LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., December 13, 2017 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have traded outfielder Stephen Piscotty to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for minor league shortstop Yairo Muñoz and second baseman Max Schrock.
Muñoz, 22, was signed by the Athletics as a non-drafted free agent out of Nagua, Dominican Republic in January of 2012. The 6-foot-1, 165 lb., right-handed hitting infielder played shortstop, third base and center field between Midland (AA) and Nashville (AAA) during the 2017 season. He batted .300 with 13 home runs, 68 RBI and stole 22 bases in 112 games and is currently playing in the Dominican Winter League for the Toros del Este.
Over 504 career minor league games, Muñoz batted .265 with 41 home runs and 237 RBI and 63 stolen bases in 87 attempts. Muñoz was a 2015 Midwest League All-Star at Beloit and a 2014 New York-Penn League All- Star with Vermont.
Schrock, 23, was originally a 13th round draft pick by the Washington Nationals in the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of South Carolina. Schrock was traded to the Athletics in 2016 in exchange for former Cardinals pitcher Marc Rzepczynski. He has batted .324 over his career with a .372 on-base percentage, 18 home runs and 131 RBI over 281 minor league games.
The 5-foot-8, 180 lb., left-handed hitting second baseman was a 2017 Mid-Season and Post-Season Texas League All-Star at Midland (AA) and 2016 South Atlantic League All-Star at Hagerstown (A) including earning the Top Star Honor for the SAL All-Star Game.
In 2017, Schrock ranked fourth in the Texas League with a .321 batting average while ranking third in on- base percentage (.379) and was the “Toughest to Strike Out in” the league registering 10.80 plate appearances per strikeout. Defensively, Schrock led all Texas League second basemen in games (101), total chances (436), put outs (173), assists (257) and double plays (83).
Piscotty, 26, was the Cardinals supplemental first round (33rd overall) draft pick out of Stanford University in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft. Piscotty batted .268 with 38 home runs and 163 RBI over 323 career Major League games. He signed a six-year contract extension with the Cardinals on April 3, 2017.
Muñoz has been placed on the Cardinals 40-man Major League roster and Schrock will be assigned to a minor league roster.