Yankees acquire "The Big Puma" Lance Berkman from Astros for Mark Melancon and Jimmy Paredes

Just a few moments ago, the Houston Astros and New York Yankees agreed to a trade that will send power-hitting first baseman Lance Berkman to the Yankees for Triple-AAA RHP Mark Melancon and Single-A INF Jimmy Paredes. The Astros will also pay $4 million of Berkman's salary.

I profiled Berkman as a possible trade target back in June, so I'll just re-post that post here with some slight adjustments of course.

By adding a power bat in "The Big Puma" Berkman, the Yankees will now have a very dangerous offense. The face of the Houston Astros since the retirement of Craig Biggio, Berkman has slugged 21 or more home runs every full season in the big leagues, including a career high 45 in 2006, his best year, in which he batted .315 with 136 RBI and finished 3rd in the MVP voting. Berkman has slugged more than 40 home runs twice in his career, 42 in 2002 and 45 in 2006, as well has slugging over 30 or more three times, 34 in 2001, 30 in 2004, and 34 again in 2007. Add that to five seasons of 20 home runs or more: 21 in 2000, 25 in 2003, 24 in 2005, 29 in 2008, and 25 in 2009. He's also driven in over 120 RBI three times: 126 in 2001, 128 in 2002, and a career high 136 in 2006. He's also had six seasons of over 100 RBIs. He's had four seasons of over .300 batting averages with a career high .331 in 2001, .316 in 2004, .315 in 2006, and .312 in 2008. Add that all together and Berkman has a career batting line of .297 AVG/.409 SLG/.549 OBP, .959 OPS, 319 HR, 1070 RBI, and 1622 hits. A first round draft pick (16th overall) in 1997 out of Rice University, Berkman is a slugger to say the least.

But Berkman's not that slugger anymore.

This season has been Berkman's worst career season, having career lows in AVG, SLG, OBP, and HR. He's hitting .245 with 13 home runs and 49 RBIs in 85 games - not his usual standards - and has just an .808 OPS, a landslide fall from a .907 OPS in 2009. However, vs. righties this year, the switch-hitter is hitting .261 with 12 home runs and 45 RBIs, but is terrible against lefties, hitting .188 wih 1 home run and 4 RBIs. Berkman has always been known for having great plate discipline, walking over 100 times in three seasons, and had totals of 91, 98, 94, 99 and 97 since 2005 as well as 60 so far this season. There's no doubt he'll get on base.

Berkman had a no-trade clause in his contract, but waived it in order to go to the Yankees. He has 10-5 rights, meaning he can still decline the deal, which is unlikely, so the announcement will have to wait 24 hours due to the rights. Berkman makes $14.9 million this year, but hasn't been earning it. The Astros are said to pay $4 million of Berkman's contract, as well as his buyout, while the Yankees are going to pay $3 million. The Yankees can definitely afford it, as Berkman is owed just $7.1 million more this season, but it's nice to get a little salary help. Berkman has a $15M option for 2011, which he required the Yankees to not pick up in order to waive his no-trade clause which is absolutely fine by me. He'll be 35 next season and is a Type-B free agent who is declining. A half year of Berkman is perfectly suitable.

Riveraveblues says that "Another encouraging factor lies in his splits. Even with his poor performance early in the season he has crushed righties this season, to the tune of a .382 wOBA. Presumably this has gotten better lately, too. He’s spraying the ball to all fields as a lefty, hitting 56 to left field, 55 to center, and 65 to right. His opposite field power has not faded, as he has a .482 ISO when hitting the ball the other way. He does seem to have some trouble pulling the ball, as he has a 67.7 ground ball rate when going to right field, with only 13.8 percent fly balls (and 22.2 percent of those are infield flies, though another 22.2 percent left the park). I’m not sure if this is something he’s also improving on, but if it is he’d be the complete package in New York: a lefty who can spray the ball the other way but still take it over the short porch."

If that's not encouraging news, I don't know what is. If Berkman can hit the ball to all fields, he'll use Yankee Stadium as a definite advantage.

The Yankees, reportedly, have traded the Astros RHP Mark Melancon, 25 and INF Jimmy Paredes, 21. That eliminates (and soothes) fan's worries that top prospects Jesus Montero and Austin Romine could have been traded.

Melancon was the Yankees' 9th round draft pick in the 2006 draft, a draft in which many consider the Yankees' best draft of the decade due to the success of the drafted players. Sadly, Melancon, who was deemed to be the next Joba Chamberlain, never lived up to the hype. Melancon was ranked the Yankees' 15th best prospect by BaseballAmerica, but while dominating in the minor leagues, he could never translate the success to the majors. In 2008, his breakout season, Melancon went 8-1 with a 2.27 ERA in 95.0 innings/44 games with an 8.4/9 strikeout rate for A+/AA/AAA. His ridiculous 2008 carried into 2009, as he was 4-0 with a 2.89 ERA in 32 games/53.0 innings while striking out 54, increasing his strikeout rate to 9.2/9. His dominance warranted a call-up in April of 2009. Melancon struggled in the big leagues, pitching to a 3.86 ERA in 13 games while allowing 13 hits and 10 walks in 16.1 innings before being sent back down. In 2010, Melancon has spent most of the season in the minor leagues pitching in 40 games/56.1 innings with a 3.67 ERA, 6-1 record, 58 strikeouts and a 9.3/9 K rate. He appeared in two games for the Yankees, posting a 9.00 ERA while giving up 7 hits, one being a home run, in 4.0 innings.

