A’s Billy Beane on Piscotty deal: ‘Cardinals one of the classiest organizations in sports’

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SAN FRANCISCO — Billy Beane’s day got off to a lousy start Thursday. The A’s executive vice president scheduled a 4 a.m. wake-up call to make a flight, but the cheery hotel operator rang to say, “Good morning! It’s 5 a.m.!”

Beane shouted a few expletives before making a mad dash for the airport.

Things got better during his ride back from baseball’s Winter Meetings: He was able to finalize the deal for St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Stephen Piscotty, the Pleasanton native, from somewhere above clouds.

From his first-class seat on United Flight 759, Beane signed off on the trade that sends infielder Yairo Munoz and minor league infielder Max Schrock to St. Louis.

“We’re pretty excited about it,” Beane told the Bay Area News Group, which was sitting exclusively in seat 26C.

The deal has the added benefit of a sweet back story: Piscotty, who went to Stanford, can be closer to his mother, Gretchen, who was diagnosed with ALS in May.

Beane said he was aware of Piscotty’s family situation but, out of respect, never broached the subject with the Cardinals during trade talks. Along the way, though, he sensed that St. Louis was out to do the right thing.

“That’s what makes the Cardinals one of the classiest organizations in sports,” Beane said.

Above all, this was a baseball deal. Piscotty’s skill set appealed so strongly to the A’s that Beane began making calls to Cardinals executive vice president John Mozeliak as far back as August.

From there, Beane said he checked back every 10 days or so. Though a match seemed likely, both sides had to wait for the Giancarlo Stanton situation to play out this winter in order see if Piscotty was truly expendable in St Louis.

The Cardinals missed out on Stanton, but scored All-Star outfielder Marcell Ozuna in a trade Wednesday, hastening the final push for the Piscotty deal.

Along the way, Beane had patience — and faith. He said that when the A’s took the bold step of trading Ryon Healy (23 homers last season) to the Seattle Mariners in November, they did so banking that they’d eventually be able to add Piscotty’s bat to the mix.

“When we traded Healy,” Beane said, “this is what we were hoping for. But we were at risk there for a while.”

The A’s identified Piscotty as a fit because he’s a good defensive right fielder who, at age 26, is heading into the prime of his career. A right-handed hitter, Piscotty had a .708 OPS last season. Two years ago, he batted .273 with 22 home runs, 85 RBI, a .343 on-base percentage and a .457 slugging percentage.

Piscotty also comes with what Beane called a good cost-control contract. He signed a six-year extension in 2017 that will pay him $33.5 million through 2022, with a team option for 2023.

“He was the one guy we wanted at the Winter Meetings,” Beane said. “He fits in with this young group of guys we have.”

Now, he hopes the A’s offense can take flight.

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