The St. Louis Cardinals have been linked to Oakland and San Fransisco for OF Stephen Piscotty. It seems that St. Louis and Oakland are in talks to deal the OF to the A’s once again.
Stephen Piscotty was a St. Louis favorite. Putting up solid numbers in both his shortened rookie campaign and his sophomore season. However in 2017, his numbers regressed and he only managed a .235/.342/.367 slash line. The Cardinals signed Piscotty to a 6 year extension in 2017 worth 33.5M.
Less than 2 months after signing his extension, Piscotty got news that his mother had been diagnosed with ALS, and the young outfielder took time away from the team to be with his mother. Before his return on May 25th of last year, Piscotty opened up in a video before the game with KSDK saying “My mom is very strong, and she’s going to battle. We’re gonna be behind her.” He was visibly emotional during parts of this interview, and for good reason. The Cardinals were in talks with the Athletics near the trade deadline last season to send Piscotty and some prospects to Oakland in exchange for Sonny Gray. In the end Gray ended up in the Bronx, with Oakland saying they preferred the prospects that the Yankees offered.
I have to say hats off to the Cardinals organization. It was clear the Cards wanted Piscotty around for their future plans, but after Piscotty got the news about his mother, the Cardinals did their best to get Piscotty back home to be close to his family. Granted this is all speculation and I could be dead wrong, but that’s what it feels like to me, and if that is the case, well done St. Louis. That’s a stand up move right there.
As for the Cardinals, I assume they will be looking for a pitcher in return for Piscotty. Possibly a bullpen arm such as Liam Hendriks. There are also rumors showing IF prospect Yairo Munoz being linked to a Piscotty deal. Munoz is currently listed as the 13th rated prospect in the Oakland farm system.
After the recent signing of Marcell Ozuna, Piscotty would be the odd man out in an outfield highlighted by Ozuna, Tommy Pham, and Dexter Fowler.
