Jacob Stallings couldn't conceivably be anyone's building block for a franchise that's been blown up to the core.
Right?
I mean, he's 31, he's an overaged overachiever, he might be able to sneak through Market Square without being stopped for his autograph, and he's ... hey, he's old. Meaning he's old in the context of Ben Cherington's ongoing construction of the Pirates. Because Ke'Bryan Hayes, the centerpiece, is 24. Because Bryan Reynolds, riding the sweet sidecar, is 26. And chiefly because the bulk of the system's brighter prospects are still Greensboro Grasshoppers.
Between that and waiting on the college or high school kid get picked first overall in the Major League Baseball Draft next month, we might be talking about 2023 before any of this adds up to even fantasizing about contention.
And yet ...
... as I watched the man dutifully go about his business, against that beautiful Downtown backdrop on this balmy Tuesday afternoon that saw reporters allowed back on the field for batting practice for the first time, I couldn't help but think that Stallings really, really needs to stick around.
As in, Cherington needs to keep him off the trade block -- within reason, unless floored by an offer -- and, from there, entertain offering a multiyear extension.
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Why?
Because Stallings is a real-life catcher in an organization that's utterly bankrupt at the position.
Because he's not only exemplified how to go about his business but also excelled at it.
Because, even though his rights are held through arbitration the next three years, there might be a payroll savings in guaranteeing three years and/or assuming a year or two of his free-agency time. He's currently at $1.3 million, and that'll leap exponentially this winter via arbitration. This is when to do it.
Oh, and because ... man, he'd represent an awesome anchor.
As this column's being written, after the Pirates' 5-3 loss to the Dodgers at PNC Park, he's the sport's premier defensive catcher as measured by FanGraphs' all-encompassing runs saved metric, edging out Cleveland's Austin Hedges with a 5.5 rating. And it's hardly some anomaly: He ranked 11th in 2019, improved to fifth in 2020, and now he's the best of the best.
Offensively, the trajectory is similar, which is all the more impressive considering not much had been projected for Stallings' bat at any level of the minors: After going 0 for 4 in this game, he's currently slashing .236/.331/.405 for a .737 OPS that ranks 11th among all catchers. His 25 RBIs rank fourth, his four home runs 12th.
And this is someone who didn't start in the bigs until he was 29 and who, upon arrival two years earlier, was little more than a sappy story as the son of then-Pitt hoops coach Kevin Stallings who was finally getting his Andy Warhol time. He's come a long way from that cameo.
More than I've described, actually.
I asked Derek Shelton on this day to try to sum up how much Stallings means to the team away from the field, and I loved the reply: "I think the one thing he brings ... coaches' kids grow up differently. They grow up in a different environment. They have a really good ability to read situations, read rooms, and sometimes counter-balance them, whether that's good or bad. And I think he has that because of that environment he grew up in."
Shelton loves him. As do the rest of Stallings' coaches and teammates, especially the pitchers he's always bailing out with his framing, blocking and game-calling.
So he'd bring stability to a process that'll surely be lacking that along the way. He'd bring a deep, rich understanding of what Oscar Marin and the organization's pitching coaches are preaching at all levels. He'd be a bridge, basically.
Now, Cherington's got a policy against discussing players' trade or contract statuses with the media, and he prefers not to discuss contracts with players or agents, either, until January or February. But I'm told here by one high-placed source that it's at least possible that Stallings could stay to help solidify both the team's present and future, though it wasn't clear if that was a reference to keeping Stallings through the trade deadline or keeping him longer-term.
Being that this would have to be a two-way street, I spoke one-on-one with Stallings after that BP session, and I asked if he'd be in favor of seeing this build through.
"I mean, I love playing here," Stallings began with a smile, visibly aware I was asking about a contract. "I love being on this team. I'd love to be here. You know, I think we're heading in the right direction. Ke'Bryan's a pretty special player, and you can see the impact he's made on our team already since he's been back."
He's pretty special, all right. Made a most unfortunate mistake in the first inning on this night -- missed first base to nullify a home run -- then came back and smoked the ball every other time up. Anyone ripping him over the mistake knows nothing about him and, before long, once he keeps showing everyone who he really is, will deny ever having done so. Mark my words on that.
But back to Stallings.
"Look, I know we've got a lot of young players here, and we've got a lot of young guys coming," he continued. "But obviously, yeah, it's something I'd love to be part of. Any day that I get to put on a big-league uniform, I'm grateful for it. So ..."
His eyebrows rose up playfully.
"... so hey, if I get to be part of that, I get to be in a big-league uniform."
There's false modesty and just plain modesty. Trust me, this was the latter. This is one big-leaguer who never allows himself to forget it took seven years and 1,735 minor-league at-bats to become that.
"No, I'd be thrilled to be here. I would," he wrapped up. "I love Shelty and Ben and the staff. I think they're all doing a really good job. They're smart. They know what they're doing. I'd love to be part of it. I love playing here."
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What's not to love about this?
Better question, probably: What's the window in which Stallings would fit?
Best answer, probably: Every single time Hayes takes a cut.
See, that's where this all starts getting a little strange. Because this team won't contend for anything without significant starting pitching. And that's not around the corner. For every occasion on which JT Brubaker looks as sharp and poised as he did for the early part of this game against the Dodgers' billion-dollar bats, there's a Mitch Keller good/bad start to remind how far off that really is. For every Roansy Contreras gem in Altoona, there's a Miguel Yajure elbow injury to remind how fragile this facet really is.
That's why Cherington's approach -- quantity to go with quality -- needed to be put in place, oh, 20 or 30 years ago, once baseball's economics were already on their way to the absurd imbalance that exists today. Cam Bonifay, Dave Littlefield and Neal Huntington all needed to be loading up the system, and they needed to do so without cutting corners.
They did no such thing, of course. Bonifay bailed at the first sign of a Freak Show. Littlefield ... yikes, I still can't put into words everything he did wrong. And Huntington opened his tenure by trading Jason Bay, Xavier Nady and others for mediocre, maybe-ready-for-the-majors types, mostly out of fear. He borrowed the same mold for the giveaway of Gerrit Cole. And coupled with an inability to acquire/develop talent internally, he eventually bombed so badly that Bob Nutting was finally, finally forced to fire everyone.
Cherington's doing it unlike any of them, which is why I bristle when I hear anyone suggest this is part of some broader spin cycle. That's insane. This is nothing like what any of the predecessors tried. He's amassing higher-ceiling, higher-risk types in the lower minors with a goal of watching the quantity/quality sort itself through competition rising up through the ranks.
He's no pioneer, by the way. This is the Tampa Bay formula. Others have done it. And it works when accompanied by deft execution.
He needs to stick to it. And I'm absolutely not advocating to the contrary.
If Adam Frazier gets traded for a fair return in prospects for the majors' leader in hits, I'm there for it.
If Richard Rodriguez gets traded for a fair return in prospects for one of the majors' hottest closers, I'm there for it.
Because that quantity/quality count isn't there yet. Even with FanGraphs' prospect rankings now assessing the Pirates as having more legit prospects in the minors capable of reaching the majors -- 51 in all -- that doesn't offset that so many of them are in Class A or lower and, thus, remain riskier than if there were more populating Class AAA Indianapolis. For this to work, there's got to be players trying to push each other off nearly every rung on the ladder.
My stance on Stallings is that he can help that by staying more than by whatever trade return would come. That he's more valuable to Pittsburgh than he'd be to another team. He'd be that anchor, that rock, that stability at the position of greatest all-around resonance.
