The Giants have designated catcher Joey Bart for assignment, thus creating 26-man and 40-man roster space for Daulton Jefferies, whose contract selection was reported yesterday.
The move likely marks the end of Bart’s time in San Francisco, which began with great fanfare when the Giants selected the backstop with the second overall pick of the 2018 draft. Widely considered a top-tier prospect coming out of Georgia Tech, getting drafted by the Giants added another layer of expectation onto Bart since he was now viewed as the heir apparent to franchise legend Buster Posey.
Bart continued to place in top-100 prospect rankings as recently as 2022, yet after posting solid numbers in his first two pro seasons, the catcher was promoted to the majors in 2020 without any Triple-A time. The lack of a minor league season in 2020 obviously kept Bart from any more minor league seasoning, but even though the Giants clearly liked what they saw of Bart at their alternate training site, he didn’t look ready for the Show while hitting .233/.288/.320 over his first 111 MLB plate appearances.
Posey’s decision to opt out of the 2020 season left a hole for the Giants at the catching position, but he returned with spectacular numbers in 2021 in what ended up being the twelfth and final season of his Cooperstown-worthy career. Bart played in only two games in the majors in 2021 but still couldn’t seize the job with Posey retired, as Bart hit .215/.296/.364 in 291 PA in 2022. Injuries further hampered Bart in 2023 as he struggled to a .528 OPS over 95 PA in the majors, and Patrick Bailey’s ascension to the starting catcher role essentially served as the writing on the wall for Bart’s chances of sticking in San Francisco.
Trade speculation has followed Bart for well over a year, though since Bart is now out of minor league options, teams might have been waiting to force the Giants’ hand with a DFA rather than work out a trade. It doesn’t seem likely that Bart will pass through waivers without a claim, and it’s possible he might not even end up far outside San Francisco — NBC Sports Bay Area’s Taylor Wirth reports that the Athletics are among the many teams who have scouted Bart.
Now 27 years old, Bart has a career .219/.288/.335 slash line over 503 PA in the Show, and a .274/.357/.434 slash over 554 Triple-A plate appearances. Those minor league numbers are actually a little underwhelming, considering how Bart played in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Bart has also struck out 28.34% of the time in Triple-A, as he has yet to figure out how to make either consistent contact or quality contact against even minor league pitching, let alone MLB hurlers.
With this in mind, it is far from certain that Bart might enjoy a post-hype breakout with a change of scenery. Simply sticking as a big league regular would be a good outcome given how inconsistent Bart’s pro career has been, but given his prospect pedigree, he’ll certainly get some kind of opportunity from one of the many teams in need of catching depth.
SweetBabyRayKingsThickThighs
End of an era
Shadow Banned
D’oh!
bhambrave
End of an error?
MLB Top 100 Commenter
To A’s or Rays
Jean Matrac
A’s, because the[r pick will have priority over the Rays.
Poolhalljunkies
A’s have two really talented young catchers already
Jean Matrac
Poolhalljunkies, So why are the A’s scouting him?
sadmarinersfan
Yeah but they have Soderstrom in AAA
Poolhalljunkies
Jean Martrac, i have no idea..thier interest makes no sense to.me..perhaps you have some thoughts?..they have langoliers former braves top catching prospect starting who they aquired in the murphy deal..and they also have sodorstrom…do you think they would use bart as a backup since they cant option him?
stymeedone
Due diligence. Probably most teams have scouted him. Doesn’t mean they liked what they saw.
Jean Matrac
Poolhalljunkies, Every team has their own assessment of every ballplayer out there. Maybe the A’s like Bart, and think there’s still some upside. I like Langeliers, but he hasn’t really hit much.
And they can’t count on Soderstrom. He could fail at the ML level just like Bart has. In fact, Bart’s and Soderstrom’s MiL stats are very similar, only a difference of 19 points of OPS. Soderstrom’s had more HRs, but Bart got on base more.
larkraxm
I’m sure that SF let everyone know that he was available and attempted to find a trade before finally deciding to DFA him. I’m sure lots of teams sent a scout to see what the deal was.
sacball
technically 3
Poolhalljunkies
I dont think you can really compare them currently as there is 5 year age differnce , sodorstrom is 22 this year with alot of potential upside in front of him…bart is 27 and should be in his prime as a player..unless you think hes a late bloomer
Jean Matrac
Statistically catchers have the latest development age of any position. So Bart is not too old to be productive, but that’s irrelevant in regard to Soderstrom.
