Mike Piazza To PL?

What motivation would there be for Piazza to play here? I've never seen any stories saying he's about out of money, so I can't see any amount of money from a team like SoftBank convincing him to give up perhaps his final MLB season to play in Japan.

With Matsunaka's big contract and bum knees, I look for Oh-san to pencil Matsunaka's name into the middle of the order as a DH as often as possible next season.

There will be a number of hungry players out there for SoftBank to choose from - some have been mentioned on other threads recently - without even having to think about breaking the bank to sign them.

I say Piazza does one more and retires for good in MLB.

- What motivation would there be for Piazza to play here?

Maybe that a MLB team isn't going to give him the guaranteed money he wants at this point in his career. With that said, though, it's highly unlikely any NPB team will break the bank for him either.

- [...] so I can't see any amount of money from a team like SoftBank convincing him to give up perhaps his final MLB season to play in Japan.

Right now, I don't know what to say. It could very well be Piazza's agent saying this all to try and get some MLB teams to sign him. Secondly, right now the market in MLB might just not be ripe for Piazza, and will probably warm up next month when a lot of names are off the market.

Though one thing, SoftBank is probably the only NPB team that's even close to being able to sign a player of Piazza's caliber, as we saw with the Batista signing.

- With Matsunaka's big contract and bum knees, I look for Oh-san to pencil Matsunaka's name into the middle of the order as a DH as often as possible next season.

It's true that Matsunaka is a injury risk, and that playing on the turf at the Yahoo! Dome doesn't help that either, but if they could just get 120 games out of Piazza, he could put up some huge numbers.

Also, he could fall right in their face either due to injuries or not being able to adapt, and would be a disaster for the front office if he failed. At this price, I have questions if it really is worth it to sign Piazza.

- There will be a number of hungry players out there for SoftBank to choose from - some have been mentioned on other threads recently - without even having to think about breaking the bank to sign them.

I agree the players I mentioned in the Thames thread all make more sense than Piazza, as they will come way more cheap than Piazza, and also don't have the injury risk attached to them like Piazza does. I'd like to see what a Ross or Phelps do with SoftBank. They could put up some nice numbers if some NPB team got them.

Piazza and Bobby V. were close when they were both with the Mets. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility for Chiba to make an inquiry.

The Marines already have Julio Zuleta, Jose Ortiz, and Benny Agabayani under contract for 2008 from what I see on their official site. They don't have any room in the lineup for another foreign hitter. They just signed Brian Sikorski to be a workhorse out of the pen for them as he has been in Japan for a number of years, and they still have a young Taiwanese pitcher, Wu Szu-yu, trying to get healthy and contribute. If the Marines make any other moves with foreign players, it will probably be to get another relief arm for depth sometime in 2008 as the need presents itself over a long season.

I see. Thanks.

I can't see SoftBank being interested in Piazza. The team already draws well and Piazza is old and is more injury prone. A Mike Greenwell disaster is a risk here and I think Son is canny enough to not want to take the gamble. Plus there are possible steroid issues (though I hasten to add that Piazza has never tested positive for them).

So Mike's best move is to the broadcast booth if nobody picks him up in MLB this coming season.

- Plus there are possible steroid issues (though I hasten to add that Piazza has never tested positive for them).

I did not see Piazza's name in the Mitchell Report, nor has he been fingered by club house pushers or other players. You ought to hasten to add that there is not a single reliable report on Piazza with regard to steroid use, and very possibly, you are simply smearing the name of a future Hall of Fame catcher in a broad and indiscriminate sweep of MLB power hitters. Piazza's age sapped his batting prowess, not being off the juice. Joe McCarthy ruined many people with these kinds of "possibilities."

Piazza has been asked by reporters before about steroid use and he has denied it. So it's not like I'm the only one who has questioned whether he has had chemical help during his career or not. I hope he hasn't, but nowadays you just can't say for sure anyone hasn't.