Lance Berkman traded to Yankees | Baseball Notebook

Former All-Stars Jake Westbrook, Ted Lilly, Ryan Ludwick and Kerry Wood were traded Saturday as pennant contenders played a game of beat-the-clock. Lance Berkman went to the World Series champion New York Yankees after rejecting the Chicago White Sox.

The swaps came as clubs scrambled before the 1 p.m. PDT deadline for making trades without waivers.

NL Central-leading St. Louis was a prime player in a three-team trade, getting Westbrook from Cleveland and sending Ludwick to NL Central-leading San Diego.

The Yankees plucked Wood from Cleveland, shortly after finishing a deal to get Berkman, their new designated hitter, from Houston.

A five-time All-Star, the 34-year-old Berkman hit only .245 with 13 home runs and 49 RBI for the Astros.

"I didn't perform like I should have performed or like I have in the past," the switch-hitter said. "I'm at the point in my career where I needed to either retire or find something that would sort of light the fire again. ... So this is almost a litmus test for me to see how much more baseball I have left."

The AL Central-leading White Sox had a deal in place for Berkman, general manager Kenny Williams said. But because Berkman is a 10-and-5 player — 10 years in the majors, the last five with the same team — the slugger could turn it down. Instead, he chose the Yankees.

Teams still can make trades this season. But players must first pass through waivers, meaning any club can get an opportunity to claim them before a deal is done.

Other deals

• Atlanta acquired OF Rick Ankiel, reliever Kyle Farnsworth and cash from Kansas City in a five-player swap.

• The Dodgers got the left-handed Lilly, infielder Ryan Theriot and about $2.5 million from the Chicago Cubs for infielder Blake DeWitt and two minor-league pitchers. The Dodgers also acquired reliever Octavio Dotel from Pittsburgh.

• Texas traded C Jarrod Saltalamacchia to Boston for three players and cash.

• Tampa Bay got reliever Chad Qualls from Arizona for a player to be named.

• San Francisco sent RHP Joe Martinez and OF John Bowker to Pittsburgh for reliever Javier Lopez.

• Arizona sent C Chris Snyder, a minor-leaguer and cash to the Pirates for OF Ryan Church, former AL Rookie of the Year SS Bobby Crosby and RHP D.J. Carrasco.

Notes

• Atlanta 2B Martin Prado broke a knuckle, an injury that will sideline the leadoff hitter for at least a week.

• A four-game suspension for Braves reliever Jonny Venters was rescinded. MLB officials decided he didn't purposely throw at Milwaukee's Prince Fielder.

• Royals manager Ned Yost was given a two-year contract extension that will keep him in Kansas City through 2012.

• The Cardinals retired Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog's No. 24 in a ceremony before St. Louis played Pittsburgh.