134 replies to this topic

[brockpapersizer]

If he could get regular AB he could be pretty valuable. I'd think he's being signed for depth or to be the DH. But if he's the starting 1b, could present a roadblock for Profar at 2 (since Kinsler would stay there and Andrus at SS)

[Patrick Bateman]

brockpapersizer, on 05 January 2013 - 03:16 PM, said:

If he could get regular AB he could be pretty valuable. I'd think he's being signed for depth or to be the DH. But if he's the starting 1b, could present a roadblock for Profar at 2 (since Kinsler would stay there and Andrus at SS)

He would be the regular DH but would probably sit vs some lefties.   He would probably play a little 1b for rest for guys and obviously could play OF in a pinch.  Really bad news for Olt and Profar may start in the minors if he's signed, we'll see....

[supac720]

He was on my do not draft list last year, just had a hunch he would be overdrafted. TEX is a good spot for his value where he can DH and likely slide into the #5/6 spot in that lineup.

[BigPapi44]

Don't think this really affects Profar all that much, but hurts Olt for sure.

[brockpapersizer]

Patrick Bateman, on 05 January 2013 - 03:21 PM, said:

brockpapersizer, on 05 January 2013 - 03:16 PM, said:

If he could get regular AB he could be pretty valuable. I'd think he's being signed for depth or to be the DH. But if he's the starting 1b, could present a roadblock for Profar at 2 (since Kinsler would stay there and Andrus at SS)

He would be the regular DH but would probably sit vs some lefties.   He would probably play a little 1b for rest for guys and obviously could play OF in a pinch.  Really bad news for Olt and Profar may start in the minors if he's signed, we'll see....

Looks like it's pretty a done deal. Surprised he got so much, even for one year. Between 10-11 million

As for profar and olt. Can u blame them?

[brockpapersizer]

[Posting In The Clutch]

This guy gets hurt getting out of bed these days. Not interested. At all.

[klove42]

BigPapi44, on 05 January 2013 - 03:24 PM, said:

Don't think this really affects Profar all that much, but hurts Olt for sure.

I think olt gets traded now, the organization doesn't seem to be too high on him. As for the Berkman signing, I'm not sure this is great for the rangers, especially since I don't think Berkman can stay healty even as a DH. When he plays he should be productive, but not two years ago productive

[2ndCitySox]

I see there's a $1 Million buyout.
Does that mean they can give him $1M if they get tired of him and not pay him the rest?

$10M is crazy. I woulda said $5M. But the rangers know their offense needed something.

[Nick Mitchell]

10 MILLION?


I wonder if it is a spring training buy-out, or something. Like a nice send-off, in case he gets hurt or just flat-out sucks and can't hit a buck going into the decision and decides to hang it up. They can buy him out and he can retire and go to Rice

Which is where he probably belongs. Maybe I'm biased, but he will not touch my roster this year unless he's blistering hot 3 weeks deep into the year, and he still is on the wire (which would be unlikely for both cases honestly).
He has been on my team the past two seasons. 2 seasons ago I screwed up and traded for him right as he hit his last HR and then went into a major slump and tailspin to end the year; I finished 6th, but I was also limited to internet access. Still a brutal trade.
Then this past season I held him on my DL (picked him up as a FA when it was said he was out for the season but then he was given a 6-8 week timetable or something- his owner had dropped him when he was ruled out for the year)... then he was just outright terrible when he got off. I came in 1st that time around... but Berkman didn't do anything to help the cause, I know that for fact.

He's way off of my radar. These DH-types who play just enough games to qualify at a position like OF (for leagues that don't go by individual spots i.e. LF, CF, RF) or 1B so people think, "hey, he's a DH and he qualifies at a position, so he should be a nice steal and could be pretty useful!" .. the reality is the lemon is usually dry at this point.

I don not understand the $10mil from the Rangers. This could be worse than the Webb signing (and I don't even know what they gave up, but they got nothing obviously in return).

[Nick Mitchell]

If someone figures out his contract details, I'd be interested.

Also. If you're digging through the DH and hoping to find someone to benefit from being position eligible, I would look more at Ortiz, who I like might be eligible (at 1B) in some formats like Yahoo! and ESPN- but I can't be positive.

Edited by Nick Mitchell, 06 January 2013 - 09:00 PM.

[Zumayaaaa]

The Rangers sorely needed a left handed bat in the middle of the order v Righties. Berkman fits that bill, when healthy he can still ball, don't kid yourselves.

