Mike Piazza's no longer the hitter he once was and he's in the final year of a seven-year, $91-million contract. "I'm not really looking past next week, actually," he said. "I'm really not programmed that way. I'm not really worried about it, that's the only thing I can say." When the possibility of DHing is brought up, Piazza nods and says, "Well, that's flattering. It's nice that people say it, but I don't think it's fair to me or the team to talk about it. I've always had really good boundaries in my thought process. I've always been able to put barriers down. "I just want to stay healthy. It's tough for me to catch every day, physically. It's definitely a grind and I have to prepare and dedicate all my energies to that." Piazza called talk of retirement "premature." But a major-league executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity guessed that Piazza would retire. Asked about Piazza being a DH, the same exec said, "He's not hitting well enough right now to be a DH in the American League."