The Guardians have acquired catcher Patrick Bailey from the Giants, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. San Francisco will receive left-handed pitching prospect Matt Wilkinson and the 29th overall pick of the 2026 draft (the first selection of Competitive Balance Round A, which are the only types of picks that can be dealt). Cleveland has an open spot on its 40-man roster for Bailey, and The Athletic’s Zack Meisel adds that the Guards will option catcher Bo Naylor to make room for Bailey on the active roster.
Bailey has won the last two Fielding Bible Awards and NL Gold Glove Awards, cementing his case as the sport’s best defensive catcher. Between Bailey and backup Austin Hedges, the Guardians now have the best defensive catching tandem in recent memory, and have doubled down on their commitment to prioritizing glovework over offense from their backstops. Obviously the Guards were hoping Naylor would add more pop from behind the plate, but after an impressive debut in his 2023 rookie season, Naylor has hit only .192/.266/.351 over 893 plate appearances since Opening Day 2024.
Those numbers aren’t far below the .224/.282/.329 slash line Bailey has posted over 1342 career PA. Bailey’s lackluster offense took an even sharper nosedive this year, as he has hit only .146/.213/.183 over his first 89 trips to the plate in 2026. The situation became dire enough that the Giants were reducing Bailey’s playing time, at first because Rule 5 pick Daniel Susac (currently on the 10-day IL) was on fire at the plate, and then since prospect Jesus Rodriguez was recalled earlier this week from Triple-A.
San Francisco will now go forward with Rodriguez and Susac when he’s healthy, and Eric Haase is also on the 26-man roster. Because Rodriguez can play multiple positions, the Giants might keep all three players even when Susac is activated from the injured list, if the team wants to keep Haase on hand for some veteran experience.
While this trade isn’t as seismic as the Rafael Devers blockbuster last June, it does represent another aggressive early-season move from Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey. Even if Bailey was losing playing time, seeing the Giants move on from the catcher entirely counts as something of a surprise.
The desire for change may stem from the Giants’ 15-23 start, as San Francisco is tied with the Angels and Mets for the fewest wins in all of baseball. For as little as Bailey was contributing, getting less offense than expected from a defensive specialist hasn’t been as much of a lineup issue as the cold starts from Devers, Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, and Harrison Bader (who is also currently on the IL). That said, the club is clearly looking for runs wherever they can find them, and clearing the path for Susac and Rodriguez is one way of pursuing upside.
Obviously there’s still a lot of baseball to be played before the trade deadline, yet today’s move is perhaps also the first sign that the Giants may already be looking beyond the 2026 season. Between the Dodgers’ ongoing dominance and the Padres’ strong start, the Giants are looking at a wild card berth at best even if they’re able to dig their way out of this early-season hole. If the struggles continue, more selling will take place before the deadline, and possibly even well in advance of the deadline given Posey’s willingness to swing a prominent deal at any time on the calendar.
From a pure trade-value standpoint, it’s also not a bad outcome for Posey to move an increasingly expendable catcher for both a starting pitching prospect and a high draft pick. The 29th overall selection is the first pick of CBR-A, and thus the highest selection available to be traded. Acquiring this CBR-A pick adds to what is already going to be a particularly important draft for the Giants, as the team got lucky in landing the fourth overall pick in the draft lottery last December.
Wilkinson was a 10th-round pick for the Guardians in the 2023 draft, and isn’t considered a top-30 prospect in either the Baseball America or MLB Pipeline rankings of the Cleveland farm system. Nonetheless, Wilkinson has posted some solid numbers across his four pro seasons, including a 1.59 ERA, 33.6% strikeout rate, and an 8.4% walk rate across 28 1/3 innings for Double-A Akron this season. This marked Wilkinson’s first taste of Double-A action, and a promotion to Triple-A doesn’t seem out of the question before 2026 is over.
More to come….
???
i get that bailey’s a GG’er
but cleveland’s got a stud in ingle
why trade 1st rd pick + solid arm ?
He isn’t a stud. Yes, he’s hitting well at AAA, but he is overly passive and he is not an advanced catcher. I’m wondering if they plan to move Ingle to 1b?
Wonder which AL Central team he’ll torment like he did to the Dodgers?
Giants selling????
