Lance Berkman Passes up New York Yankees to Sign with Texas Rangers

After drawing interest from several teams including the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, and Houston Astros, free agent Lance Berkman has agreed to sign a one-year deal worth $10 million with the Texas Rangers, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.


The Yankees were looking to reunite with Berkman after he spent part of the 2011 season in the Bronx, but the 36 year-old veteran was not interested after drawing interest from several teams in his home state of Texas.

Berkman played in just 32 games last season with the St. Louis Cardinals, hitting .259 with two home runs and seven RBI.

After missing out on signing Berkman, the Yankees are still in pursuit of a right-handed hitting corner outfielder to platoon with Brett Gardner and Ichiro Suzuki. The Yankees could also look for another veteran similar to Berkman to sign a one-year deal as a part-time designated hitter, much like Raul Ibanez did last season.

The biggest name on New York's radar is now outfielder Scott Hairston, who hit a career-high 20 home runs last year across town with the Mets.

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