Ken Rosenthal reports that the main competition that the A's are facing for Mike Piazza appears to be the Rangers.
I'm intrigued by this...Piazza has some pop and can split time between DH and catching. You could go with Cat, Cruz and Wilkerson in the outfield, Piazza at DH, Botts playing the outfield instead of Cat against lefties and getting some DH time when Piazza sits or catches, Guzman as the 5th outfielder and splitting time with Cruz in center...
I like this, if we assume that Botts can play some in the outfield, although I'd still like to see Botts get the chance to get regular at bats at DH. But this sort of alignment would still allow you to give Botts 300-400 plate appearances, and break him in that way.
Update [2006-12-2 15:8:9 by Adam J. Morris]: -- T.R. Sullivan echoes Rosenthal's report, although Sullivan also says that the Rangers are more interested in him as a DH than in having him do much catching.
While I'm down with Piazza being here, I am also getting concerned about Botts' future with the club.