Mike Piazza used to joke that, for his Hall of Fame plaque, he wanted to wear a Marlins hat. It was, after all, a memorable run in Miami: five games, no homers _ but hey, a triple! Just one of six for his career.
It's looking like his stay with the A's will be about as memorable.
The Most Popular Person in Flushing has been out since May 3 with a right shoulder injury, and by the end of the month, he could very well be wearing his sixth big-league uniform. The A's quickly replaced Piazza at designated hitter with Jack Cust, who has finally displayed his long-discussed potential. That caused the A's to ask Piazza to rehabilitate as a catcher, to help the offensively lagging Jason Kendall. But the slumping A's traded Kendall to the Cubs yesterday, a move signalling Oakland's philosophical shift toward 2008.
Kendall didn't leave, in other words, to get Piazza more reps behind the plate. Piazza is far better off as a DH, and he could help an AL contender like the Twins. How about a stint in the Bronx? Do you think Piazza could play first base? (Kidding).
Given this trade market, the A's will have to pay most of Piazza's salary (he's making $8.5 million this year) to get anything of value in return. The A's surely would rather have a Grade B prospect to show for Piazza, rather than trying to shoehorn him into the lineup. So here's hoping he is in a relevant place come August and September, adding some memories for that plaque _ perhaps even his first World Series title.
Comments (2)
Piazza in the Bronx wouldn't be such a bad idea, he'd be a good bat off the bench and a definite improvement over Nieves to back up Posada. Just imagine the pitching battery of Clemens-Piazza wouldn't that be great.
Ken , what are you talking about? your deadline trade article is all over the place. not even enjoyable to read with no real trade info.