Lance Berkman will not return to the Yankees in 2011 if his current role (part time designated-hitter) doesn’t change.  Berkman does have a $15mm team option but that will likely not be picked up as even the big market Yankees have some financial limit.  When asked if he would return, Berkman responded, “No, I don’t think so. I don’t like platooning.” Berkman still believes he can play every day and said he’d want to find a suitor who would allow him to return to first base next season.

According to The Denver Post’s Troy E. Renck, Lance Berkman could be a target of the Colorado Rockies this winter. “That’s a place that I would definitely have interest in,” Berkman said about the possibility of playing in Colorado.

The Rockies considered acquiring Berkman from the Houston Astros before the July trade deadline, but he ended up being dealt to the New York Yankees to help solidify their DH spot.

Berkman also said that he hasn’t had any conversations with Astros owner and close friend Drayton McLane about returning to Houston next season. The Houston Chronicle’s Richard Justice thinks that Berkman should end his career in Houston. He says that he wants to see Berkman to have three or four more productive year so he could walk through Cooperstown doors as an Astro.