Piazza a Padre for Pesos

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Sez Ken Rosenthal:

]Free agent catcher Mike Piazza has agreed to a one-year, $2 million contract with the Padres, FOXSports.com has learned. The contract includes an $8 million mutual option for 2007. Piazza, 37, initially sought to sign with an American League team as a designated hitter. With the Padres, he is expected to become the team's starting catcher and cleanup hitter.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

It'll be weird seeing Mike in a Padres uniform. Not as much because I'm used to him in a Mets jersey as because San Diego has nasty looking unis

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

No way do the Padres exercise that option.

[metirish]

Mets visit SD for four games starting April 20th, SD comes to Shea for three games starting August 8th, Tuesday ,Wednesday and Thursday for a day game.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

August 8th is MK's birthday. I think we know how we're going to celebrate it.

[nymr83]

only 6 games? interleague play is screwing the sport up.
good signing for the padres, now i hope they are 20 games out july 31st and want to trade him to a contender for a guy like victor zambrano

[A Boy Named Seo]

So he's 3 HR shy of 400, 23 runs shy of 1000, 81 hits shy of 2000, all doable this year. Wonder if he hits these, stays above .300, and checks out? I'm betting he does and I'm rooting for him.

[soupcan]

How could you not root for the guy?

Hall of Fame player, class act, won a pennant with the Mets, married a Playboy bunny and he's an all-around good guy.

Go Mikey go.

[nymr83]

as long as he didnt become a yankee or division rival i was rooting for him

[Guest vtmet]

Nymr83 wrote: only 6 games? interleague play is screwing the sport up.

I think it's Bud's "unbalanced" schedule more than interleague play...by the time that we play all the NL East teams 18-19 games each, and play 10 games against one of the NL Central teams (in '05, we played the Astros 10 games), it doesn't save alot of games for the other 10 teams in the NL Central/West...

[Guest SwitchHitter]

"Where do the Padres play?"

San Diego.

"What are Padres, are they like sting rays only in giant pods?'

No, it's Padres, not Pod Rays. It's the Spanish word for "father". It's a long story.

"Is that in the American League?"

No, it's the National League. They're even going to let him catch.

"Can we go to Minute Maid Park and see him?"

Maybe.


I knew she had a vivid imagination, but Pod Rays? Tonight at bedtime we're going to review the National League teams and where they play.

[Diamond Dad]

The Mets couldn't bring him back for $2 million to split time at Catcher? Why the F not??

[soupcan]

Diamond Dad wrote: The Mets couldn't bring him back for $2 million to split time at Catcher? Why the F not??

That's what I keep saying!

[nymr83]

]Tonight at bedtime we're going to review the National League teams and where they play.

as it should be.

]The Mets couldn't bring him back for $2 million to split time at Catcher? Why the F not??

he apparently thought there was a much greater market for his services back when we had to offer him arbitration or say goodbye... he was mistaken.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

The Mets would have been prohibited from resigning him beyond a 20% paycut, or else wait till May 1.

[Frayed Knot]

]I think it's Bud's "unbalanced" schedule more than interleague play

No, it's more inter-league play. That and expansion.
Think about it; the Mets (and all other NL teams) had 11 opponents prior to the '93 expansion (Fla & Colo). Now they have 20!! There's just no way to do that w/o fewer games per club. The unbalanced sked has existed in one form or another since they split into divisions in 1969.

]The Mets would have been prohibited from resigning him beyond a 20% paycut, or else wait till May 1.

Well, they could have signed him to any amount once the FA period began. The problem, of course, is that he would have had to agree to it prior to the arb-offering date and at that time he still had bigger $tar$ in his eyes.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I like the schedule unbalanced very much..

[Frayed Knot]

Oh so do I.
It's just that, with the expanded number of opponents, those on the short end of the unblanaced have gone from 12 gms/yr down to as few as 5 while the intra-divisions have remained at or near 18/per. It's just MORE unbalanced now than it's ever been and that's a direct byproduct of expansion & interleague.

[Valadius]

Thank freaking God!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know what I would have done had he signed with the MFYs... *shudders*

[Zvon]

wow.
Piazza gone.

(I mean, i knew it was coming but....*sob*)

Okay, okay, ....I know,

no crying in baseball.

So the Piazza years are officially over.
And thats what Im gonna be calling these last 8 years from now on....(sigh)

Good luck Mikey!
(I do hope he reaches those milestones)

[patchyfogg]

Nymr83 wrote: as long as he didnt become a yankee or division rival i was rooting for him

Kevin Towers is Brian Cashman's best friend in baseball. Something tells me we'll be revisiting this in July.

[Elster88]

]The contract includes an $8 million mutual option for 2007.

Whoa.



It's 7 games, not 6, but whatever. No difference.

[smg58]

I'm glad he's on with somebody. I don't know how many HR's he'll hit in San Diego, but I bet he'll do all right. I'm guessing the mutual optionninvolves a decent-sized buyout, so that he comes away with more than $2M.

[DocTee]

Piazza and Cameron will add far more to SD than X-Man an LoDuca do to NY-- here's hoping Delgado makes up the difference.

And here's to the 2006 NL West Champion San Diego Padres.

[metirish]

I read today that his 19 homers would have been tops on that team last season.....

[Valadius]

Klesko led the team with 18.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Occurs to me No. 31 is already retired in San Diego.

Does he go with 13?

[seawolf17]

Nymr83 wrote: i hope they are 20 games out july 31st and want to trade him to a contender for a guy like victor zambrano

That would be neat!

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

As Soup said, Piazza was a class act and I wish him well in San Diego (except when facing the Mets).

Unfortunately, Piazza and his agent misjudged his value on the free agent market. Had they realized that he wasn't going to command more than $2 Mil./year, he could likely have resigned with the Mets. I think Piazza thought he would attract a 2-3 year deal for more money to serve as a DH and part-time catcher for an American League team. Home runs will be tough to come by in Petco Park.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I predict the pornstache makes a BIG TIME comeback in '06.