Nice dilemma for Stassi

Max Stassi walked through the door to the Happy Viking restaurant and was met with hugs, high-fives and an Oakland A's hat.

Digital cameras flashed, people cheered and a wide smile appeared on the face of the catching standout, whose named was called by the Bay Area ballclub at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.

"It's awesome to get picked," said Stassi. "I'm happy to get picked by Oakland. They're a West Coast organization and a good team that builds their players from within. I'm excited to get started."

Stassi was drafted by the A's with the 123rd overall pick in the MLB First-Year Player Draft. The fourth-round selection ended a tumultuous 36-hour period for the Stassi family as Max — who was projected to be a first-round pick leading up to the draft — was not one of the 111 players selected in the first three rounds on Tuesday.

His name not being called stemmed from signability issues. The Stassis wanted "top-20" money to lure the 18-year-old away from his full ride at UCLA and into the pros, his father and high school coach Jim Stassi said.

On the first day of the draft, many organizations — including the Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers — were only prepared to offer the former Yuba City High backstop slot money, which is a set amount based on estimates of a player's worth in relation to where they are selected in the draft.

But even after the third round had ended, Jim Stassi's phone did not stop ringing, he said. Last evening, the father and the family's adviser from Legacy Sports conversed with the Red Sox, Devil Rays and Oakland, who all showed interest in taking Stassi on the second day.

It was the A's that made the decision to go with the three-time Appeal-Democrat All-Area MVP, who hit .538 with 11 home runs and 38 RBIs as a senior to lead the Honkers to a third straight Sac-Joaquin Section Division III title.

Now, it remains to be seen whether Oakland can work out a deal for the 5-foot-10, 205-pound Stassi, who still has not officially ruled out academics over minor league ball.

"We are going to get the money we want no matter how long it takes," said Max Stassi, who has until August 17 to make a decision on whether he will take the college or professional route. "It's going to take awhile to reach an agreement on what we're looking for and then we will get playing."

Jim Stassi, along with the adviser, informed the A's of their salary desires before they selected Max, who was ranked the No. 30 overall player by Baseball America entering the draft. And the Yuba City High baseball coach is feeling positive.

"There's no question Max is relieved, but he's excited how it turned out. We feel good about it," said Jim Stassi, who declined to discuss salary specifics. "They (the A's) knew what the deal was (Tuesday) night. The ball is pretty much in their court. They know what it's going to take. They could get it done sooner or later or if at all."

And it seems as if the interest from the A's is genuine.

"We just felt like the opportunity to get a first-round talent was worth whatever risk was involved," A's scouting director Eric Kubota told MLB.com Wednesday evening. "I think we have a very good chance of getting him. ... He's the best high school catcher I've ever scouted."

Wednesday's celebration at the Plumas Street sports bar was in stark contrast to Tuesday's tense draft-viewing gathering at the Stassi house. More than 100 family, friends, teammates and members of the community turned out Wednesday to show support for Stassi, who lounged at a table next to a massive Oakland A's cake with the words "Congratulations Max" written in frosting.

"This is what we had in mind from the beginning," said a relaxed looking Jim Stassi. "We kind of knew it wasn't going to work out yesterday."

His son, who had already straightened out the bill on his newest piece of headwear, agrees.

"It's great to see everyone," he said. "I'm definitely blessed to be here with these people."