[Nick Mitchell]

"When healthy"
"Don't kid yourselves"


(What I'm saying is if you expect him to be healthy and mashing or worse off, relying on it, don't kid yourself or I hope your league is 16-deep at least.)

Edited by Nick Mitchell, 06 January 2013 - 10:55 PM.

[jsp2014]

4 things I believe to be true:

- for however long he is healthy, he will start 4-5 times per week
- if he is in the lineup, he will get on base and hit for some pop, and that means plenty of HR/R/RBI in that park/lineup. it is still a good lineup
- he will cost $1-2 in auctions and be an endgame pick in snake drafts
- he will be more valuable in daily leagues than weekly ones.

seems like a great supplement for my fliers whom I don't really want to start the first few weeks of the season until I see what they can do.

[Nick Mitchell]

As a final pick in a snake 12-16 teams, or a 1-2$ pick- that's perfectly fine- Alfonso Soriano was one of my late-round $2 picks, and he turned out great for me- then again, Trout was a $5 pick and Sale was $8; Clippard was $2; etc. There are other avenues to spend your $1-$2 picks, even if they are just "dollar picks"- a few dollar picks can generally net you a nice hold. And I guess comparing Trout in his rookie year in a redraft to overspending on certain dollar picks is a bad comparison, because landing Trout cheap last year was just like hitting the lotto for anyone who owned him (and drafted him cheap- ESPECIALLY keeper league owners who won't see his price increase too much if their league rules say as much so, but I digress). My point is, at least with my strategy (in a 14-team mixed league 5x5 and approx. $200-$260 budget, probably closer to $260), I would only want to use one pick on a guy like Berkman (or Soriano- or any old slugger who might have enough in him to produce some nice value at that price) because if you go after too many 1-2$ guys, you're missing out on the guys like Sale who may be a little more (say, 7-10$? I mean I know Sale won't be that price *this* year), but provide a lot more upside. If it's one or two 1-2$ picks, sure... but I have seen people use the strategy of filling out their team with 8 or 9 dollar picks, and frankly, unless it's a shallow league I just don't think that's a great way to win. I would rather save those 6 bucks and get even one player who could possibly pay off big time as opposed to 6 guys when maybe one can help if I strike lightening.

The injury risk just drives me off the most.... playing in TEX should help if he stays healthy. But again. Is it staying healthy or just being old?

Honestly, I kind of feel if we're looking for a platoon guy to play at DH, Thome could have fit in that bill just as well and for MUCH less than 10 mil (still wondering about that... seems like a lot to be guaranteed coming off of the year he had) ... unless TEX really thinks Berkman can play the field still? And if that's the case, expect him to pull/pop/tear something soon enough.

I won't be touching father time this year unless he falls into my lap in an odd situation. Just me though. He is annoying to own, even in daily leagues. Having to check the Cardinals' lineups last year drove me nuts when he was finally activated. Chalk it up to a lost year due to injury maybe, but he's just getting old... this is the last one in his tank for sure, if he can help but sputter to the finish line anyway.

Edited by Nick Mitchell, 07 January 2013 - 04:42 AM.

[Brewcrewfan]

I was really intrigued when I heard he signed with the Rangers. Anyone remember Frank Thomas' season with the A's in '06? I think 80-25-100-.280-.390 is a very reasonable projection if he can stay healthy.

[Skoodog]

Nick Mitchell, on 06 January 2013 - 09:00 PM, said:

If someone figures out his contract details, I'd be interested.

Also. If you're digging through the DH and hoping to find someone to benefit from being position eligible, I would look more at Ortiz, who I like might be eligible (at 1B) in some formats like Yahoo! and ESPN- but I can't be positive.

I'd like to know why you like Papi more than Berkman.  Berkman's injury risk is significantly less in a DH role and I like the Rangers lineup a hell of a lot more than the Red Sox.  The only real concern I'd have is league switch from NL to AL.

[parrothead]

"Wash" said today he is thinking that he is gonna hit the Puma 3rd.  Really?  3rd?  I didnt even know if the dude was gonna play this year, then he signs and we are wondering about PT and now he is hitting freakin 3rd?

[Red Sox Nation]

It will be interesting to see his dollar value and adp as we go along. He probably will be a popular sleeper pick at this point, even though he's more likely to end up in a retirement home then act as a true sleeper. He's also quite old to give the sleeper tag to,  but we all know how he can hit (especially in that park) if things go well.

[countingcrow]

This signing reminds me a lot of Vladimir Guerrero's DH stint with the Rangers.  He was drafted in the mid-to-late rounds and greatly out-produced his ADP.

Don't sleep on Berkman in that lineup...especially batting third.