Lance Berkman was immediately inserted into the Yankee lineup Saturday night batting second as the DH. I was a little puzzled by the move to acquire Berkman, seeing as he is 34 years old, coming off his 4th knee surgery, and is having the worst season of his career (.245/.372/.436, 13 HR, 49 RBI).

I expressed my concern to a rival AL executive, wondering if the Yankees had really made themselves better. His response was, "Who was DH for the Yankees last night?" It was Colin Curtis, I replied. "That's why the Yankees are better," the exec shot back. "Six Yankees could get hit by a bus and Colin Curtis wouldn't bat second for them."

Fair enough. Give the young kids a shot, but when it comes time to sprint through the last 60 games of the season in a tight pennant race, it's time for the tested veterans to step in. So long Juan Miranda and Colin Curtis, hello Lance Berkman and Austin Kearns.

And fixing the bullpen now becomes more like fantasy baseball than usual. Goodbye Chan Ho Park, come on down Kerry Wood! The team with the best record in baseball said to itself, "It's time to get better."

Did they? Well, that's what August and September…and October are for.

Here are some interesting parts of Lance Berkman's first session with the New York media. First, here is Berkman discussing the role of his friend Andy Pettitte in bringing him to the Yankees:

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It's always interesting to here the outsider's view of the Yankees once he joins them. This is Berkman's take on joining a team looking for its 28th World Series trophy…

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Finally, Berkman discusses where he learned his Yankee history and how he might now fit into it…

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Sweeny Murti

Yankees@wfan.com
www.twitter.com/YankeesWFAN