Of Lance and Berkman

Arguably the biggest Cardinals off-season acquisition this winter was Brian Tallet. The 33-year-old lefthanded reliever is "ready to make an impact" and "looking forward to picking up the saga of Steve Kline and Jeff Tabaka." Although many disputed his sign- wait, got my cue card mixed up. Let me start again.

Arguably the most impactful winter acquisition for St. Louis came in the form of Ryan Theriot. The 31-year-old 2B/SS was an unlikely pick-up, as the Pirates, Royals, Orioles, and even Mariners were said to be in hot pursuit. One unnamed GM described his acquisition by the Cardinals as a "potential gamechanger in the N-" hold up, messed up again. Reverse, reverse!

Arguably the hottest back-up catcher on the market was Einar Diaz... I mean Gerald Laird... I mean, wait.

The Cardinals did sign someone this winter, right?

*whisper*

Lance Berkman, everybody! Good morning, St. Lou-is!

Let's cut right to it. Lance Berkman was signed to a 1-year, $8 million contract and is projected to play left field, moving Matt Holliday to right. My gut reaction to this deal was initial happiness our offense, then despair for our defense, then happiness for our clubhouse, then despair for- really, this deal looks like a net neutral to me. But, it's a smart move in a free agent market that was overvalued and undertalented, a kind of stopgap for a year without losing valuable club resources. Something tells me that if this deal doesn't work out by June, the Cards will be in wheeling mode again. There's still money for that... curse you Ballpark Village!

Speaking of money, the fan projections at Fangraphs have Berkman valued at $9.4 million in value next year, equivalent to a line of 19 HR, 84 RBIs, and a .835 OPS. Offensively, they expect him to be worth 15.2 Runs Above Average. That number looks about right in the NL, hitting before/after Albert Pujols. I'd say the range is between 10 - 25, depending on how much he has left in the tank. Defensively, he's a -6.0. That's what I'm worried about - losing value through subpar defense. After all, he's a first baseman playing the field.

Interesting comments by Rob Neyer on his defense:

He hasn't played any outfield at all since 2007, and hasn't been in LF since 2006...Legitimate concerns, all. There's no reason to think Berkman will be average in left field, and adequate might be a stretch.

It's probably fair to say we can expect the defensive equivalent to Chris Duncan out there, but probably more sure-handed and less whimsically amusing.

As for the total Lance Berkman Puma package, I'm generally optimistic. It's a low-risk, medium-return acquisition. Kind of like a T-bill for our player portfolio. Dear God, this has been a slow off-season.