Paredes, an international signing out of the Domincan Republic, is a switch-hitting infielder. In the minors, he has played second base, third base and short stop. A player who has relied more on his speed than his hitting, Paredes has stolen 36 bases in 46 attempts in 2010 while posting a .282 average with 5 home runs as well as driving in 36 RBIs with 114 hits in 99 games, all of which are career highs for a full season. Paredes does need to work on his defense, I can't stress that enough: he's committed 36 errors this season after committing 34 in 2007, 13 in 2008 and 12 in 2009.

By giving up an average pitcher who the Yankees have no place for and a young infielder who will probably never wear the pinstripes, this deal is a steal for the Yankees.

While the Yankees offense has been solid this year, Mark Teixeira (who is heating up) and Alex Rodriguez have not been contributing at their expected rates and the team, which was expected to be carried by its offense, has been carried by its dominant starting pitching. Since free-agent signing DH Nick Johnson went down with a wrist injury that required surgery, the Yankees have had a revolving door at DH which has included Jorge Posada, Marcus Thames, Juan Miranda, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano and now Colin Curtis. Clearly the Yankees needed another bat to solidify the DH role, and acquiring Berkman does just that. It also ends trade speculation that has been going on for months. For once, Yankee fans won't have to see a minor leaguer using the DH role.

"We've used [the DH] to rotate our guys and try to keep our guys fresh, but if we have an everyday guy, we have an everyday guy," Manager Joe Girardi said. "I can't tell you what's going to happen, but it has helped giving Alex a half-day and Jeet a half-day, and Tex and Swish. But if you get an everyday guy that can swing it, that could help our club. ... However we can improve our club, I'm all for it."

"I never thought I would be in this position, never had to go through it," Berkman said. "It's unsettling because you just don't know what's going to happen and there's all sorts of possibilities. I guess in one sense, it's good because there's teams that want me to play for them, particularly in a down season."

"No matter what happens, this is my home and my organization," he said. "I'll be a Houston Astro no matter what happens in the next 24 hours. If something does happen, I would certainly want to leave myself open to a return to the team if that made sense for the organization and for me as well."

"That's great, because we're a team that's all about winning and anyone who can come in here and help us score more runs," said New York's Mark Teixeira. "[They are] two quality guys. I know both real well. They're great guys, and it's going to be great for this clubhouse."

"We have so many dynamic players on our team," Teixeira said, "and we have a lot of guys that can hit in the middle of the order, but we also have a lot of guys that can draw walks. I see him hitting in the top of the order or the middle, and he can drive in runs anywhere, too."

"Not one guy has to carry this team, and that's the great thing about the Yankees," Teixeira said. "They're always going to do what it takes to win and you see it today getting two players like that.

"It's great. The Yankees fans deserve it and the city of New York deserves a winner every year. That's what we're trying to give them every year."

In the postseason, Berkman is a career .321 hitter with 6 home runs and 26 RBIs in 29 postseason games in 2001, 2004 and 2005 combined. In 2005, the year the Astros reached the World Series but were swept in four games by the Chicago White Sox, Berkman hit .385 with 6 RBIs. His tremendous postseason hitting could be another reason why the Yankees acquired Berkman as they look to lock up the AL East.

I like this trade a lot, especially because the Yankees didn't have to give up a prospect with much caliber and got some cash. I'd definitely would have preferred Adam Dunn, who the Yankees were rumored to earlier today, but Berkman, a five-time All-Star, is a great hitter - his days of hitting 40 home runs are over - but perhaps a change of scenery, as well as the short porch in right field, can help "Big Puma" improve his season and up his power numbers. He'll probably slide into the no. two spot in the lineup, making for this lineup:

1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Lance Berkman, DH
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Robinson Cano, 2B
6. Nick Swisher, RF
7. Jorge Posada, C
8. Curtis Granderson, CF
9. Brett Gardner, LF

That's ridiculous and incredibly deep.

It's been a tough two days for Astros fans, who saw franchise pitcher and Astro-lifer Roy Oswalt get dealt yesterday to the Philadelphia Phillies for a terrible package of players (besides Brett Wallace, who they got from the Blue Jays) and now one of the best hitters in franchise history and Astro-lifer get traded today to the Yankees for two prospects, one of which who has lost the confidence of the Yankees. It'll definitely be tough for Astros fans to watch both players with different teams in the postseason.

Berkman is a huge offensive upgrade and should be a great addition to the Yankees for an extremely low price.

Good move by GM Brian Cashman.