St. Louis Cardinals Trade Stephen Piscotty to the Athletics So He Can Be Closer to His Sick Mother
St. Louis Cardinals have just made a classy move by shipping right fielder Stephen Piscotty to the Oakland Athletics so he can be closer to his family in Pleasanton, California.
Piscotty's mother, Gretchen, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, earlier this year and he took some time off last season so he could be with her.
The Cardinals received infielder prospects Yairo Munoz and Max Schrock in return from the Athletics.
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"There were certainly some opportunities to move him elsewhere, and when you're looking at how to break a tie, clearly that did play into it," Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told reporters on Thursday, via USA Today.
Shortly after the Cardinals acquired All-Star left fielder Marcell Ozuna from the Miami Marlins, reports saying the team was looking to send Piscotty home started appearing and it didn't take them long to work out a deal with the Athletics.
According to Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, the team really felt for Piscotty and they just want to support him by sending him closer to his hometown.
"You can't even really go there to understand him and at his age and what it is that he had to endure or what that is like for a family. I think it's really just understanding that it is very, very difficult. You let him know that you care. You acknowledge. You have compassion," Matheny said, via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Of course, the Cardinals did get two prospects back for Piscotty, but what they did will earn them the respect of people who don't even follow baseball.
"That's what makes the Cardinals one of the classiest organizations in sports," the Athletics' executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane said after the trade was made official, according to USA Today.
