Mike Piazza, now 39, isn’t have much luck finding a job this winter. First there were the rumors about Japan. Now we learn that he’s expressed interest in closing out his career with the Marlins, and they’ll pass. Piazza played five games for the Fish in ’98 before being flipped to the Mets for Ed Yarnall, Preston Wilson, and Geoff Goetz.
Piazza doesn’t make much sense as a backup catcher for NL teams, since he’s not much behind the dish these days. Oakland brought him aboard last year to DH for $8.5MM, which seemed like a decent move. He wasn’t healthy and didn’t hit as expected. Another DH job would be ideal. 14 such gigs exist, but David Ortiz, Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, Travis Hafner, Gary Sheffield, and Jose Vidro are all locked in. To be generous Piazza might have eight AL teams to call up. Realistically it’s even fewer since some of those eight will use their DH as a rotation spot and don’t have room for Piazza.
