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Mike Piazza

Dan Johnson For Scott Proctor?

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Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle believes that yesterday’s Jason Kendall trade could be the first in a series of forward-looking moves for the A’s.  Billy Beane doesn’t say it outright, but he seems ready to play for next year.  Simmons says rumors have swirled around Dan Johnson, Esteban Loaiza, and Mike Piazza.

Johnson has been linked to the Twins (DH) and Yankees (1B) previously.  The idea is to clear some room at first base for top prospect Daric Barton.  As a cheap league average 1B, Johnson has decent value.  Simmons says a Johnson for Scott Proctor trade is "all the buzz."  However, the teams have not talked in over a week.  The 30 year-old Proctor has been worked pretty hard by Joe Torre, but has performed decently over the last two seasons.  For a while during the offseason, the Yankees considered using him as a starter.  The A’s could go through with that plan in ’08.

Piazza is said to be a candidate for the same teams as Johnson, plus maybe the Angels.  He’d due back in about a week from a strained shoulder.  He’ll only be able to DH.

Loaiza has yet to make his season debut due to neck, shoulder, and knee injuries.  He recently threw a bullpen session and felt good, but won’t be big league ready until August.  He’s owed $7MM in ’08; not sure if that salary would pass through waivers in August without a claim.

A’s May Trade Piazza Instead of Johnson

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If Mike Piazza can’t catch – and it looks like he can’t – the A’s pretty much have to unload Piazza or Dan Johnson once the former is ready to play.

Susan Slusser notes that possibly interested teams, such as the Twins, Yankees, and Angels, may prefer to go after Piazza.  The cost would mainly be in salary, whereas the cheap and league average Johnson will require a decent player in return.  So the question for Billy Beane is which does he want more?  Relief from the remaining $3.88MM on Piazza’s contract or a solid prospect and an open spot for Daric Barton?

The A’s are not usually sellers at the trading deadline, so we don’t have much precedent.  I like a Johnson move a little bit more.

Rosenthal: Piazza Could Be Shopped

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Ken Rosenthal has another column up tonight.  The lead: the emergence of Jack Cust may cause the A’s to shop Mike Piazza.  The problem is that Piazza may be limited to DH duties.  Rosenthal names the Mariners, Twins, and Angels as teams lacking at the position, though all those clubs could be in the playoff chase with Oakland. 

Billy Beane might find additional flexibility if Piazza is able to play first base.  He played 64 games there in 2004 for the Mets.  However, this might not sit well with Piazza.  It was thought that his defensive struggles at first in ’04 carried over to his offensive performance at times.  Moving Piazza to the NL probably wouldn’t work, even if he’s able to get behind the plate a couple of times each week.  Since only a contender would consider acquiring Piazza, Beane is probably stuck with him. 

A’s Sign Mike Piazza

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It’s official: the A’s have signed Mike Piazza to be their designated hitter for 2007 at a price of $8.5MM for one year.  Not a bad signing at all, as the A’s continue to rotate quality hitters through their DH slot.

Piazza turned 38 in September.  He bounced back to a .283/.342/.501 line for the Padres.  An even lighter load in the American League could mean an equally solid year.

Will’s Mill

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Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus is at the Winter Meetings, and filing reports daily.  Best of all, his notes today are free:

The specific Manny Ramirez deal offered by the Dodgers that the Red Sox turned down was for Jonathan Broxton and Andy LaRoche.  Sounds like it would take one more player (or an equivalent starter instead of Broxton) to get the deal done.  Either that, or the Sox are just showing Manny how valuable he is, and how much they love him.  I get the feeling that the Red Sox and Manny are like a Hollywood couple–let’s say Pam Anderson and Kid Rock–and all the troubles aren’t real, they’re just a way of keeping everybody’s name in the newspaper.  All the time.

The Rangers are in on Mike Piazza.  Anybody else think that Jon Daniels’s strategy is to bid on every single player Billy Beane shows interest in, driving up the price and making it impossible for Billy to acquire players?  He did it with Frank Thomas before Thomas signed with the Blue Jays; maybe he’ll jump into the Alan Embree negotiations next.