Their current ages are misleading. Bart played 264 games in the MiLs, Soderstrom 270. Most of Bart’s MiL career, almost 200 games, came between the ages of 21 to 24. Soderstrom’s came between the ages of 19 to 22.
Compare their age 21 seasons. Bart played 51 games and had an OPS of .952. Soderstrom played 77 games with an OPS of .834.
The point was both Bart and Soderstrom had/have good MiL numbers. Whether you think they’re comparable or not, the universal truth is no prospect, even with good MiL stats, is a sure thing once they get to the MLs. Soderstrom is not a sure thing.
Poolhalljunkies
Right, but while Soderstrom might not be a sure thing we know based on age and opportunity Bart has been a bust so far or SF would not have designated him for assignment..bottom line the former has more years to figure it out the latter will likley be out of baseball in less than 2 if he cant start to figure it out..agree Bart still could turn it around but unfortnatley time is no longer on his side
Jean Matrac
I agree completely that Bart has not shown development so far, while that same conclusion does not apply to Soderstrom.
But my point was, why would the A’s not be at all interested in Bart, who might still be productive, and instead put all their chips on Soderstrom? It’s good to have options. Bart provides an option should Soderstrom struggle like Bart has. It makes no sense to me that the A’s would say they’re not interested in Bart simply because they have Soderstrom in AAA.
selw0nk 2
Soderstrom will move to first base.
Unclemike1526
Bart will be DFA’d again by Tax Day.
Snellzilla #7
That comment didn’t age well
Poolhalljunkies
Hindsight is always 20/20
TradeAcuna
Well he is going to the BRAVES
Gwynning
*Rays
Joe says...
Pinto and Rortvedt have been pretty good for the Rays so far.
alwaysgo4two
True.. but catching is almost like pitching…seems like you can never have enough.
deej
I would not put any stock in Rortvedt’s 7 ABs lol. He was a below average hitter even in the minors.
SalaryCapMyth
You wouldn’t want him on the Braves. He has dreads. Oh wait. Sorry, wrong guy. Carry on. =D
Pickle_Britches
And he’ll probably do good like Duvall did lol
408inthe619
About time, just never worked out. He’s still young enough for a second chance
Fishfan 3
Fish will be looking to trade for cash consideration. We’ve wanted this guy for awhile now.
NYCityRiddler
Second chance at the bus station. Exact change only please! Ahahaha!
Tom the ray fan
Rays should pick him up
worthington
The A’s have first crack and he’s a better C than McCann.
luca brasi
Cleveland stole six bases off of McCann on Saturday. Bart would be an upgrade. I would not be surprised if Soderstrom is not called up in 2024; the guy can’t hit.
lee cousins
How about the Mariners?
bag o ballz
He had a good spring but too little to late. Will be interesting to see if he gets claimed and if someone is willing to roster him all year
mattwild1
he has a good spring every year.
Fishfan 3
He’d look great in teal!
Jean Matrac
No doubt he gets claimed.
Armaments216
Doubt Bart makes it to a waiver claim. Some team will jump in with an offer, at least cash or a lottery ticket.
Seamaholic
I’d guess the only way he gets claimed is by a team that immediately DFA’s him themselves, trying to be the one that gets him through waivers so he can be sent down. I can’t imagine there’s a team that wants him on their MLB roster. He just has no value beyond what’s left of his prospect cred.
LFGMets (Metsin7) #ConsistentlyBannedBaseballExpert
If I had to guess, I think the Rockies pick him up. Their team is horrendous. They need anyone they can get
hiflew
I was hoping the Rox would pick him up this past offseason, but since they got Stallings I don’t really think they need help at catcher until Drew Romo or another prospect is ready to take over.
AHH-Rox
That makes no sense unless Bart has some pitching talents I’m not aware of.
Seamaholic
Rockies hitting is way worse than their pitching. Not that Bart solves that (there’s zero chance they’ll claim him).
kylek58
This would have been perfect for the Rays before the Ben Rordverdt trade. They probably still could pick him up
angryyankeesfan1
Bart might pass through waivers because he’s out of options.
Seamaholic
This. Almost certainly, unless someone throws in a claim with the intention of immediately DFA’ing him and re-starting the cycle.
reno24
Wish they had DFAd Wisely and sent Teng back down instead
dubtastic
I agree, Wisely has not done jacksht compafed to Bart
PoisonedPens
Bart has a .7 WAR over four seasons. That’s also not jacksht.
goob
That’s not a good compafison.
sergefunction
A reply from Bofton c. 1803. By George!
