The Catching Situation

Matt Battaglino at The New York Post writes about the Mets catching situation and who he believes they should turn to:

With Brian Schneider and Ramon Castro suffering hamstring problems, perhaps the Mets should again turn to a man they’ve turned to many times before, who, for the most part, didn’t let them down.

Maybe the Mets should turn to Mike Piazza.

Maybe in a perfect world the Mets could have kept Mike because he never digressed from his staggering presence and intimidation in the box, but sadly enough the Mets didn’t and he isn’t. The page has turned on the Piazza era in Queens. The Mets should just let it go and we fans should just remember Mike Piazza for what he meant to us.

Besides all that, what will he do when Schneider and Castro return? Ask yourself that.

Retiring Mets' Numbers

Ken Davidoff at Ken Davidoff's Baseball Insider writes about the Mets and their lack of retiring worthy Met numbers:

The Mets have been conservative on this matter, limiting immortality to Gil Hodges' 14 (that's him on the left, for you youngsters), Casey Stengel's 37 and Tom Seaver's 41, as well as Jackie Robinson's 42. Willie Mays' 24 has largely been out of circulation, except for a bizarre cameo by Kelvin Torve in 1990 and Rickey Henderson's stints as a player and coach.

Hodges, Seaver and Stengel are all worthy of the honor, in my humble opinion. To those, I would add Keith Hernandez's 17 and Mays' 24 and, down the line, Mike Piazza's 31.

Hernandez was the heart and soul of the 1986 World Series champs. Throw in his contributions as a great broadcaster, and this is a no-brainer.

Piazza's 31 hasn't been distributed since he left Flushing after the 2005 season, and you've got to figure his time will come when he makes the Hall of Fame. An easy call for perhaps the Mets' all-time best position player.

Mets Have No Interest In Piazza

Steve Popper at North Jersey writes about the Mets need for acatcher and how they have no interest in getting Mike Piazza:

The Mets' pitching has been a question for most of the season. But the question now is just who is going to catch? Not Mike Piazza.

The Mets may reek slightly of desperation right now, but according to one source, the team is not interested in acquiring the former franchise player who is on the market and reportedly has cleared waivers.

The Mets Need Mike Piazza

from MetsLifer.com

At Metsblog.com this afternoon a post was uploaded discussing the idea of the Mets getting Mike Piazza to help with their catching woes. I really enjoy Metsblog.com, but here at MetsLifer.com we discussed this idea a few weeks ago in a previous post.

I was surprised to see Metsblog.com respond that the Mets shouldn't go after Piazza (blasphemy!). One of the reasons was that Castro does not appear to be out of the lineup for very long (good news), but the more surprising reason was that this is no longer Mike Piazza's team. It's Reyes' team or Wright's team.

In my opinion that's exactly the reason you add Piazza.

Piazza doesn't have to be the superstar or leader of this team. He's a contributor, one of those intangibles off the bench, a la Kirk Gibson on the '88 Dodgers. This is Reyes' & Wright's team, but that doesn't mean Piazza shouldn't be on it.

Mike DeFelice is quite possibly the worst hitter in baseball, and any at bat he has is one too many if you ask me. Piazza calls a great game, and it's not like Lo Duca or Castro are gunning runners down left and right. But it's the intangibles that make me want Piazza now more than ever. It would be like the return of a hero to the ball club. Piazza is one of the greatest clutch home run hitters I have seen, and if the Mets make the playoff you know there is a historic moment waiting to happen if Piazza is in pinstripes.

There are a number of other reasons which I discussed in my previous post that I think are still valid.

For the fans as well as for the ball club, getting Piazza is a win-win situation. Send DeFelice back to the minors to tutor Mike Pelfrey, and bring in Mike Piazza which adds a nice bat to the Mets bench and a solid backup catcher.

Bring Mike Piazza home where he belongs.

Piazza Available

From Ed Ryan at Mets Fever (Network Member):

I'm not sure if it's for nostalgia or because of his potential bat but there's a part of me that wishes the Mets would acquire Mike Piazza. We need a third catcher and a big right handed bat off the bench, both of which Mike would fill. Piazza lead a group of nobodies to the World Series in 2000, aside from pitchers Al Leiter and John Franco there isn't a player that will even be considered for the Hall. Piazza is a sure in for the hall as the greatest hitting catcher in modern history. Piazza has cleared waivers and is available for anyone willing to trade for him with the A's. Players who make it this far along the process has lost most of their value and usually only cost either a low tier prospect or the rest of their contract.

Editor's Note (From David): As much as I LOVE Mr. Piazza, and would LOVE to see him in our uniform again, we have to remember that, sentiment aside, he can barely get into a crouch right now, let alone serve as a catcher at all. If he could, the A's wouldn't be looking to possibly trade him. At this point, "Mikey P" is (gulp) best-served DHing for a club such as the Angels or Twins, on a contending club. I hope the next time we see him wearing a Mets' cap, it will be for his HOF Induction in 6-7 years!