Piazza to Angels? It’s News to Them

Mike Piazza turned down a six-year, $79-million offer, with an average salary of $13.2 million, from the Dodgers before Friday’s blockbuster trade sent the catcher to Florida.

Angel President Tony Tavares is on record as saying he thinks no baseball player is worth $10 million a year. “I still don’t,” Tavares said Monday.

So why, as some have speculated, would the Angels trade for Piazza, a free-agent-to-be who is not expected to remain with the salary-slashing Marlins long enough to get his new teal uniform dirty?

“I’ll tell you this, we have not talked to the Marlins, so all the speculation is purely that--speculation,” Tavares said, referring to scattered reports that the Angels are among the favorites to acquire Piazza. “People are just concocting a story, thinking it through, and it makes sense.”

Doesn’t it? The Dodgers and Angels compete for fans and attention in Southern California, a battle the Dodgers have always won. The heads of the teams’ new corporate owners--Walt Disney Co. chairman Michael Eisner and News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch--are such bitter rivals in the entertainment industry that Tavares said “they’re at war, with guns ablaze.”

The Angels have never had a power-hitting catcher, and they’ve never been to a World Series. Piazza, who has averaged 33 homers and 107 runs batted in a season, is the kind of marquee player who could help end both droughts.

“Anyone who wouldn’t be interested in someone like that,” Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi said, “would be stupid.”

Trading for Piazza would be a bold move for the Angels, one that would make a splash in Southern California--just like the one the Dodgers made when they acquired Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson and Bobby Bonilla from the Marlins last week.

But Tavares said Disney has no plans to turn its battle with Fox into a cat-and-mouse game, with one trying to outdo the other.

“I guess if we were in the same league and the same division, I’d be concerned [with what the Dodgers do],” Tavares said. “But to me, it’s just one more club that is spending big money.”

The Angels already surpassed their $40-million budget with the signing of pitcher Jack McDowell, and Tavares said the only way they could pursue Piazza is if Eisner decided to boost the payroll significantly.

“And no one has told me [we could do] anything like that,” Tavares said. “I think a lot of teams will be scared off by what [Piazza] has already rejected.”

But has Tavares ruled out Piazza? “You never say never--anything is possible,” he said. “But we wouldn’t go the rent-a-player route. I think anyone looking to trade for him would try to put together a [long-term contract] for him first.”

Piazza would like to return to Southern California, much like Mark McGwire did when the Angels discussed a deal for the former Oakland slugger last July before he was traded to St. Louis.

“We made serious offers for McGwire, and we were prepared to pay what it would take to sign him,” Bavasi said. “But we thought their asking price was too high. It would have blown two holes in our club, offensively and defensively.”

The A’s wanted center fielder Jim Edmonds and another big league regular, whom Bavasi declined to identify, but McGwire went to St. Louis for three prospects and eventually signed a three-year deal.

Even if the Angels are serious about Piazza, it would be difficult to swing a deal. The Marlins want top young talent--players at least two years away from arbitration--and the Angel farm system is limited.

The Angels could offer young catcher Todd Greene, but he’s still recovering from shoulder surgery. Their system has only four or five prospects who are close to the major leagues--players such as slugging third baseman Troy Glaus and pitchers Jarrod Washburn, Scott Schoeneweis and Ramon Ortiz.

But the Angels have been burned by trading away top minor leaguers for veteran, and they’ve become very stingy with prospects. They also discussed deals for former Marlin pitchers Kevin Brown and Al Leiter last winter, but the Marlins apparently weren’t interested in what the Angels offered.

“There’s no question a guy like that could help any team in a big way,” Angel designated hitter Tim Salmon said. “But my biggest question is what you’d have to give up to get him, and would he be here in three or four years?”