Will also prints the idea that Barry Bonds would be well-served by waiting until May to start playing.  Like Roger Clemens did last year, he could pick the team that looks best, and he wouldn’t suffer through a month of intensive coverage in March.

By Jeff Sackmann, Brew Crew Ball

Rosenthal: Phillies, A’s After Piazza

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A deal cannot be described as close, but Ken Rosenthal indicates that the A’s appear to be the frontrunners for the services of catcher/possible DH Mike Piazza.

If Oakland could snag him for the speculated price of one year and $7MM, they could have another fine free agent bargain.

In addition, the A’s have spoken to the agents for Alan Embree and Cliff Floyd.  An Embree acquisition would allow Joe Kennedy to replace Barry Zito in the rotation.

Michael Barrett On The Block?

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Here’s an interesting tidbit buried in a Giants notes column: the Cubs "reportedly are open to the idea of trading catcher Michael Barrett for pitching help."  I can’t imagine they’ll part with Barrett cheaply, but does that mean they are willing to go with Henry Blanco and, say, Geovany Soto behind the plate?

One thing is for sure: there isn’t much available on the free-agent market.  I suppose that if Barrett brought a decent return, a Mike Piazza-Blanco offense-defense platoon might make some sense for the Cubs; beyond that, the options are a bunch of guys who will cost more than Barrett (last year of a $12M/3y deal) and produce less.

By Jeff Sackmann

Piazza Signs With Padres

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RotoWorld and other sources are reporting that the Padres have signed Mike Piazza to a one-year, $2MM deal with an $8MM mutual option for 2007.  The Padres were one of a handful of teams that stood to better their club by acquiring Piazza or Bengie Molina.  At this point, Molina should be begging the Angels to take him back, as they’re one of the few teams he can help.

The Padres probably added 2 or 3 wins by signing Piazza, so they’re getting good bang for their buck.  There’s approximately zero chance they exercise that 2007 option.  Here’s a look at some various projections on him for 2006:

PECOTA:  .253/.329/.420 with 11 HR in 333 PA
Bill James:  .268/.349/.476 with 24 HR in 456 ABs
RotoAuthority:  .272, 24 HR in 460 ABs
ZiPS:  .239/.328/.411 with 16 HR in 394 ABs

PECOTA expects a pretty big decline and the smallest amount of playing time.  ZiPS is also not very optimistic on the catcher.  Bill James and I were picturing a rejuvenated Piazza as an AL DH, so my projection is going to require a major adjustment.  ZiPS may have hit the mark, as Piazza is entering a home ballpark that has suppressed right-handers’ home runs by a whopping 41%.  The changes to PETCO will affect the right field power alley, but Piazza has been known for his opposite field power in the past.

Piazza And Cubs A Match?

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Surprising bit of info out of the Philadelphia Inquirer this morning courtesy of Todd Zolecki.  According to the article:

"The Phillies have talked with free-agent catcher Mike Piazza about a possible contract, a baseball source said, but it seems Piazza might have better options with the San Diego Padres or Chicago Cubs. Piazza could make a decision before the end of the week."

The extent of Jim Hendry’s talks, if any, with Piazza’s agent (Dan Lozano) is unknown currently.  For what it’s worth, Lozano also represents Jacque Jones. 

My thoughts on this: if it was for $4MM or so for a year, the Cubs should bring Piazza aboard and worry about his role later.  Hendry did the same with Todd Walker a couple of years ago because the price was right.  Maybe Piazza spells Derrek Lee at first for ten games, DHs in interleague games, and catches 40 times.  Piazza’s three-year splits don’t really indicate a big platoon advantage, so it would likely just be a matter of working him into the lineup whenever possible.

I’m poking around to try to find some more information and determine whether the Cubs are seriously considering Piazza.

UPDATE:  The Tribune’s Dave van Dyck debunked the Piazza rumor today:

"Cubs general manager Jim Hendry was surprised at the report, admitting he had jokingly said to Piazza’s agent that he could use a pinch-hitter like the future Hall of Famer, but that ’I think he can get a better job than that.’"

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