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Padres consider courting Piazza

By: BRIAN HIRO - Staff Writer | Wednesday, January 25, 2006 11:00 PM PST ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- The Padres have held talks with the agent for Mike Piazza this week as a prelude to an expected contract offer to the free-agent catcher.

Padres general manager Kevin Towers has asked Piazza's agent, Dan Lozano of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, to gauge the catcher's interest in the organization before an offer is extended, a club source said.

Towers and Lozano did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Piazza, 37, a probable future Hall of Famer with 397 career home runs, has received mild attention as a free agent since the New York Mets cut ties with him last month. It's believed that he would prefer to play in the American League because of the designated hitter option, and the New York Daily News reported Wednesday that Piazza has told friends he's close to signing with an AL team.

The Yankees reportedly passed on pursuing Piazza, leaving the Angels, Blue Jays or Orioles as more likely landing spots. Besides the Padres, the Philadelphia Phillies are a National League club to have expressed interest in Piazza.

Newcomer Doug Mirabelli is in line to start at catcher for the Padres, but they are unsettled behind him with journeymen David Ross and Todd Greene. Piazza could back up at that position and also first base, where the Padres seek a right-handed hitter to complement lefties Ryan Klesko and Adrian Gonzalez.

Piazza last season batted .251 with 19 homers and 61 RBIs in 113 games. Defensively, he threw out only 14 percent of would-be base-stealers, and his career figure in that department is a sub-par 24 percent.

"I think he's still an above-average hitter, but he definitely doesn't have the same pop and bat speed," said a major-league scout who watched Piazza last season. "As far as being a catcher, he's well below average. I think he should play first base, but I don't know what his views are."

For his career, which includes parts of seven seasons with the Dodgers and eight with the Mets, Piazza is a .311 hitter who has slugged at least 30 homers in nine different years.

"At his age, running him out there 120 games isn't realistic," the scout said. "But I think he's got some value to a club. He's still a marquee signing."