SF Giants sign former A's outfielder Stephen Piscotty to MiLB deal

The SF Giants have reportedly signed former St. Louis Cardinals and Oakland Athletics outfielder Stephen Piscotty to a minor-league deal.

Marc Delucchi | Feb 6, 2023

SF Giants sign former A's outfielder Stephen Piscotty to MiLB deal /

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San Francisco Giants

The SF Giants have signed former St. Louis Cardinals and Oakland Athletics outfielder Stephen Piscotty to a minor-league contract, according to a report by FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray. The deal includes an invitation to big-league spring training and Piscotty will be paid a $1 million salary if he makes the Giants big-league roster.

Oakland Athletics right fielder Stephen Piscotty hits a home run against the Rangers. (2022) / John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

A Pleasanton, California native, Piscotty grew up in the Bay Area and played college ball at Stanford. After an impressive college career, the Cardinals drafted Piscotty in the first round of the 2012 MLB Draft. Within a few years, Piscotty was a consensus top-100 prospects and looked ready to make an impact in St. Louis.

Piscotty hit .305/.359/.494 in his MLB debut in 2015 and he went on to hit .268/.346/.438 with 38 home runs in 323 games over his time with the Cardinals.

St. Louis traded Piscotty to the A's prior to the 2018 season, and while he hit 27 home runs and posted an .821 OPS in his first season with Oakland, injuries derailed his production over the past few years. Piscotty's struggles culminated in a .190/.252/.341 triple-slash with 48 strikeouts and nine walks in 139 plate appearances in 2022. In August of last year, the A's released Piscotty.

The Giants have prioritized improving their outfield depth this offseason. Having already added Michael Conforto and Mitch Haniger to a group that features Mike Yastrzemski, Joc Pederson, Austin Slater, LaMonte Wade Jr., and Luis González, Piscotty will have some significant competition to make the big-league roster. With that said, the right-handed hitter has always done better against southpaws, which is a place where San Francisco currently lacks depth.

Stephen Piscotty is the latest addition to the Giants outfield mix and will likely feature in a hotly contested competition during spring training. If he can rekindle his early-career production, the SF Giants could have found a free-agent steal.

Published Feb 6, 2023

MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).