Don’t Believe the Gripe: Piazza in Pinstripes Makes Sense
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
When reports surfaced earlier this week that Mike Piazza’s agents were reaching out to the Yankees, I slapped myself on the head and wondered why I hadn’t thought of it. The team and the player are, after all, a perfect fit. Piazza is best suited for a sharply defined role on a team that won’t rely on him as a middle-of-the-order presence. The Yankees, as usual, have a weak bench, and could use a right-handed power hitter. Rarely is there such a good fit.
As the week wore on, it became clear this probably wasn’t going to happen. The Yankees think Piazza’s too old, too unathletic, and too weak defensively to be worth their while. Aside from the hilarious spectacle of the Yankees dismissing a player on account of age, athleticism, and defense (this is the same team that started Bernie Williams in center field the last three years), they’re just wrong on every count. They actually need Piazza.
If the season started tomorrow, the Yankees would have four position players on the bench: Andy Phillips, who’s been slugging around .600 in the high minors for years and is expected to be Jason Giambi’s defensive replacement and the team’s top pinch hitter; Kelly Stinnett, who will be Randy Johnson’s personal catcher; Miguel Cairo, back after a brief exile to Flushing for anoth er tour as a utilityman; and Bubba Crosby, the backup outfielder. That’s a better bench than many of the ones Joe Torre has run out there over the last few years, but it’s pretty thin, with only one credible hitter, and the team would probably be better off going with 11 pitchers and adding another reserve. (To paraphrase Earl Weaver, the place for your 12th starter is Columbus.)
To fill that last bench spot, you’d ideally want someone who could do some job-sharing with Williams (the presumptive DH), and be the first or second bat off the bench, allowing you to hold Phillips in reserve in certain situations so as to bring him in at first base in the late innings of close games without taking Giambi’s bat out of the lineup. You’d also want someone who could start in the field if needed.
Since the Yankees have most of their positions filled by durable full-timers, and Phillips is around to cover for the somewhat fragile Giambi, a reserve who could start at catcher every now and again would be ideal. The Yankees have been courting disaster for years now, counting on Jorge Posada not getting hurt while keeping the likes of John Flaherty around to back him up. Stinnett is a valuable backup, and actually a good hitter for a catcher, but he’s averaged 45 games the last four years while playing for some truly awful teams. If Posada breaks something, the Yanks will have to find a new catcher, and it won’t be easy.
If they had Piazza around, all these needs would be covered – a complementary bat for Williams, a power bat off the bench, and insurance for a Posada injury.
Last year, bad as he was by his own standards, Piazza was easily one of the 10 best hitting catchers in baseball. Teams are quite right not to look at him as a fulltime solution behind the plate, but the idea that he isn’t an asset as someone who can take some pressure off a regular and start for a stretch in case of injury is laughable. Catchers simply can’t hit, and important as defense is at the position, anyone with Piazza’s bat who can keep the ball from hitting the backstop is rare and valuable.
The Yankees’ reluctance to bring on the sort of player they’ve all too often lusted over in the last few years – an all-time great who’s no longer so great, an aged veteran who can’t run or throw and whose obvious strengths mask serious weaknesses – reflects a change in the way the Yankees value players, meaning their skepticism towards Piazza is probably a good thing. In this specific instance, though, it’s wrong.
Last year the team nearly met disaster because it didn’t prepare for contingencies everyone saw coming – Tony Womack’s inability to play to the standards of a starter, and an injury-prone rotation. This year, the weaknesses are on the bench, at DH, and in the inevitable decline of Posada from MVP-caliber workhorse to aging catcher. Leave aside the questions of Piazza’s star power, ability to perform on the New York stage, and all the rest. He shores up several weaknesses at once and plays the drums well. The Yankees ought to get off their high horse and make this happen.
