Wait a minute now. True, Piazza is not a good throwing catcher at all. I'll give you that. He is an adequate defensive catcher as far as calling a game and preventing passed balls. His bat makes him better. Please do not tell me Posada is better because then you will insult yourselves as Yankee fans. Jorge seems to somehow be right at the top every year in passed ball leaders.....I know how you can explain it though....Yankee pitchers just throw harder. LOL Matt, that was for you.
As far as Piazza punking out and not being a team player....
1- the loss of Piazza in the W/S for CLUBBING Roger would have been more detrimental to the Mets as he is an every day player and their slugger. Although you wanted to see it happen, you can't really blame him for not fighting. To call him a punk shows ignorance in regards to the situation and the consequences. He walked towards the mound and said what he had to. That was a team player move........if it had been a regular season game, things might have been different...ask Manny Moto about the order of protection he had to take out on Piazza. I'm sure you critisized him for trying to get a piece of that guy though.
Don't believe everything you read in the papers about him not wanting to play unless he catches. Regarding team players, weren't you guys saying how Sorriano just wants to hit homers to get paid more? He's not a team player? C'mon. Let these overpaid millionaires deal with their problems.
2- Punking out is a guy who pitched more than 500 games and said, "I thought I picked up the ball, didn't realize it was a bat." Well if it was the ball, your throw to first was really a bad one and about 15 yards off to the right. C'mon guys, get real. I know you are Yank fans and don't like Piazza but show some logic. Tell 'em you meant it, you don't like Piazza.
3- Punking out is a guy who makes a living throwing into a box 18" by 24" and saying it just got away after your 96mph fastball was 3ft off course and hit a guy in the head who coincidentally hit a Grand Slam off you in your last appearance against him.....be a man say you meant it, it would have died that day after you took one in the back.
4- Punking out is accepting a guy onto your team despite his intentional beanings of you star players for years and then defending him like he was the Dali Lama.
"Cut your losses"??????Unload him???? a healthy Piazza at first base should net you at least 30-35 homeruns. How can you let that go. Anyone on the Yankess who wasn't using chemical enhancers do that last season? Perhaps Sorriano but that paid off in the Playoffs didn't it. If Vaghn could fake it, Piazza should be a gold glove (sarcasm) You are all Yankee fans so I expect you to not like a Mets player, especially the best one on the team, Mr. Met. But please show some logic, if you are going to trade him, you absolutely need to get star power in return. Great, I'd like Pudge over anybody but I don't think he's going anywhere. Especially with that new Yankee "F-You" ring he is going to be wearing.
George, you can't be serious, Jason is not a good fielder. He is the same player you are describing Piazza as being.....he is a bat and that is it. You can't tell me Giambi is a good first baseman...Johnson runs rings around him and should be insulted anytime Giambi starts at the pad in front of him.
Leigh, it will be interesting to see how some of these batters perform with the abolishment of that drug they were taking....Gambi included. No my statement is not of a Yankee hating Mets fan...I do not hate the Yanks, I dislike them. (I got in trouble using that word so you can't use it either)
Piazza has a lifetime batting average of almost .320 forget catchers, what active player has that? This isn't a guy who had two good years in a short career, it is a guy who has played on a consistent level for many years. As bad as he is, he led the team to two consecutive Met post seasons. I think if he gets traded, which he won't, it will be far from a firesale...that happened in the middle of last season. Hope you guys like Alomar!
