbers that Texas was hoping for when signing Big Puma to a one-year, $10MM contract last offseason. Berkman was slowed by injuries once again this year — primarily hip inflammation but also some pain in the same surgically repaired right knee that cost him the majority of his 2012 season.

It feels like a long time ago that Berkman revived his career with a stellar 2011 campaign that helped the Cardinals to a World Series victory. The switch-hitting slugger slashed .301/.412/.547 with 31 homers that season, earning himself a one-year, $12MM extension with the Cardinals that proved to be a sunk cost due to the aforementioned knee issues.

Berkman is a career .293/.406/.537 with 366 home runs. If he decides to call it quits after this season, he'll have banked just north of $124MM in his big league career, according to Baseball-Reference.