Ernie Riles
They needed room on 26 man roster. Wisely on 40 but in minors
reno24
Why I also said to send Teng back to Sacramento
unpaidobserver
D’oh!
White Sox Suck (2-14, shutout 5x)
Fall from Grace
Someone will take a chance on him.
Rockies
White Sox
Unclemike1526
Hey Dinger- White Sox? You don’t know anything about the White Sox do you? They have 5 C’s with more upside than Bart. They need Bart like they need Hemorrhoids. It’s probably the only position they DON’T need.
White Sox Suck (2-14, shutout 5x)
Hi Mike
You mean Quero in AA
Hackenberg in AAA
Flores in rookie
Hernanez in rookie
Harris in A
Turner in A?
Yeah white Sox should totally not take a flier on Bart in a down year when they’re rebuilding and see if they can fix him.
Taking a chance on Bart doesn’t interfere with anyone in their farm system long term. Quero and Hackenberg could use 1 more minor league season and Hackenberg could be a near end of season call up to give him a look. Taking a chance on Bart giving him a long term look means Hackenberg and Quero can develop more without feeling the need to rush them up in event of an injury.
If he sucks they got him for free. Lost nothing and didn’t affect any long term plans.
Unclemike1526
You kind of left out Maldonado, Stassi and Korey Lee but by all means talk about nothing. The one thing Getz did was set up the young C’s with Maldonado to get to the young guys. By all means try to sell Bart. You must be related or his agent. They’ve been trying to dump him for years since they found out he’s not going to be Buster Posey. Or Posey’s jockstrap for that matter.
White Sox Suck (2-14, shutout 5x)
Martin Maldonado who’s 37?
Stassi who is 33?
Lee who batted. .077 last year?
Yeah they’re definitely in the long term plans. Totally should pass up on a young catcher and give him a shot cause of….. Maldonado, Stassi, and Lee.
Lmao I’m related or his agent cause I’m saying white Sox who currently have bad old options at c should take a free chance on a significantly younger player in a rebuilding year and if it works out great if it doesn’t he was free and they can let him go? Yeah that’s it. Nailed it.
Unclemike1526
Bart sucks and nobody wants him. Just deal with facts. There’s always Asia and Mexico. Does he speak Japanese or Korean?
White Sox Suck (2-14, shutout 5x)
So do the white Sox. Match made in heaven. AAAA player meets AAAA team.
Unclemike1526
They have a cheap owner. They’re not without talent. Unlike your hero.
stymeedone
If they only thing positive you can say about Bart, over those 3, is that he is younger, you don’t have an argument. He’s not a better hitter. He’s not a better defensive player. If the White Sox were looking for younger, they could get someone younger than Bart, and they would probably have a better chance at being successful.
Unclemike1526
He just doesn’t want to admit the Giants made a horrible pick with the 2nd pick in the draft. It was a waste of the pick. The sooner he goes to a shrink and makes peace with it the sooner he can get on with his life. Trying to peddle his misery on somebody else is sad. The Sox have enough problems, They sure don’t need somebody else’s.
White Sox Suck (2-14, shutout 5x)
K. Name 1 catcher his age or younger they can get for free.
White Sox Suck (2-14, shutout 5x)
You’re making a lot of weird random baseless accusations which really tells us your reading skills are subpar.
Me: a rebuilding team should take a chance on Bart. See if he can live up to his draft status. He’s free. White Sox blow this year might as well take a free chance.
Mike: OmG sOx HaVe CatChErS!
Me: a lot of old ones, ones many years away, few who are close and could be promoted for September in 6 months.
Mike: OmG hE sUcKs!
Me: yeah that’s why he’s free. And a change of scenery could help. Not like playing Bart is gonna make the white Sox season any worse. They’ll finish top 5 worse record with or without him.
Mike: REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE unintelligible off topic remarks due to poor reading ability.
Mike seems really angry, like his marriage is going the way the Sox season is going.
Unclemike1526
You really are a blind idiot aren’t you. LMAO.
White Sox Suck (2-14, shutout 5x)
You’re an angry miserable white Sox fan with reading comprehension issues and clearly lots of personal issues you need to sort through.
Yes your team sucks. They’ll suck are year.
Yes sucky teams take fliers on players other teams get rid of.
Your marriage is probably doomed if this is how you treat your significant other when they say thing you don’t like. You should work on that.
