The Mike Piazza Trades
Mike Piazza had a very busy 1998. He started in Los Angeles with the Dodgers, was sent over to Florida for a short spell with the Marlins, then was shipped off to New York to continue his career with the Mets. The trades centered around the Florida Marlins and their cost cutting fire sale in which lots of big names besides Piazza were sent all over the place. Previously, we chronicled the different versions of Piazza that 1998 gave us, and today we look at the rest of the men involved in the merry-go-round.
Mike Piazza wasn't alone when he was packing his bags to leave the Dodgers. Heading out was also Todd Zeile, a big time baseball nomad that spent his career with 11 different teams. 1998 was in the middle of a dizzying time where Zeile played for 7 different teams in a four year stretch.
Here we have Todd as a member of the Marlins. While Piazza only lasted eight days before the Marlins traded him off, Zeile lasted a bit longer in Miami. And with the extended time spent with the team, Zeile was able to accumulate some stats to fill out his card unlike Piazza's Florida version. However, when the July 31 trade deadline came about, the Marlins weren't afraid to trade Todd away.
While Piazza was sent to the Mets, Zeile was ultimately sent to the Rangers in exchange for a couple prospects that would never reach the big leagues. It wasn't long though before he'd rejoin Piazza and find himself a member of the Mets as well, as OG Showdown fans can attest to.
The Dodgers/Marlins deal that sent Piazza and Zeile away wasn't exactly one-sided as it netted LA a nice little haul as well.
Also involved in the deal was Manuel Barrios, who barely had a big league career. In LA he would pitch only one time and his career was over after.
Bobby Bonilla hadn't signed his infamous Mets contract yet, and was simply excess money the Marlins wanted to shed the old fashioned way.
Johnson obviously was there to be the new Catcher, a good defensive option with his very high risk-high reward chart.
Arguably the main star on the other end of the trade was Sheffield, as his long career in Florida comes to a depressing end.
Bobby Bonilla hadn't signed his infamous Mets contract yet, and was simply excess money the Marlins wanted to shed the old fashioned way.
Johnson obviously was there to be the new Catcher, a good defensive option with his very high risk-high reward chart.
Arguably the main star on the other end of the trade was Sheffield, as his long career in Florida comes to a depressing end.
No one really excelled while in LA, except Sheffield maintained his own production. Eisenreich was at the end of his career and was done after '98. Despite the haul the Dodgers received, only Sheffield was in uniform beyond the season. Showdown fans know that Johnson was in Baltimore in 99, meanwhile Bonilla went to the Mets where he would soon create Bobby Bonilla day.
But our story does not end here.
The Marlins were dumping off anything that even resembled a big money contract, do you really think they were even thinking of paying Mike Piazza? Barely a week after acquiring the future Hall of Fame Catcher, the Marlins shipped him off (alone this time) to a team that had a completely different (and reckless) view on spending.
The New York Mets had three players that they deemed to be acceptable to send to the Marlins in exchange for Piazza. Geoff Goetz was a minor leaguer who would never get the callup, Ed Yarnall was a pitching prospect that the Marlins would later turn around and trade to the other New York team to get Mike Lowell. And finally, there was Outfield prospect Preston Wilson.
Wilson would go on to have a nice little career while in Miami, but 1998 was definitely a year of growing pains. But just look at that low low LOW cost of only 50pts! The perfect fit for the tightwad 1998 Marlins.
