Piazza’s Unhappiness Started a Long Time Ago

Maybe, for Mike Piazza, you have to go back to the beginning.

Maybe you have to go back to that Dodger Stadium workout when then- scouting director Ben Wade didn’t think he was good enough and didn’t want to sign the young player.

Maybe you have to go back to those staff meetings in which farm director Charlie Blaney and others wanted to release him, or to that year with the Vero Beach Dodgers when an exasperated Piazza walked out because he wasn’t getting playing time, or to the fact that he had to go to the Dominican Republic on his own one winter to learn to catch and advance his career.

Sure, then-manager Tom Lasorda, a father figure, was always there to support him and plead his case, but maybe the 62nd-round draft choice had to overcome even that. Lasorda had his enemies in the organization, and maybe they were hoping Piazza would fail.

He didn’t, of course. He made it on his own, basically. He became a major league catcher with offensive statistics that could lead to Cooperstown, and with every home run his bandwagon took on more passengers, but maybe it’s hard to forget where you came from and all the doubters that lined the route.

Piazza never should have opted for opening day to express dissatisfaction with his contract negotiations.

He should never have said he felt “unappreciated.”

The guy on the street is only going to define appreciation in terms of the $8 million Piazza is making this year and the $7 million he made last year in the first year of that two-year, $15-million deal.

That’s a lot of appreciation, indeed, but maybe it would be naive to think that the memory of those early years--the memory that the Dodgers forced their franchise player into difficult negotiations over his last two contracts and that he had to file for arbitration before his current deal was resolved--hasn’t stayed with Piazza and hasn’t colored his view of the organization’s appreciation.

Maybe that was the place he was coming from when he talked about the lack of respect in the new contract negotiations.

Certainly, the memory of those earlier years was inflamed when Dodger counsel Sam Fernandez, in that strange statement seemingly designed to anger Piazza, said he was having a difficult time determining Piazza’s value.

How wrong would Piazza have been for thinking this is where he came in nine years ago?

How wrong would he be for thinking this is where he should walk out?

There is no guarantee, of course, that Rupert Murdoch and his Fox watchdogs won’t soon step in, reopen negotiations and get this resolved, but make no mistake:

* The agreement to suspend negotiations until the end of the season isn’t the end of it. The issue threatens to remain an overriding theme--and potential distraction-- throughout the season. Will he be back? Won’t he be back? Will he be signed? Won’t he be signed? It will resurface, perhaps, every time Piazza is introduced and goes to the plate, although he was reminded Thursday and Friday, when his grand slams produced cheers, how fans tend to be fickle.

* Piazza, no matter where he was coming from, must carry responsibility when the reaction turns negative. His opening-day comments were ill-timed and ill-conceived. Agent Dan Lozano has been criticized for an absence of damage control, but the agent can’t always muzzle an emotional player.

* Murdoch might ride in as a white knight, but the relationship between the Dodgers and their best player, and the fans and their favorite player, has been seriously damaged, possibly leaving Piazza with no choice but to leave as a free agent.

* Lozano and the Dodgers insist they have never made their negotiating figures public, but sources familiar with the situation insist that Piazza is indeed trying to become the first $100-million player. The figure has been out there so long, there seems little room for compromise. And Piazza, who says it is about respect and not money, would look foolish for taking appreciably less.

* With the industry watching carefully, the Dodgers are unlikely to meet the $100-million demand--now or later. Their offer of about $80 million surpasses Pedro Martinez’s $75-million record and raises the question of when is enough enough?

The average annual value of the Martinez contract is $12.5 million. Martinez is a pitcher, Piazza an everyday player. The Dodgers offered about $13.5 million and seem hesitant to raise the salary ceiling higher but are in a difficult position.

Faced with the loss of their best player, they know the price soars if Piazza tests the market. They know that if Piazza signs elsewhere, their only compensation is an amateur draft choice or two. Do the Dodgers meet his price? Do they consider trading him if out of the race in July and convinced they cannot sign him? Do they consider trading him now? Do they believe that the $15 million a year Piazza is seeking would best be spent on a left fielder, center fielder and closer?

It’s a complex situation compounded by Piazza’s uneasy feelings.

Who’s to blame? There is no easy answer.

It is always treacherous for a club to let a star player enter what is known as his walk year without his future resolved.

If $100 million is an unrealistic figure Piazza and Lozano were too set on achieving, the Dodgers seemed to be too lax in their approach and lead negotiator Fernandez too rigid in his attempt to hold a line for new owners.

Fernandez’s statement that he could not determine Piazza’s value was inexcusable.

The catcher has been a good citizen and remarkable offensive force, and the feeling here is that the club needed to get this done.

The Dodgers knew the history and knew for some time what the price would be. They opted against filling obvious holes with trades and free-agent signings during the winter on the basis that they faced the expensive task of re-signing Piazza, Raul Mondesi and Eric Young.

Two of three may be terrific at the plate, but it is a loser’s statistic if Piazza leaves.