Saturday morning update: Piazza started his rehab yesterday for Class AAA Sacramento, and his agent, Dan Lozano said, “Hopefully, in that time, Mike gets his swing back and one of two things are going to happen: Either Oakland activates Mike, or they’re going to trade him to a location Mike is OK with. … We don’t have a no-trade clause, but Billy [Beane], Mike and I agreed prior to Mike’s signing that we have a gentleman’s agreement that Billy would not trade Mike anywhere that Mike was not OK with.”

As noted below, Lozano indicated before the 2006 season that Minnesota might be a good fit for Piazza. This definitely is a situation worth following. The odds at the bottom of this file just got a tick better.

When Piazza injured his right shoulder on a head-first slide May 2, the A’s acted quickly, trading for Padres minor leaguer Jack Cust. All Cust did was hit six home runs in his first even games.

Twins fans have been understandably frustrated with their team’s inability to patch the hole left when Rondell White pulled his calf muscle on April 7. White hasn’t made it back, and now Garrett Jones is getting his chance at DH.

With the A’s in town, some of the trade gossip has centered on Dan Johnson, the Coon Rapids native. But Johnson won’t be arbitration eligible until after 2008, so the price of obtaining him wouldn’t be cheap. Also, Johnson plays first base, and the Twins have that position pretty well solved with this guy, Justin Morneau.

It sounds like the Twins are searching for rental players, especially the ones who won’t cost much in the way of prospects. If they make a deal with Oakland, the far more likely target is Mike Piazza.

Name: Mike Piazza, Athletics DH

Basics: He’s 38 (turns 39 on Sept. 4). Bats R, Throws R. 6-3, 215 lbs. Born in Norristown, Pa. Attended Miami Dade North C.C. Signed as the Dodgers’ 62nd round draft pick in 1988.

Stats: Batting .282 with 1 home run and 8 RBI. A .339 on-base percentage and a .379 slugging percentage. He batted .283 with 22 homers and 68 RBI last year for San Diego, and was faring pretty well in 103 at-bats as a DH for Oakland this year before suffering a severe right shoulder injury.

Salary: $8.5 million. He’ll be a free agent at season’s end. Because only 45 percent of the season remains, a team acquiring Piazza today would owe him $3.8 million, and the guess here is Oakland would be willing to pay some of that salary and not expect much in the way of prospects in return.

Good Twin because: The Twins had discussions about acquiring Piazza as a DH before the 2006 season, and his agent made it known that Minnesota could be a good fit, even though Piazza has spent his career playing on the coasts. He wouldn’t have to catch for the Twins, which is good because his shoulder still restricts him from throwing. The question is, can he swing? If he could produce like he did for San Diego last season, his righthanded bat would be a terrific boost for the Twins’ lineup, but that’s a big if.

Available?: Big time. In Friday’s San Francisco Chronicle, Susan Slusser writes: ”Since the A’s signed Piazza strictly as a DH over the winter and he has been ready to hit since mid-June, there’s some thought that the union might have grounds for a grievance if Piazza’s return is delayed much longer. With roster space tight, it’s likely the A’s will try to move the future Hall of Famer.” In another story, Slusser added, “A team source said that the A’s have not had any conversations with the Twins — or Yankees — about Johnson. Should Oakland decide to move Mike Piazza, however, he might be an excellent fit for Minnesota, a team looking for a right-handed hitting DH.”

Probable cost:  Not much. Terry Ryan told La Velle yesterday that he’s hesitant to move his top pitching prospects. In this deal, he wouldn’t have to. In fact, this deal would be more about getting the A’s to eat chunks of Piazza’s remaining salary.

Potential Batgirl nickname (*You know, if she still ran the greatest blog ever): I don’t have the name in my head, but if Piazza donned a Twins uniform and started showing off the old hitting prowess, I know Batgirl would be gaga.

Odds this trade happens: 9-to-1. Would be interesting to know if the Twins have scouted Piazza’s workouts, as some teams have. It sounds like Piazza will be moved soon, so they should definitely be checking into this.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 13th, 2007 at 1:04 pm and is filed under Around MLB, Trade Targets, Twins thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.