White Sox Suck (2-14, shutout 5x)
Yeah cheap owner, sure. Pathetic farm system. Pathetic team. White Sox blow and have for a long time.
Unclemike1526
The wife is dead and the kids are all 40 and have lives of their own and I’m 67 and way smarter than you’ll ever be. Thanks for bringing back memories. Just curious why you didn’t mention the A’s whose owner never found something for free he wouldn’t take? Or the Guardians and Royals whose owners are just as cheap as Reinsdorf. Or why the Giants were trying to peddle him all spring and couldn’t even get an A ball prospect. And now you think everyone thinks he’s going to be valuable. The best he’s ever going to see in MLB is a minor league deal from now on. But thanks again for showing you know absolutely nothing about me and even less about baseball. The Giants are lucky to have you for a fan because you’re dumb.
White Sox Suck (2-14, shutout 5x)
0-3 baby!
Unclemike1526
I guess the censor got rid of him. It’s not a bad thing because he was a moron. Yeah but it’s a good 0-3! Solid! LOL Oh they got rid of your other account. That’s it just move on to the next one. Maybe I’ll report this one and see how many you have.
YEP
Make fun of Korey Lee all you want but in 4 at bats this season he has already tied his career high in homers.
White Sox Suck (2-14, shutout 5x)
Even the A’s won on opening weekend. How do you do worse than the A’s especially against the Tigers?
lol awe did Mike get upset and flag comments. Cute.
Nope. Changed name so you see a constant reminder of how bad the Sox are this year. But that’s nothing compared to your marriage going down the drain. You should focus on that.
Not a clever name
@uncle Mike, that draft pick was pretty bad. While I don’t totally dosageee I’ve looked at this and even in hindsight it’s hard to say who would have been a better pick. Curious who out of the top 20 picks would you have taken instead of Bart with the information available at the time?
Snellzilla #7
Bart’s a good player. Better than Bailey. Farhan just wanted his own 1st round pick to be the guy. They sabotaged Bart consistently, batting him 9th with no protection behind him. For a guy with power, that kills a career
Snellzilla #7
Bart has much more power than Bailey, the stamina to play a whole season and no MLB catcher commits more errors than Bailey
JoeBrady
Snellzilla #75 hours ago
They sabotaged Bart consistently, batting him 9th with no protection behind him.
=======================
Having the #1, 2, and 3 batting behind you is pretty good protection.
Seamaholic
Catcher is VERY far from the Rockies main problem, and their roster is completely full, mostly with young guys. Zero chance.
White Sox Suck (2-14, shutout 5x)
Try him at C. Diaz and Stallings are 33 and 34 a piece. Definitely not guys preventing Rockies from giving someone like Bart a look for a couple months during a rebuilding year.
Try him at 1B. Try him in RF. Rockies aren’t set anywhere long term except at ss with Tovar’s extension so roster is full is silly. I’d definitely replace Stallings with Bart as a C/1B/COF/DH player.
Craig is in low A and Romo just started at AAA far as top catching prospects goes. Definitely not going to hurt to give Bart a chance.
JayRyder
Flop. Should have traded him.
dubtastic
For what? I’m sure they tried, especially after a good Spring
Gmen777
You really don’t think they tried? If nothing else him being on the roster the first three games proves they were trying. Teams are clearly ready to wait until he hits waivers. I think with a change of scenery he still might be able to find a path to the majors but Bailey is younger and has shown a lot more promise. Good luck Bart
Snellzilla #7
Bart is the better player overall, time will reveal that
Gmen777
For some other team maybe but not the Giants he’s had plenty of chances to show it
HiredGun23
Well that’s a fine howdy do…
southi
Roughly 500 plate appearances in the majors, I’m not convinced he is done. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if he still eventually develops into an above average starting catcher.
Snellzilla #7
I’d bet money on it. More than I would on Bailey having the stamina to play the whole season or not leading the league in errors again.
bag o ballz
Are you serious? Bailey had the highest defensive WAR of any player- not catcher, player in the majors last year and didn’t play a full season. If course he didn’t have stamina, he caught a full major league seasons worth of games on the fly after never doing that in the minors- there is a reason that normally that doesn’t happen with rookies, it takes a year or two to adjust to the workload
Seamaholic
Why on earth would you think that? At this point the ONLY thing in his favor is how good he was in college. That was seven years ago. He’s toast and the most likely thing is he’ll be out of baseball in a couple years.
Snellzilla #7
Now he’s the #1 catcher and cleanup hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates. And Bailey is proving he can’t hit or play a whole season. Just goes to show…
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
Wasn’t he once considered to be one of the Giants top prospects?
