White Sox general manager Chris Getz and the rest of the front office have decisions looming over a pair of club options this offseason. Third baseman Yoan Moncada has a $25 million option with a $5 million buyout while catcher Max Stassi has a $7.5 million club option with a $500,000 buyout.
Yoan Moncada
Not picking up Moncada’s option seems like a foregone conclusion. The team already showed its hand late in the season when the interim manager said he would prioritize giving Bryan Ramos and Miguel Vargas playing time over Moncada. The reasoning was simple. Ramos and Vargas could play a future role with the team. Moncada will not.
Declining Moncada’s option marks the end of the era for the White Sox. Moncada was considered the number-one prospect in baseball and a beacon of hope for a fan base desperate for a winner. When the White Sox traded Chris Sale for a massive haul of prospects that included Moncada and Michael Kopech it seemed like the right foundation was being laid for long-term success. His 2019 season where he reached career highs in home runs (25), RBIs (79), and batting average (.315) serves as a reminder of what could have been.
Unfortunately, his tenure turned out to be an utter disappointment. During his eight seasons on the South Side, he slashed .254/.332/.425 with 93 home runs, 338 RBIs, and a 28.8 percent strikeout rate. Moncada is going to struggle to find anywhere near $25 million on the open market given that he has played in just 738 games during his eight seasons in Chicago. This past season he appeared in just 12 games after suffering an abductor strain in April. If appearing in just 62 percent of games isn’t bad enough the time he has been on the field has been massively underwhelming. Moncada has delivered just one season of 20-plus home runs and has yet to drive in more than 79 RBIs.
Max Stassi
Stassi’s option decision should also not be complicated. Getz added Stassi this offseason and cash considerations in exchange for a player to be named later in a trade with the Atlanta Braves. At the time the club had yet to sign Martin Maldonado and the catching position was a clear need. The Braves sent the White Sox $6.26 million, meaning the front office only had to pay a minimum of $740,000 for Stassi’s services this past season.
It’s a good thing that the Braves covered the bulk of Stassi’s contract because the 5-foot-10 catcher did not appear in a game for the White Sox. He also only appeared in five games for Triple-A Charlotte. For a White Sox team that already has Edgar Quero in the pipeline and Korey Lee at the big-league level, keeping Stassi around does not make much sense.
The 2024 season marks the second consecutive season Stassi hasn’t appeared in an MLB game. He missed the entire 2023 season due to injury and family reasons. It’s fair to wonder how much rust there would be for a catcher that would cost the White Sox $7.5 million.
The 33-year-old catcher is also a liability at the plate. He is a career .212 hitter with a .656 OPS and 80 OPS+. In 2022 he ranked in the bottom three percent in the league in expected Slugging Percentage (.325), weighted On-Base Average(.258), and expected weight On Base Average (.266). He also ranked in the bottom six percent in expected Batting Average (.180) and bottom eight percent in strikeout percentage (29.9).
His high strikeout rate has been a concern throughout his career. In 2021 Stassi owned a 31.7 strikeout percentage. For his career, he owns a 29.5% mark. Stassi does have good plate discipline. In 2022 his 10.1 walk rate which was good enough to put him in the MLB’s top 75th percentile. He also does not chase many pitches out of the zone. His 21.1% chase rate ranked amongst baseball’s 91st percentile in 2022.
What Stassi lacks on offense he makes up for with his defense. From 2018 to 2022, Stassi owned the second-best frame rate in baseball, according to FanGraphs. Those numbers are thanks in part to his 2018 and 2021 campaigns. In 2018 he ranked in the MLB’s 97th percentile and in 2021 he ranked in the 92nd percentile. However, in 2022 he was only slightly above the league average. Even with the down year, his framing ability could benefit some of the younger arms that joined the White Sox rotation. Stassi also owns the third most Defensive Runs Saved (24) for catchers between 2018-2022 and had the fifth-best overall defensive rating (55.4) However, that alone is not enough to justify the cost.
