NEW YORK, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- It looks like Mike Piazza wants to continue his baseball career away from the bright lights of the Big Apple.
The agent for the veteran New York Mets catcher has been quoted as saying his client would ask for a trade in the near future. According to Newsday, Piazza has told friends that he wants to play for the Baltimore Orioles and their new manager, Lee Mazzilli.
Piazza is owed $30 million over the final two years of his contract, as well as nearly $4 million in deferred bonus money from the original seven-year, $91 million deal he signed in the winter of 1998, and it's no secret that he does not want to play first base, as the team wants.
A serious groin injury limited him to 68 games last season. He needs four homers to tie Carlton Fisk for the most by a catcher (351). The former All-Star hit only 11 homers this past season and finished with a career-long homerless streak of 88 at-bats.
