Should Lance Berkman be given an extension now?

As we all know, it's been a bad season for the Big Puma. Lance himself isn't happy with how he's performed this year. Going into the final game of the season, he's at a .274/.400/.511 line.

That is, by the way, .911 OPS. Hey, wait a second. That's pretty good!

Actually, it's pretty great. And this is a bad year. While it's going to be a career low in batting average (not counting his rookie season) barring a massive game tomorrow, it's not a career low in OPS; he was worse in 2007, actually, putting up fairly similar numbers.

And in 2008, he bounced back to have a massive year. That's been his pattern, as a matter of fact; every time Lance Berkman does poorly (by his standards), he rebounds the next year.

But even setting that aside, .900 OPS hitters are hard to find. Even at first base.

Lance Berkman is 33. He's said multiple times that he thinks he will retire in 2013 or 2014; by then we will likely have prospects ready to take his place. Right now, the Astros have nobody. They won't for at least a couple more years.

Berkman's contract runs through 2010 with an option for the year after that. Based on the interviews he's given, Lance perceives his value as being down, and WAR (Wins Above Replacement) would agree, though he's still a valuable player, as I've already addressed. Because of this, now would be an excellent time to negotiate for an extension through 2013. Do it after a rebound year, and you're bound to overpay; do it this year, and you can get Berkman through the end of his career with a healthy but not inflated salary.

It would also be an excellent time to approach Berkman about deferring some of his salary to the late years of his contract so that the Astros can afford to be more spendy on the free agent market this winter; that, perhaps, could be included in the terms of the contract, while otherwise it would just come across as begging.

I've read some talk about trading Lance; I don't think this is wise unless the Astros are prepared to go into full-blown rebuild mode. Lance would be much harder to replace than our other expensive contracts (like Carlos Lee and Roy Oswalt), and he remains one of our most valuable hitters. It might be within the realm of possibility that one of the three will be traded, but I can't see Drayton McLane and Ed Wade tearing the whole thing down, and Berkman is the least likely to go.

So keep him and use him as a veteran to build around for the next four years. And do it now to get the best deal.