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.
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