The Stassi

[WicketMaiden]

Have we seen enough to say this guy is a legit top of the line catcher on both sides of the ball yet? 

Max Stassi:

2020 - 105 Plate Appearances - .278/.352/.533 .886 OPS; 134 OPS+; 1 error; .996 Fld%; 1bWAR

2021 -  49 Plate Appearances - .318/.388/.568 .956 OPS; 159 OPS+; 2 errors; .987 Fld%; 0.6 bWAR

I haven't got pitch framing data (maybe @Inside Pitch could point me in the right direction) but according to reports he's been elite at that too.

The most encouraging sign for me is how quickly the guy has been raking after returning from the DL - no 6 game slow crank up to competence, not for Stassi, this guy came with a steaming hot bat. Small samples sizes above, but all the signs look great to me. 

[Stradling]

Of guys that could be traded that are on the big league team Stassi would bring back the most in a trade if you don’t include Ohtani since he won’t be moved. 

[Inside Pitch]

Here you go

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/catcher_framing?year=2021&team=&min=q&sort=4,1

[Angelsjunky]

35 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Of guys that could be traded that are on the big league team Stassi would bring back the most in a trade if you don’t include Ohtani since he won’t be moved. 

I actually think that Raisel has the most trade value, at least among those that are most likely to be moved.

The Angels haven't had a good regular catcher since Bengie Molina, so you don't want to trade Stassi. He's now hit .291/.364/.545 and 10 HR in 47 games over the last two seasons. That's starting to look legit. If he can stay healthy and, even if his numbers drop a bit, he could be a borderline top 5 catcher.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Angelsjunky

[UndertheHalo]

Billy Eppler getting fired might end up being one of the more powerful big dumb ass moves that Arte makes in his tenure as king of the Angels. 

[Vlad27Trout27]

Stassi if he can produce, is the biggest trade chip we may have. He's still is under contract for one more year and providing to be one of the better catchers in the game! 

[Taylor]

Because of this thread, he'll hit .200 with a .650 OPS for the next month.

[Taylor]

But yes, he's been legit. A great pickup.

[Vlad27Trout27]

I think we should try to lock Stassi up for cheap if we can. 

[WicketMaiden]

19 minutes ago, Taylor said:

Because of this thread, he'll hit .200 with a .650 OPS for the next month.

I did my best to downplay the potential jinxiness of the thread by asking if he is legit, rather than claiming that he actually is. Hopefully the gods noticed that. 

[happybat4]

25 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

I actually think that Raisel has the most trade value, at least among those that are most likely to be moved.

The Angels haven't had a good regular catcher since Bengie Molina, so you don't want to trade Stassi. He's now hit .291/.364/.545 and 10 HR in 47 games over the last two seasons. That's starting to look legit. If he can stay healthy and, even if his numbers drop a bit, he could be a borderline top 5 catcher.

Ianetta was just as good as Molina. I think Molina was a bit over rated. Look at his WAR, nothing special.

[UndertheHalo]

22 minutes ago, Vlad27Trout27 said:

Stassi if he can produce, is the biggest trade chip we may have. He's still is under contract for one more year and providing to be one of the better catchers in the game! 

If they trade who do we figure is going to be the catcher ? You know.  Next year ? The year after ? The Angels don’t have any catching prospects.  Presumably with Ohtani, Trout and Rendon the idea is to win now.  Trading Stassi would be incoherent.  Which makes sense I guess. 

[T.G.]

34 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

The Angels haven't had a good regular catcher since Bengie Molina

[Mark PT]

32 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

Billy Eppler getting fired might end up being one of the more powerful big dumb ass moves that Arte makes in his tenure as king of the Angels. 

the key phrase here is "one of the..."

[Taylor]

18 minutes ago, WicketMaiden said:

I did my best to downplay the potential jinxiness of the thread by asking if he is legit, rather than claiming that he actually is. Hopefully the gods noticed that. 

As long as you're not a Bernie bro living in the Northeast, the gods will mostly leave you alone. I appreciate you being careful.

[angelsnationtalk]

1 hour ago, WicketMaiden said:

Have we seen enough to say this guy is a legit top of the line catcher on both sides of the ball yet? 

Max Stassi:

2020 - 105 Plate Appearances - .278/.352/.533 .886 OPS; 134 OPS+; 1 error; .996 Fld%; 1bWAR

2021 -  49 Plate Appearances - .318/.388/.568 .956 OPS; 159 OPS+; 2 errors; .987 Fld%; 0.6 bWAR

I haven't got pitch framing data (maybe @Inside Pitch could point me in the right direction) but according to reports he's been elite at that too.

The most encouraging sign for me is how quickly the guy has been raking after returning from the DL - no 6 game slow crank up to competence, not for Stassi, this guy came with a steaming hot bat. Small samples sizes above, but all the signs look great to me. 

2019 (Angels) 49 PA hit .103....

