Troy Renck of the Denver Post tweets tonight that the Rockies are "getting close" on Lance Berkman. There is mutual interest between Berkman and the Rockies, as the Rockies could use Berkman to spell Helton at 1B and provide RF depth.
Berkman, a former centerpiece of the Houston Astros, was traded to the Yankees this season to provide depth for their playoff run.
Berkman is a Type-B free agent, but was not offered arbitration by the Yankees. This means that he will not cost a signing team a draft pick for his services.
Renck further reports that Berkman has a lot of options, but favors the Rockies because he likes the team. The Rockies are making an aggressive push for his services.
2010 was not the best year for Lance, as he posted a career-low .248/.368/.413 line with 14 HR between Houston and New York. His ability to be a true switch hitter is fading as well, as he hit batted .171/.261/.256 against southpaws. When compared to Helton's .272/.346/.368 line in 2010 against lefties, it makes me wonder how good of a fit Berkman is for Colorado. At the very least, he still hits righties well as a lefthander, batting .267/.393/.453, numbers that would play for any team.
Defensively, Berkman can still play the 1B position well enough, but considering that the Rockies would like him to spell the outfield from time to time (which he hasn't done since 2007), his abilities and "fit" for the club become a lot more questionable in my mind.
As Renck puts it, it's in Berkman's hands at this point. The Rockies are interested, now we'll see how interested Lance is.