Cards sign Piscotty to 6-year deal

St. Louis gave another of its young players a long-term contract, agreeing to a $33.5 million, six-year deal with right fielder Stephen Piscotty on Monday.

The 26-year-old Stanford alum would have been eligible for arbitration following the 2018 season and free agency after the 2021 season. The deal announced Monday calls for a $2 million signing bonus, salaries of $1 million each in of the first two years, $7 million apiece in 2018 and ’19 and $7.25 million in each of the next two years. The Cardinals have a $15 million option for 2023 with a $1 million buyout, and the option price could escalate to $18 million.

Excluding players who had professional experience in Cuba and Japan, he is just the third with fewer than 1,000 majorleague plate appearances to sign a big-league contract worth more than $30 million, after Ryan Braun and Jedd Gyorko.

Piscotty had agreed in February to a one-year deal paying $560,400 in the major leagues and $256,250 in the minors.

He made his debut for St. Louis in 2015 and finished sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting after hitting .305 in 63 games. He had 22 homers and 85 RBIs in 153 games last year. Selig’s pitch: Bud Selig, the former commissioner and former owner of the Brewers, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Milwaukee’s opener against Colorado.

Winding up from about 10 feet in front of the mound, the 82year-old right-hander threw a ball high and outside to honorary catcher Mark Attanasio, who bought the team from Selig’s family in 2005.

“Bud’s got this kind of changeup,” Attanasio said with a smile.

The Brewers have honored Selig with a bronze statue in front of Miller Park, along with an interactive exhibit at the stadium that chronicles Selig’s efforts to bring baseball back to Milwaukee. Selig will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer. Small world: A record 29.8 percent of major-leaguers at the start of the season were born outside the 50 states, topping the previous high of 29.2 percent in 2005.

The Dominican Republic led with 93 players, followed by Venezuela (77) and Cuba (23), the commissioner’s office said. Venezuela topped its previous high of 66 in 2012 and Cuba matched its most, set last year.

Puerto Rico was fourth at 16, followed by Mexico (nine), Japan (eight), Canada (six), South Korea (four), Curacao and Nicaragua (four each), Panama (three), and Australia, Brazil and Colombia (two apiece). Aruba, Germany, Netherlands, Taiwan and the U.S. Virgin Islands had one each.