One year, $8.5 million. Another pretty nice move for the A's. Piazza quietly had an excellent year with the stick in 2006, and he might benefit from being out from behind the plate. He's old, but he isn't ancient, so there's reason to think he can keep up his current level of production if he can keep his knees healthy. In any case, this was probably Oakland's best shot at replacing Frank Thomas while taking on minimal risk. Piazza and Moises Alou might end up being the two best deals of the offseason. They also might flop. But either way, they'll be off the books in 2008.
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