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Mets happy with Piazza behind plate
Updated: Friday July 27, 2001 8:58 PM
Now that the New York Mets have squelched the public debate about Mike Piazza's future behind the plate, those most directly affected by the decision are more pleased than you might expect. Staff ace Al Leiter, for instance, rates Piazza on a par with any catcher he's worked with in all areas except throwing out baserunners. Keep in mind, Leiter spent two seasons in Florida throwing to four-time Gold Glove winner Charles Johnson. "For me Mike is as good as any receiver that I've ever had, any blocker I've ever had and as good a guy that's every called a game as I've ever had," Leiter said. "His arm is below average. He doesn't throw as well. But every other aspect of his catching ability, I would put up there with anybody I've had." Piazza has thrown out just 15 of 90 (.167) attempted base stealers, the second-worst percentage in the National League. Only Montreal's Michael Barrett has worse numbers. But if you factor in the American League, Piazza outranks Boston's Scott Hatteberg, Detroit's Robert Fick and Yankees All-Star Jorge Posada in this year's throwing statistics. "It's unfair to him," Leiter says of the persistent speculation regarding a Piazza move to first base. "I think Mike should be afforded and deserves every opportunity to be the guy who has the most [career] home runs and most production as a catcher." Piazza turns 33 in September. After this year he'll have four seasons left on the seven-year, $91 million contract he signed after the 1998 season. Will he stay at catcher the whole time? Leiter, for one, sees no reason why Piazza can't remain the Mets' long-term catcher, provided he's willing to put in the extra work to improve his throwing arm. "I think Mike should realize and does realize it's forever constant work he needs to do," Leiter said. "I know as an everyday player you can't work repeatedly on stuff outside the lines, especially as a catcher, although [Johnson] throws a lot of long toss. "But I think in winter time it would behoove [Piazza] to get on a good throwing program and strengthen his arm and increase velocity. That's all it is. We're not talking about throwing out the [Luis] Castillos or the [Doug] Glanvilles or the [Tony] Womacks. Even C.J. might be 50/50 on those guys. You're trying to get that guy who might steal 20 bags a year."
Royal robberySince the start of the year Kansas City general manager Allard Baird has made a pair of three-way trades that involved the Athletics. Each time Oakland GM Billy Beane has ended up with the Royals' best outfielder and the best player in the deal. The Royals? They wound up with something less than that.In January it was Johnny Damon heading west in the deal that brought the Royals closer Roberto Hernandez and sent Ben Grieve to Tampa Bay. This week it was right fielder Jermaine Dye heading home to Northern California in a trade that cost the A's two prospects. Kansas City wound up with Gold Glove shortstop Neifi Perez, who, of course, is playing second base for the Royals as they try to showcase incumbent Rey Sanchez. Perez, 26, turned down a four-year, $18 million extension from the Rockies last winter. Eligible again for arbitration this winter, he stands to double his $3.55 million salary after another Coors Field-fed season. "His offensive numbers are inflated," one NL club official said. "When he goes to arbitration next winter, he wins. Those Coors Field offensive numbers put him into a category where he doesn't belong. He's not an A-Rod or a Garciaparra, but he'll ask for and get $7-8 million a year. "Sure, he's in the Gold Glove hunt every year, but you step back and look at it: He won't take a walk, his on-base percentage stinks, and he hits .400 at home, 200 on the road. He's just not that good." At the time of the trade, Perez was a career .243 hitter away from Coors Field with a road on-base percentage in the .280 range. No wonder the Rockies couldn't wait to turn the position over to 22-year-old Dominican prodigy Juan Uribe.
Many unhappy with current trade deadline dateThe non-waiver trade deadline is just a few days away, and still there's mass confusion as teams try to get a read on whether they're contenders or pretenders."They really should move the trade deadline back one month," one NL personnel man said. "It would help so much. With two months to go, you've played 100 games and you don't even know what you are yet. Are you a buyer, a seller or something in between? If you're a seller, how do you do that with two months to go? What message does that send to your fans?" Translation: one month of empty seats would be better than two. Entering the weekend, 17 clubs were .500 or better, all of them within eight games of securing at least a wild-card berth. If you're a club like the White Sox, Angels, Giants, A's, Marlins or Cardinals, it's tough to decide whether you're in the hunt or out of it. One three-game sweep either way this weekend could sway your thinking in whether you should trade off prospective free agents or exchange prospects for a veteran to help down the stretch. When baseball went to three divisions and the wild card in the mid-1990s, it should have moved back the non-waiver trade deadline. Sure, some deals still get made after July 31, but passing a player through waivers isn't easy in these days of sport-blocking shenanigans. Just as the old June 15 trade deadline eventually became outmoded, so has the magic date of July 31. Mike Berardino covers baseball for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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