St. Louis Cardinals: Stephen Piscotty shopped to Athletics is good business

The St. Louis Cardinals were rumored to have shopped their struggling outfielder to a west coast team as a branch of support and for family reasons.

If you missed my Stephen Piscotty article of yesterday, jump over and give it a read here. In that piece I mentioned that Piscotty will be a good litmus test for the St. Louis Cardinals. In the piece, I did fail to mention one piece of Piscotty news: the fact that the Cards were rumored to have shopped him to the Oakland Athletics before the trade deadline.

In his August 2 St. Louis Post-Dispatch article, Ben Frederickson notes that the Cardinals jumped in the Sonny Gray talks rather late but had offered Piscotty in conjunction with a few prospect arms (Luke Weaver, Jack Flaherty). While these discussions died, they do indicate that the St. Louis Cardinals may have interest in moving Piscotty.

Also in the piece, Frederickson notes that the Cardinals might have considered this probable trade to assist Piscotty in being closer to home. As we all know, Piscotty’s mother was diagnosed with ALS and that Stephen missed a few games to be with his family in light of this news. Surely, as even Frederickson notes, his mother’s condition may well be an influence on his performance.

Had the deal completed, Piscotty would be much, much closer to home. As we know, and as Frederickson writes, the Athletics were more interested in the prospects they would get from the Yankees and thus closed that deal.

All is not lost, however, as a deal could still happen. At this point, Piscotty would need to clear waivers. That might actually happen since his recent performance has not been as stellar as St. Louis Cardinals fans had come to know. It also might happen since MLB is full of humans with hearts (even if they are stingy businessmen) and these GMs might ignore Piscotty to help him land in California.

Should the St. Louis Cardinals put Piscotty in a trade now, he would need to clear through the NL from worst to best before the Athletics could accept him in they were the targets for the Cards. But, all is not lost as the three lowest teams in the NL are Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Cincinnati (in that order).

This means that the Giants could pull him off of waivers and Piscotty could still land in California and closer to home. Noting this, the St. Louis Cardinals might ought to call San Francisco to see if something could come together there. Could the Cardinals ask for someone like Sam Dyson? If something like this could happen, Piscotty would only need to clear Philadelphia and that could well happen.

A quick note here: I would LOVE to see the St. Louis Cardinals ask the Giants for Denard Span in exchange for Piscotty. I think Span would be a great addition to this Cardinals team.

If the St. Louis Cardinals were still interested in making a deal happen with the Athletics, Piscotty would need to clear all fourteen teams in the NL AND the Chicago White Sox before the Athletics could even accept him. Not saying it wouldn’t happen but it does make it seem more unlikely.

For continued argument sake, and staying in the NL, the San Diego Padres- another California team- sit at number four in the waiver list. If Piscotty were to clear through Philly, San Fran, and the Great American Ballpark, the Padres could submit a claim.

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The Padres do have a few names who would make nice additions for the Cardinals. Among these are Brad Hand, Yangervis Solarte, and Erick Aybar. Last season, as a matter of fact, I wrote about Aybar as a possible solution for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Here’s the rub: if the Cardinals match with any team, the players coming to the Cards will need to clear through their own waiver lists. If the Cardinals were to match with the Athletics, the returning player(s) would need to clear the 15 AL teams plus the NL teams listed above AND the Mets, Braves, and Marlins before the Cardinals get their turn.

If the St. Louis Cardinals want an NL team to match for Piscotty, the Cardinals would need to wait for the returning player to clear through the Phillies, Giants, Reds, Mets, Braves, and Marlins before the Cards could get the said player(s). It doesn’t mean that it won’t happen but landing a big name under these circumstances becomes more difficult than it would have been before July 31.

Next: Did the Cardinals disappoint at the deadline?

All things considered, it would be a really nice gesture, if nothing else, for the St. Louis Cardinals to find Piscotty a team on the west coast. It must be really hard to play day-in-and-day-out with the weight of your mother’s battle with ALS on your mind.