Candlestoked
Not since new FO joined the club.
Snellzilla #7
Farhan and Kapler intentionally sabotaged him, because they wanted their own 1st round pick to be the guy.
bag o ballz
God you are dumb. Do you really think Farhan had a secret plan to make a player that they needed to step up strike out 60% of the time
JoeBrady
Yup, that’s what GMs do. They sabotage as many players as possible in order to get fired.
sfjackcoke
The scouting report on him was his floor was a backup catcher based on glove and power. He was power over hit and could he hit enough to get to the power and approach his ceiling. He never got off his floor in SF, he was rushed due to injury at MLB level and then had injuries of his own in the minors.
ATL would be a homecoming however it’s tough for catcher’s to be traded intra-season due to their unfamiliarity with staffs. Ex Giant Chadwick Tromp is now the back up in ATL after Murphy’s injury and has been with the organization for some time.
I suspect he wasn’t moved earlier because other teams saw the SFG roster crunch and preferred to wait until he was DFA’s for leverage in trade talks. If you look around MLB you’d be hard pressed to find 29 backups C’s who have Bart’s possible ceiling.
If he doesn’t get traded it’s because SFG deem the offer to “nominal” and instead allow the player to be become a free agent.. That said I see a lottery ticket type of return, Low A pitcher who projects as a RP with 95+ FB who can’t spin anything with 45 control.
JackStrawb
@sfjackcoke And he’s pretty much a backup catcher already, on an ordinary club, about 1 WAR over a full season, probably still with some upside.
A little bit of a platoon edge from the better side, still pre-arb, and should be cheap at arb 1 even after a pretty good 2024.
I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t net a minor leaguer in the range you imply.
Seamaholic
Why would anyone trade something for him when they can get him as a waiver claim? Dude’s been very publicly available since 18 months ago.
sfjackcoke
Because a team could be down the waiver list and this allows them to jump to the front of the line. Has he been available for 18 months? I don’t believe that’s the case, I think SF would have loved for him to grab the job like Bailey did last summer but that didn’t happen.
He became available when Murphy was signed but as an organization you just don’t dump assets you can control because C can and do get hurt quite often. They are here now because he’s out of options and SFG needed a 26 man spot..
FWIW he’s not a bust, busts are 1st rounders who don’t get out of high A. It’s more common than you think for MLB draft pics.
SFBay314
Bart, Wiseman, and Lance.
Bay Area busts for the ages
AHH-Rox
For those of us old enough to remember, Chris Washburn.
hiflew
If we are talking Warriors busts, we could be here all day. Before Curry and Klay, the Warriors were one of the worst drafting teams in NBA history. Patrick O’Bryant. Ike Diogu. Taking Vince Carter and immediately trading him and picks for Antawn Jamison. Joe Smith at #1 overall ahead of several All Stars including Kevin Garnett. And the classic taking of Todd Fuller two picks before Kobe Bryant.and four picks before local standout Steve Nash.
luca brasi
When you talk about bad draft picks for the bay area teams, nobody comes close to being as bad as JaMarcus Russell. The Raiders screwed the pooch on that one. Coming in second was warrior draft pick Joe Barry Carrol.
CALgoldenBears
Don’t forget picking Penny Hardaway and then trading him for Chris Webber and 3 – 1st rounders. Then when Webber cried about being with the Warriors (yes I typed the word cried), he gets traded to Gugliata (sp?).
Take that all those bandwagon Warrior fans.
hiflew
In fairness, they did get 3 first rounders back, including two of the exact same picks they traded to Orlando. Of course those two picks ended up being Todd Fuller (picked over Kobe) and Vince Carter (immediately traded away), so maybe they shouldn’t get credit. Ah the circle of life.
AHH-Rox
Joe Barry was a good player, only seen as a disappointment because he was first overall pick. Not the level of bust of top-10 picks Washburn and Russell Cross.
Agree with you that JaMarcus Russell needs to be at the top of that list.
rb305
Adonal Foyle is one of my favorite busts in Warriors history. The Raiders (while in Oakland) have the most hilariously bad draft history in the last 3 decades.
hiflew
That’s how bad the Warriors have been at drafting. Adonal Foyle was one their better picks from like 1991-2011. The guy had a 12 year NBA career. Not an All Star by any means, but he was a very good shot blocker. His problem was everything else required of a basketball player.