But jokes aside, the dude has been terrific. Great catcher with a hot bat right now. Arb 3 year in 2022 but should be an extension candidate. 

[totdprods]

I’m not 100% convinced yet - Stassi’s 2021 is still a really small sample size, but the consistency in which he’s been producing has been really encouraging.

I’ve made this point a couple times, but his 2020 season wasn’t nearly as impressive as the counting stats implied...off top of my head, he crushed the Mariners in back to back aeries a week apart and had a 2 HR game against the Padres, and the other 85% of the season he was pretty putrid offensively, about the same as he was in 2019.

The frequency of his injuries is concerning too, but what’s he done on both sides of the ball this year do have me thinking he’s turned a corner. Not sure his ceiling is as high as he’s showing - but even a .250/.330/.450 type seems in reach and would be huge. 

I’m not advocating it, but I could also see him being involved in a deal *for* a catcher, such as Contreras. 

[Stradling]

34 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

I actually think that Raisel has the most trade value, at least among those that are most likely to be moved.

The Angels haven't had a good regular catcher since Bengie Molina, so you don't want to trade Stassi. He's now hit .291/.364/.545 and 10 HR in 47 games over the last two seasons. That's starting to look legit. If he can stay healthy and, even if his numbers drop a bit, he could be a borderline top 5 catcher.

Yea, I wouldn’t trade Stassi, but I would certainly listen.  I totally get what you are saying about Raisel, but one year of control versus two years is a huge difference.  

[Make Angels Great Again]

18 minutes ago, totdprods said:

I’m not 100% convinced yet - Stassi’s 2021 is still a really small sample size, but the consistency in which he’s been producing has been really encouraging.

I’ve made this point a couple times, but his 2020 season wasn’t nearly as impressive as the counting stats implied...off top of my head, he crushed the Mariners in back to back aeries a week apart and had a 2 HR game against the Padres, and the other 85% of the season he was pretty putrid offensively, about the same as he was in 2019.

The frequency of his injuries is concerning too, but what’s he done on both sides of the ball this year do have me thinking he’s turned a corner. Not sure his ceiling is as high as he’s showing - but even a .250/.330/.450 type seems in reach and would be huge. 

I’m not advocating it, but I could also see him being involved in a deal *for* a catcher, such as Contreras. 

 

That's not necessarily true. If you take out his first 9 games of the season, which includes his 4 home runs against seattle he hit .261/.338/.420. Can't take out his 2 homer game because that's just not really being honest at that point.

 

He had a legit good, albert short season last year. Can't really take out all his good games and say "well he's really not all that good."

[totdprods]

18 minutes ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

 

That's not necessarily true. If you take out his first 9 games of the season, which includes his 4 home runs against seattle he hit .261/.338/.420. Can't take out his 2 homer game because that's just not really being honest at that point.

 

He had a legit good, albert short season last year. Can't really take out all his good games and say "well he's really not all that good."

The sample size is just way too small any way you slice 2020 for me to be convinced, otherwise I would totally agree with your logic. 

Take out those first 9 games and you have 22 G/80 PA for that line you mentioned. Any fringe MLB likely has a good 80-PA stretch that isn’t indicative of long-term success (or failure). Max’s 4-4 2 HR game greatly inflates that line because the sample is so small. Between those 9 games and his 4-4 game, he hit .228/.324/.298/.622 in 19 G and 68 PA - solid for a back-up but hardly a breakout.

I get that stats can be cherry picked like crazy and a small sample like 2020 makes that so, but simply looking at Max’s daily game lines shows last year he had a couple really solid stints surrounded by nothing too amazing. It’s not an indictment - he is showing this year that he’s producing on a series-by-series basis much more as opposed to a couple big games here and there. Just a reason why I didn’t buy last year 100%. His consistency this year is changing that.

[Chuck]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

Yea, I wouldn’t trade Stassi, but I would certainly listen.  I totally get what you are saying about Raisel, but one year of control versus two years is a huge difference.  

While my preference is to keep "The Stassi" if that's what we're calling him now.... I would trade him in a heartbeat if it netted us a catching and pitching prospect in the top 100 prospects list. 

[failos]

2 hours ago, UndertheHalo said:

Billy Eppler getting fired might end up being one of the more powerful big dumb ass moves that Arte makes in his tenure as king of the Angels. 

Minasian hasn’t impressed me, but Eppler deserved to get fired.
 

Seeing Kyle Bradish dominate in AAA makes me want to cry.

[T.G.]

4 minutes ago, foolios said:

Seeing Kyle Bradish dominate in AAA makes me want to cry.

There's no crying in baseball 

[failos]

2 minutes ago, True Grich said:

There's no crying in baseball 

[Blarg]

2 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

Here you go

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/catcher_framing?year=2021&team=&min=q&sort=4,1

His defense is above league average but his bat is elite for a catcher. He will get paid when he hits free agency if he stays at this level of production for the year. Like Realmuto paid.