The journey back into professional baseball for Yuba City High School product Max Stassi may begin with the San Francisco Giants’ farm system.
Although it had not been announced by the Giants as a transaction on their official website, a Bay Area sports website, BVMSports, reported Sunday evening that the Giants signed the 33-year-old free agent catcher to a minor-league deal.
Stassi, who has not played in the majors in over two years due to personal and health challenges, would provide catching depth behind Giants catchers Patrick Bailey and Tom Murphy – a move aimed to try and prevent the depth issues that San Francisco experienced last season, according to BVMSports.
Stassi’s career batting line includes a career average of .212 with an on-base percentage of .295 and on-base plus slugging line of just over .650. He was the American League Player of the Week in June of 2021.
He has more than 1,100 at-bats in the majors. Drafted out of high school by Oakland, he debuted with the Houston Astros in 2013. He was traded to the Angels in 2019, spending four seasons in Anaheim, where he caught Shohei Ohtani before the superstar became a Dodger.
Max missed the last two seasons of major league baseball due to injury and a complication with the birth of his son, Jackson, prior to his last season with the Angels. He was traded to Chicago, but missed the entire season due to injury.
Stassi’s best trait has always been his defensive prowess and by the numbers according to BVMSports, the former Honker has recorded +26 defensive runs saved and +20 outs above average throughout his stay in the MLB.
The Giants will likely assess Stassi’s performance in the minors to determine if he can fill a role on the major league roster in 2025, BVM reported. He has yet to be assigned to a minor league roster, according to BVMSports.
Stassi jumped to the big leagues straight from high school where he was a four-year varsity star for the Honkers, accumulating a career .514 batting average, 170 hits, 40 home runs, 43 doubles, 10 triples, 162 RBIs and scored 176 times in 121 games, according to MaxPreps.com.
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