Edp007
The B in Joey’s name , just like his report card , quickly became an F
Candlestoked
I’ll have to try to remember that one, Ed Poo!
briar-patch thatcher
2nd Overall….You can’t miss that high up in the draft. Unacceptable. The Giants really were Bochy and Posey for a 5 year period.
Jean Matrac
briar-patch thatcher, Normally, that’s true, except that 2018 draft class was about the worst one in decades. And every draft has some high picks not develop. It happens to every team. it will be hard to do worse than the Astros did missing on two #1 overall picks over a 3 year span.
Bart Harley Jarvis
Yeah, the entirety of the 2018 MLB draft was a real shat sindwich.
joec 3
Although you’re kinda right about Houston, not signing the one guy netted them Bregman the following draft with the comp pick. So it kinda worked out
Rays in the Bay
What about drafting Kyler Murray with the 9th overall pick? I’d say that’s more embarrassing.
agnes gooch
Bart was drafted by Bobby Evans, this along with other bad decisions is why he was fired and Zaidi was hired.
Snellzilla #7
Bart wasn’t a mistake, the dude’s good. Farhan just wanted his own 1st round pick to be the guy. We saw how ‘compassionate and kind’ Farhan really is, with JD Davis, Crawford, Madbum, Panda, Renel, ect.
bag o ballz
Damn your takes her worse and worse, Farhan had nothing to do with renel- her bosses are ballpark ops that Farhan has nothing to do with and this spring Pablo struck out in 80% of his plate appearances. Would you really DFA Chapman in order to have that on the team?
JoeBrady
Snellzilla #75 hours ago
We saw how ‘compassionate and kind’ Farhan really is, with JD Davis, Crawford, Madbum
=======================
Wait, did you just say that SF should’ve topped AZ’s offer?
TigersLoveCinnamon
5 picks in the first 43 of that draft have been worth more than 5 war. Only one so far worth 10. The only other person that was in discussion worth number 2 was bohm, and he’s barely been better than Bart
Rays in the Bay
I feel like the longer you scroll the better it gets. Drew Rasmussen and Shane McLanahan were good pickup for the Rays. Palacios might also have some upside if he continues the way he played in Spring.
brat922
Best of luck to Joey Bart! He hasn’t had an easy time of it. Trying to follow Posey’s footsteps and get through the pandemic without his minor league Triple A time, good grief. He will improve with a solid position on another team, hopefully.
1berto
That draft is starting to look awful, you could say the entire top 3 has already flopped and the best player of the first round is logan gilbert
Niekro floater
Holy cow ! Didn’t realize he was #2 pick overall. Just rmbr hearing bout em bein nxt big thing in San Fran. The proverbial change of scenery could benefit em or does he just suk ?
bag o ballz
He seems like he has gotten somewhat better but he needs a team that can let him fail for a while because he needs to prove that as a bat first catcher he can actually hit. He has a ton of power but also struck out so bad in 2022 that they couldn’t keep him up- over 60% of the time
JackStrawb
38% K-rate in 2022! That’s wild. Still, his oWAR projected to be about 2.0 over a full season. And for a catcher. That’s wilder!
okinnitram
What a waste of a roster spot if they designated him after 3 days.
Jean Matrac
okinnitram, Not really. What were they going to do with that spot anyway? They didn’t need it until today. I think they were playing a bluff, showing other teams they’d roster him, and not let him go cheap. It didn’t work, but it didn’t hurt to try.
bag o ballz
Part of it too is that they wanted to see if teams could fill their spots to try to sneak him through waivers. One thing about position players is that they are harder to claim than pitchers because you can usually stash a pitcher in the pen more easily than you can open up a position once the rosters are set
Seamaholic
This. Some people here seem to think a team can pick him up (either trade or waiver claim) and stash him in AAA. They cannot. He’s out of options. A team would have to replace one of their major league catchers with Joey Bart, which is just not gonna happen. Some team (could be the Giants, could be someone else) is gonna outright him eventually, and he will play in the minors this year, but he’s not gonna get traded for or claimed at this point.
Jean Matrac
Where’s that poor deluded soul who predicted that Bailey would be benched, and Bart made the starter?
foppert2
Knowing that Bart knows, I’ve been looking for him in the dugout shots these last 3 games. Saw smiling, laughing and cheering hard. Respect.
Reynaldo's
Move across the bay to OAK
Bart Harley Jarvis
What are you saying, JackHoff? I love living in the Bay Area!
