The winter meetings are upon us and the offseason is finally ready to get exciting for the have-nots.

Down in Orlando, the A’s brass is assuredly logged into Athletics Nation, perusing trade ideas left and right. The front office is targeting pitchers and outfielders, looking for low priced upgrades to put the team over the hump in 2018 and beyond.

The name currently being floated as an outfield option is that of Bay Area native Stephen Piscotty. In his short big league career, Piscotty has shown the ability to play a strong defensive right field while crushing left handed pitching with an impressive ability to up his game. He’s coming off a down year but is clearly a talented player with the ability to excel at the big league level as an everyday outfielder. Here’s the case against acquiring Stephen Pisoctty.

Piscotty’s bad 2017 isn’t a guaranteed fluke

Having a bad year doesn’t preclude being an Oakland A. The A’s love buy low projects and Piscotty certainly fits that mold.

It’s not hard to see the intrigue. Piscotty’s got the draft pedigree, he’s shown promise in the bigs including a full above average season, and his tools are still there. If you want to point to a reason why his 2017 was so underwhelming, you might not be wrong to point to luck. His BABIP dipped in spite of his plate discipline improving and it’s not hard to imagine that coming back up.

It might not be a fluke. His exit velocity dropped a substantial amount in 2017, meaning a bounce back isn’t guaranteed. Even if that exit velocity does come back up his ceiling looks like a slightly above average player. Something the A’s need, yes, but ultimately a low reward. It all depends on the risk.

What is that risk? That part isn’t immediately clear. Rumors floated on the interwebs have made Piscotty seem downright attainable. Jesse Hahn, yes that Jesse Hahn has been floated as a potential piece in a Piscotty deal. If it’s Hahn, well yes. That’d be sweet. It’s unlikely to just be Hahn though, and realistic scenarios for a Piscotty trade involve a future piece like a Munoz or a Montas or heaven forbid a Schrock.

The A’s have dreams of a 2018 run, but their gameplan should still be to stockpile for the future. Yes, Piscotty is under contract for five more seasons and is a potential long term asset, but if he requires a piece that fits into the realistic window of 2019 or so on, it’s a move the A’s shouldn’t make.

At six years, $33.5 million, Piscotty’s contract is relatively cheap in the world of baseball. Even the A’s can handle that limited dollar amount, particularly with their currently low payroll. It’s not a backbreaker even if he’s bad and if he bounces back? You’ve got an asset for an extended period of time.

It means more risk though, even if only slightly and for a reasonable amount of time. It’s a notch, again only slightly, against Piscotty. The notches add up, and Piscotty isn’t the risk worth taking.

The cheaper options

The risk for Piscotty is in part his acquisition cost. Rumors now pit the return as being weak, but my spidey senses tell me he’ll go for more than current rumors predict — just last summer St. Louis wanted him to be one of two pieces in a Sonny Gray trade. Even if the return is relatively small, it’s still a return on top of the financial obligation.

What if the A’s could find a league average outfielder on the free agent marketplace? Just a year ago, the A’s signed Matt Joyce to a small two year deal, for which he rewarded them with a Piscotty like season. To be clear, Joyce and Piscotty are very different players but Piscotty’s 2018 will likely look a lot like Joyce’s 2017. Solid, something we could definitely use, but ultimately something for which the A’s shouldn’t get into bidding war.

On the free agent marketplace this offseason are two longtime AN talking points. Carlos Gomez and Austin Jackson are getting little attention from big league teams, but could provide the A’s a similar level of value as Piscotty. Should they flop? No big deal, let them go like a Trevor Plouffe. With Piscotty, it’s not so simple. Both Gomez and Jackson are coming off league average like seasons, and both could be fits to slot in the outfield in 2018.

There also may be an internal fix.

Matt Chapman was the best defender on the A’s in 2017. He absolutely lived up to his billing as a future Gold Glove winner, saving runs left and right with his range and arm.

Arguably the second most impressive defensive performance on that A’s team was that of Chad Pinder. Despite entering the season without having played a single professional inning beyond the infield, Pinder filled in admirably across the outfield. His reads were solid and his athleticism made him just about an average outfielder at all three positions.

With an offseason to, ya know, actually learn the role and prepare for the upcoming season as an outfielder, Pinder’s ceiling is elevated. There’s a chance he doesn’t get to a level beyond okay, as his sprint speed isn’t anything special in a small sample. However, he has certainly earned the chance to show what he can do, to see if he’s the right handed outfielder the A’s .

Important too is what’s beyond Pinder, looking at where he slots in if you do acquire a Piscotty.

Pinder was a good prospect, far from a sure thing and unlikely to be a star. His versatility makes it likely he’ll end up on big league rosters for years to come, and if he can be as solid defensively as he’s been thus far, he’ll have value.

You can never count on prospects. You can make educated guesses though, and for the time being, it’s unclear if there’s any room for Pinder in the infield in the future. Jed Lowrie has second locked down for the briefest of moments, behind him are Franklin Barreto, Max Schrock, and Yairo Munoz. Marcus Semien is at short, Matt Chapman is at third with Sheldon Neuse as depth behind them.

Some of those guys will not pan out, no doubt. But some should, and this A’s franchise short on outfielders should explore the versatility those guys have to offer, namely Pinder’s.

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I went into this article wanting Piscotty, and I still want Piscotty. He has the makings of a steal, and the rumors right now are tepid to the point where the A’s should jump in. Still, it’s not worth any longterm risk. What would you give up to get Stephen Piscotty?