Take a little trip down Hypothetical Lane with me, would you?
On Hypothetical Lane, the Tampa Bay Rays have a sublimely good team. Their entire young pitching corps is divine, their defense rock solid and their run scoring among the league's elite. Not only did they send away for the best record in baseball and a six-game lead in the game's toughest division, but they got the bonus secret decoder ring, also known as an historic run differential of nearly two-and-a-half per game. This stat can be squirrelly after just one-quarter of the season, but it tends to auger further success.
The weak spot in their starting quintet, second-year fireballer Wade Davis, has a 3.35 ERA and nearly eight strikeouts per nine. But the weak link in their lineup, their DH, which has no natural resident now that Pat Burrell's been evicted. Hank Blalock has been staffing the position since Burrell cleaned out his locker, but he's more of a stopgap measure.
Here's the worry we have on Hypothetical Lane. Our team is mighty young. Can this dream season last? Can they withstand the withering power of the mean gang from New York across the street? More to the point, can a team whose top two power hitters are Evan Longoria and no one, continue to manufacture runs like a stocking factory?
Now take a peek around the corner to Serendipity Street. Isn't that Lance Berkman, lallygagging with those ne'er-do-well Astro boys? Someone ought to grab that Lance and...hey, maybe the short-sighted manager of the store Lance works at, Mr. Wade, might be willing let him go for a song. He's costing Mr. Wade's boss $14 million a year and not exactly producing. Maybe Tampa could send over a nice inlet or cove, a third-rate pitching prospect from the Montgomery Biscuits or the Charlotte Stone Crabs and a couple of clues how to run a franchise in exchange for the big first baseman.
Over here on Rationale Avenue, I'll tell you why. First, we have to acknowledge that Houston has less intention of trading Roy Oswalt than of relocating to Waco. If owner Drayton McLane wanted to unload Oswalt he wouldn't have announced that Oswalt was asking out, sapping the team of any leverage it might have had.
But Berkman hasn't made a peep, at least publicly, which means other teams don't know that Ed Wade has absolutely no options. Unfortunately for Wade, the only GM dumb enough not to figure that out anyway is Ed Wade, so he's going to have to flip Berkman -- about two years too late -- for about 20 cents on the dollar. The worst farm system in baseball could use a couple of prospects, which Tampa has in spades.
Here's the great thing about Berkman for Tampa. While he carries a hefty price tag, his contract expires in two years, when he'll be 36 and before most of the Rays hit free agency. They can make the investment now without bankrupting the franchise as the lineup ripens. If Berkman runs out of steam, he's only on the books through next season .
Moreover, Berkman is a hitting and walking machine who plays a mean first base. The Rays could shuttle Carlos Pena to DH and Blalock back to Durham, strengthening their lineup and adding depth simultaneously.
A team with two catchers who can hit, three reliable middle infielders, a shutdown bullpen and a manager who gets it, is living on Easy Street. A deal for Berkman -- eminently doable if Houston has any brains -- could shore up their one small weakness and place another barrier between them and the Evil Empire. Some other fire-sale All Star is coming to the Bronx before the trade deadline; why not offset that advantage in advance? The Rays should make the move now. The Astros, well, they should become Rays fans.
Which would push that number to about 14,000.
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