According to George King of the NY Post , the Yankees have scouts following the Houston Astros in hopes that they will be interested in trading their first baseman Lance Berkman .
The Astros are currently in last place in their division, and Berkman is owed $14.5 million this year plus a $2 million buyout on an option. Making things interesting is that Berkman has been with the same team his entire career, and he has a full no-trade clause. So, he would have to approve of any deal to the Yankees.
The Yankees would be interested in Berkman, 34, as a DH. After a very slow start to the season, he has upped his average to .253 with a .356 OPS, .420 SLG, and .776 OPS overall. However, in the last 28 games, those numbers jump to .295/.393/.467/.860.
With Nick Johnson on the DL possibly for the remainder of the season, the Yankees have been on the lookout for a bat, but there is no word yet that Houston is definitely interested in trading the veteran Berkman.
If they did, prospects would need to be sent to Texas, but considering the amount he is still owed, the Yankees will resist sending any of their bigger prospects over. Instead this might involve one upper level guy and a few lower level players a few years away from the major leagues.
The Yankees financial advantage could easily come into play when acquiring Berkman and the fact that they should contend for a World Series may help them get him to waive his NTC.
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