Piazza, Dodgers Reach Deal For $15 Million Over Two Years

A few hours after asking for an arbitration-record $7.65 million, Mike Piazza settled his case with the Los Angeles Dodgers and agreed Tuesday to a $15 million, two-year contract.

Mike Mussina asked Baltimore for $7.1 million as 48 players exchanged figures with their teams.

More than two dozen players settled either late Monday night or in the final hours before the union and owners swapped figures. The biggest contracts went to Milwaukee first baseman Dave Nilsson ($10.8 million for three years), Texas third baseman Dean Palmer ($4.8 million) and Rangers pitcher Roger Pavlik ($2.85 million).

Piazza and Cal Eldred settled after the exchange, with the Brewers giving Eldred a $9.3 million, three-year contract.

Piazza, not eligible for free agency until after the 1998 season, broke a record that had stood for three years, the $6.5 million Jack McDowell asked from the Chicago White Sox in 1994. Piazza, a four-time N.L. All-Star, was offered $6.1 million by Los Angeles.

The 28-year-old catcher made $2.7 million last season, when he hit .336 with 36 homers and 105 RBIs. The average value of the new deal is baseball’s fifth-highest. He will get $7 million this season and $8 million in 1998.

Mussina, 19-11 with a 4.81 ERA last season, is asking for a $3 million raise. Baltimore countered at $6.65 million, the highest figure ever submitted by a team, topping the $5.3 million offered to McDowell by the White Sox three years ago.

San Diego’s Greg Vaughn submitted the third-highest figure, $5,675,000, nearly a 10-percent cut from the $5,825,000 he made last year. The Padres countered at $5 million.

Bernie Williams, who beat the Yankees in arbitration a year ago, asked for a relatively moderate raise to $5.35 million. New York countered at $5 million, making it likely the case will be settled without a hearing.

Pitcher Donovan Osborne and the St. Louis Cardinals had the largest spread, $1.75 million. The left-hander, who went 13-9 after missing most of the previous two seasons with injuries, asked for $4 million and was offered $2.25 million.

Don Mattingly, the greatest New York Yankee never to reach the World Series, won’t have another chance.

Mattingly, who sat out last season when New York won the championship, is set to formally announce his retirement today at Yankee Stadium.