The Athletics have signed outfielder Stephen Piscotty to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The CAA Sports client has been assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas for now but will presumably receive an invite to major league camp.
Piscotty, 33, will be returning to his long-time home after a year in the wilderness. He signed a minor league deal with the Giants around this time last year but was released after not making the club’s Opening Day roster. He landed another minor league deal, this one with the White Sox, but was released in August after hitting a tepid .232/.330/.390 in Triple-A.
He now returns to the organization for whom he played from 2018 to 2022. While still a member of the Cardinals, he signed an extension in April of 2017, a six-year pact that guaranteed him $33.5MM. He was traded to the A’s prior to the 2018 campaign and his first season in Oakland was excellent. He hit 27 home runs and slashed .267/.331/.491 for a wRC+ of 126.
Unfortunately, his production fell off from there. He hit just 28 home runs over the next four seasons, leading to a batting line of .229/.287/.378 and a wRC+ of 83. He was released in August of 2022 with a few months remaining on his extension.
Given that it’s been many years since he was an effective hitter, the A’s probably aren’t expecting too much from him. But as the old saying goes, there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal. The A’s can bring him into camp as a veteran presence for a fairly young roster and see if he’s able to turn things around and get back in good form. The club projects to have an outfield mix consisting of Esteury Ruiz, JJ Bleday, Seth Brown, Brent Rooker, Miguel Andújar and Lawrence Butler.
Nice story. He was traded to Oakland so he could be closer to his mom as she died. It was either there or SF.
Bigger than baseball
Yeah,. His mother had ALS and it is sad that she had it when she passed. That is one of the main reasons why he got traded to Oakland.Like the story said, he just sign that extension, and they had no other reason to trade him with 5 years left. So the Cardinals and A’s worked out an agreement. If it was just a trade, the Cardinals would’ve got a lot more from Oakland for Piscotty at the time, but family comes first.
Nice homecoming, hope he makes the big league team
The A’s are a disgusting franchise.
Appreciate the American Dad reference
Yea nine world series championship real disgusting
I really hope this is the break out year for Andjuar. Nice low pressure environment. Ample head space to put it all together.
Him & Brown could make a good platoon. Ruiz could be an average producer at center, Bleday could break out.
In that 90th percentile world the A’s have an above-average outfield.
“after a year in the wilderness” Love it!
Amazing he couldn’t get a call-up from the Sox last year.
Another crappie pacific coast player, a paschitty player
@Dumpster Divin … Given your comment, you’re aptly named. Please remind us about your lifetime MLB stats.