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Call from the Bullpen by David Maull

The Bullpen | Major Leagues | Sports Front Page

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Piazza's Ego Drives Salary Demands
From the May 7, 1998 TV Times

It must be horrible to go through life with a big ego.

For the large ego suffers constant bruising and the owner is frequently reeling from hurt feelings over perceived injustices.

This condition runs rampant in major league baseball and is one of the main reasons for the myriad of problems inflicting the game.

It can also be the only possible reason for a player to reject a six-year, $84 million contract that would have made him the highest paid player in the history of baseball.

But if you're Dodgers' catcher Mike Piazza, the reason for denying such riches is simple - it's not $100 million and it's not for seven years.

Most of Piazza's publicity before this year has been positive. That is until negotiations for a contract extension began and boos started raining from the Dodger Stadium bleachers.

In the final year of his current deal with the Dodgers, Piazza is expected to be the most sought-after free agent in baseball history after this season.

 Obviously wanting to keep their star catcher off the free agent market, the Dodgers last month offered Piazza a six-year deal worth $84 million, an average of $14 million per season.

Piazza promptly rejected the offer and broke off negotiations with the team. The rejection underscores the fact that major league egos are fed by dollar signs.

It's hard not to be disturbed when a player who seems to be one of the better guys in baseball turns down a chance to become the highest paid player in the history of the game simply because the contract doesn't include the magical "$100 million" figure.

Pop quiz: What is the difference in annual salary between the Dodgers' offer and Piazza's seven-year, $100 million demand?

Answer: A little more than $200,000, chump change by today's standard.

In practical terms, the only real difference between $84 million and $100 million is a few more inches on an already swelled head.

Perhaps former Dodger teammate Brett Butler was right this winter when he complained that Piazza was concerned only with his personal statistics and not the team's success.

It's sad Piazza seems willing to have his contract negotiations become a distraction for the entire team and sacrifice a comfortable situation with the club for which he transformed himself from a 62nd-round draft pick into the best catcher in baseball.

Give me $100 million or give me another team's uniform. The Philadelphia Phillies have gone through the same torment with top draft pick J.D. Drew, who is demanding an $11 million contract without having played one game of professional baseball.

Like the Dodgers, the Phillies have seen reasonable contract offers rejected by Drew and his determined agent, Scott Boras.

Will Piazza and Drew eventually get what they want? Probably.

Will they some day regret how their once-sparkling images were permanently tarnished by a relentless drive for money?

In this age of big bucks and big egos, probably not.