Stonecoldaustin
Sad day
…too much pressure and hype after Posey. Dude has power I could see him DH for some team and be Rob Deer type force.
Jean Matrac
Stonecoldaustin, For him to be a DH he needs to make better contact, which he hasn’t been able to do. His best chance is to be a catcher.
Snellzilla #7
Jean Matric Bart was hitting over .300 consistently last year, before he got injured and it affected his performance. Farhan and the front office just want their own 1st round pick to be the guy. The history shows that your point is mute.
JoeBrady
Snellzilla #75 hours ago
Jean Matric Bart was hitting over .300 consistently last year,
=========================
He had a .302 on 5/3, with -0- HRs and a 13/2 K/W. That’s awful.
JackStrawb
More likely he just can’t really hit MLB pitching.
These guys have been playing in front of screaming fans (and parents) in packed stadiums since they were eight. The idea that they’d choke and keep choking because they followed a HOFer doesn’t ring true.
Braves Butt-Head
Watch the Tampa Bay Rays claim him and turn him into an All-Star LOL
reno24
DFAd Bart for a dude that has given up 9 runs today before completing 2 innings smh
Jean Matrac
Unless Bart can pitch, that’s apples and oranges.
ilikesports
How is Bart behind the plate? I imagine he wouldn’t have been DFA’d if he was above average behind the plate…
Jean Matrac
ilikesports, According to Statcast he’s not terrible. They have him slightly above average framing, about average throwing, slightly below average blocking, with a poor pop time. He might be able to improve on some of those things If he started to hit he would be serviceable. But that’s a big if.
Niekro floater
He’s A’s starting C as soon as they claim em. Best AAAA team very lil money could buy.
Seamaholic
Catcher is the one (and only) position at which the A’s are pretty set for the future.
scrambledeggs
It’s about time.
Sadler
They should have just had Bart take the mound today instead — couldn’t have possibly done worse than the guy that replaced him.
mp9
Yep! he’s the new Blake Swihart
UWPSUPERFAN77
I have to admit, you guys really care about your team! BTW, can he play defense? If he can, he should go to Atlanta. They do not need his offense! Thank You!
TellItGoodbye
So now Bart can take BART to Oakland.
Bart Harley Jarvis
Sick public transportation burn, TIG!
Citizen1
Bart to the cubs. Finally complete the Bryant trade.
Candlestoked
Player to be named way way later.
Citizen1
Giants fans will still clamor not to trade Bart after a good spring training
Snellzilla #7
Trading Bart would be a big mistake
Seamaholic
For the team acquiring him, yeah, although they won’t be giving up anything so no harm no foul.
Br857
KBO. Hebwoukd mash there
luvochka
Good luck Joey, sorry it didn’t work out.
Smacky
Just another example of how dumb it is to take prospect rankings seriously. It’s just as dumb as high football recruiting stars.
mab51357
Watched the Bart saga from the start. He did have a good spring this year, but no roster spot and out of options. I think once he is picked up by another team he just might pan out some. He has handled everything surrounding him very professionaly. I think his biggest problem was him getting into his own head at times. The amount of pressure on him has been overwhelming at times. Also don’t think Kapler believed in him at all and that’s a confidence crusher. Joey’s a hard worker and I hope he lands with a team that is able to give him playing time. Tough to be the heir to what Posey did in a Giants uniform. Less pressure now and he just might pan out for another team. I hope it happens for him. He is a standup guy. Good luck Joey.
Snellzilla #7
Biggest problem Bart had was a front office that wanted their own 1st round pick to be the guy, so they batted him 9th with no protection behind him, so he wouldn’t get any good pitches to hit, sabotaged
JoeBrady
so they batted him 9th with no protection
====================
The #1 hitter is good protection. You never want to walk a guy in front of the top of the lineup.
Pickle_Britches
All singles this spring pretty much. Bunch of weak base hits. Swing is too long for MLB talent. Might be a solid independent league catcher
Snellzilla #7
Double digit HR power, unlike Bailey. Bart’s double nearly cleared the wall. We just gave up light tower power, for… Jeffries
Seamaholic
I admire your devotion, but Georgia Tech was a long long time ago.
Snellzilla #7
Right, Bailey had all singles pretty much this spring, good point
Snellzilla #7
That comment didn’t age well. Bart earned the starting job and cleanup hitter spot for Pittsburgh
Captainmike1
He got a 7 million dollar signing bonus
He never needs to work another day in his life
I still can not understand why teams need to give squat to draft picks
He could go dig ditches if he didn’t want to play baseball, he really did nothing to deserve that bonus as his play has proven
I think this once again proves the insanity of this planet
splinkysf
Uhh. Go team!
JoeBrady
By that logic, my cardiologist should also dig ditches.
Captainmike1
That makes absolutely no sense at all
Jean Matrac
Captainmike1
“…he really did nothing to deserve that bonus as his play has proven”
That’s clear hindsight. Over a 3 year college career he had a line of 322/.407/.544 and an OPS of.950. The Rays drafted him out of HS, but they couldn’t sign him.
Teams have to give bonuses. Otherwise, they go to, or back to, college, and enter the draft the next year. If teams could get away without giving signing bonuses they would. They don’t do it out the goodness of their hearts.
Snellzilla #7
This is a HUGE mistake! Bailey’s passed ball in the first inning is an omen. Just wait till July, when Bailey’s leading all MLB catchers in errors, batting .220, is too fatigued to play, while Bart has 15-20 HR for another team and is still going strong. Jeffries sucked!
Snellzilla #7
What a total Jack hoff man
JoeBrady
Not allowed to trade guys?
BannedMarlinsFanBase
By golly gosh darn it! I was so looking forward to the Marlins finally accepting that Jesus Luzardo, Edward Cabrera or Braxton Garrett for Joey Bart were fair trades. Now we have no choice but to see if we can convince him to join us for nothing.
bravesfan
Wonder if he’ll come home to the Braves and take a minor league deal. Assuming he clears waivers, etc. Braves need a little depth and clearly can let him work on things if needed. He’s still young enough and catching around the league is so poor that he can turn himself into a fine backup if not starter
BannedMarlinsFanBase
I can see the Braves or the Marlins and probably Rays in on him. If I were a betting man, I think there’s a very good chance he ends up with one of our teams to try to start over with a team that’s closer to his home surroundings.
Macbeth
Pirates should have made a move for him over Grandal. Obviously couldn’t have cost much to make a move.
Seamaholic
Bart isn’t in Grandal’s universe as a player. Where are you all getting this idea that the guy can play? Like, at all?
Macbeth
Grandal hasn’t done anything in the last 2 years. Like, at all.
Their floors are about the same but the ceiling for Bart as a change of scenery player is higher than Grandal’s.
If the Pirates were going to spend any sort of resources I’d rather them take a flyer on a guy who was recently a top prospect vs a guy who can’t even start the season healthy.
Macbeth
And the Pirates get him.
Macbeth
Looks like Bart has had a pretty good start as a backup while Delay is on the IL.
Macbeth
Just want to bring this back up. Almost ready to wrap the season and Bart is having his best season ever at a 2.2 WAR and Grandal is at -0.4,
Remember when you said “Where are you all getting this idea that the guy can play? Like, at all?”
Because his OPS+ is 141 right now and he can play.
BannedMarlinsFanBase
Hey, where are all those Giants fans that said in the offseason it makes sense for the Marlins to trade one of their young pitchers for Joey Bart?
sergefunction
Not falling for revisionism.
Joey Bart was not an awful 1-2 draft pick in 2018. At 1-1, the Tigers picked Casey Mize while many, many fans preferred Bart.
There was no real third-candidate debate other than some who liked high-schooler Kelenic – similar to the crowd who loves Detroit’s Max Clark pick from last summer. Mize was considered almost-ready so he won out.
Other than Brady Singer outliers, whose candidate slid a bit, I don’t recall any other players pegged above Bart on any notable pre-draft lists from 2018.
Bart didn’t pan out. Different answer to a different question.
sergefunction
And just look at that 2018 list. Whole lotta nothin’.
TB Sox NY
People fall in love with first round picks.Top prospects.In Baseball there is a lot of players who never fullfill their potential.If you get a chance for a top player,Trade your prospect.But i look at Duran and you can’t teach his speed.You can teach him to play the outfield.You can work on his hitting.Take advantage of their strengths.Saying he should hit homeruns when he is more exciting to hit gap to gap.Just Remember Andy Marte.Huge prospect and never amounted to anything.
GO1962
Bart = Bust
rb305
We all saw this coming with Bart, especially since they signed Murphy to clearly team up (and provide an offensive boost) with Patrick Bailey.
I liked Bart, and this is a disappointment, but I can see him catching on and developing into an everyday starter in the next few years, especially if he lands in a place who can give the development time needed.
selw0nk 2
Joey Bart was a bust from the start, the Giants overhyped him to be the next Buster Posey.