I think it’s too early to say that. Bailey hasn’t been able to hit at all for most of the past two seasons and they have strong backups with Daniel Susac and Jesus Rodriguez (not to mention Eric Haase) that are not a defensively strong as Bailey but are way better with the bat. This was a good move.
That’s a haul for him… crazy. Why would the guardians do that? Must be something else heading to Cleveland.
Kind of why I thought too, basically a first round pick AND a prospect for C who has been meh at best this year
Agree! Pretty surprising return for an amazing defensive catcher that hits worse than a pitcher
Bailey is the best defensive catcher of this generation and maybe going back to the Buster prime or even earlier. That has a lot of value. The kid is a non-prospect so this is Bailey for the 30 something pick basically. I think it’s a fine move for Cleveland, who very highly values run prevention and who can argue with their results.
I guess this opens the door for Susac to be their everyday catcher.
Jesus Rodriguez
@Poolhalljunkies
No, I’m gonna go with the Rule 5 Pick that needs to be on the roster all season that initially caused Bailey to lose starts as the primary catcher over the player that is still learning the catching position (and projects to be moved off the position eventually) that can also play several other positions on the field.
Sure no argument on susac playing but “everyday” ?..not buying that.. how many every day catchers are even in mlb anymore? Most teams have a split of some sort and the giants for sure will imo
I think he just meant starting catcher. Susan will handle the majority of the catching duty, once he’s back.
Lmao Susac, not Susan
Right that’s what I mean he was pushed into a lot less playing time than he will get now and whoever else they carry will be the secondary catcher for them.
Perhaps he was implying that he was lazy…
Susac was the Posey pick so he will get carte blanche here. Also Posey was friendly with Andrew during his playing time.
Why didn’t they just call up Cooper Ingle?
His phone is dead.
Not defending this trade….I’m not sure what the Guardians were thinking to give up that much, but Ingle’s hitting profile isn’t that different from Naylor’s. Yes, he is hitting well in AAA, but he swings at something like 25% of pitches in the zone. You can afford to be that selective in AAA, but as Naylor found out, that profile gets eaten up in the majors.
Further, Ingle is not an advanced defensive catcher. The Guardians value good receiving catchers and Bailey is better than both Naylor and Ingle. Will his defensive abilities be worth Wilkinson and the #29? No idea. At first brush I’m feeling skeptical.
I’m surprised they got that much for Bailey. Time for Susac to shine.
Don’t sleep on Jesus rodriguez..they didnt call him up and start his clock to ride the bench
Rodriguez can play 2B and corner outfield, and arguably has more experience and is better at it then at catching. He’ll get his starts behind the dish, but he’ll likely get most of his at-bats at other spots, especially if the rest of the lineup continues to struggle
Jesus Rodriguez time
It isn’t a haul. SF was fleeced here. He gets back to 85-90 wRC+ and he’s automatically 5 WAR over a full season
Still pre arb. CLE gave up two prospects in the 40+ FV range, I.e. nothing
He put up an 81 in 2024 and was worth 1.7 WAR in ~roughly 120 games so not sure where you’re getting 5 WAR from
I’m getting it from Fangraphs, which is where everyone should get WAR from
He’s already been worth 10.2 WAR and is still a year away from arb
That’s better than what, 98% of players?
If you’re looking at any metric on the planet that says Bailey is better than 98% of players then you need to find a new metric to look at
You don’t know what you’re watching, it’s OK
G$, his career WAR is 10.2 per FanGraphs. 2026 WAR is 0.0.
10.2 in 2.5 years. Is that good?
You’ve apparently never watched Bailey play. You’re just trying to piece together stats to make him out to be something he isn’t EVER going to be, It’s OK though
I’ve watched him more than probably anyone here.
Irrelevant anyway. WAR is by the far the most important stat. Hardly ‘pieced together’
The greatest part of the WAR stat is how it feeds arguments over which flavor of it is the real one. This is why it’s the Stat that Rules Them All!
baileys hitting deficiencies hurt us more than his defense helped.
Bailey’s primary value was pitch framing, with the ABS system, pitch framing ceases to exist.
Uh, what? He’s already been worth 5 framing runs alone this year per Statcast. It’s May 10.
He’s on pace to put up his best framing year ever and one of the best of all time
Pay less attention
Thats not entirely true imo in watching the games you can argue an elite framer is even more vsluable with abs ie causing hitters to pause etc
The American League so far sucks. So maybe this is their way to make an “early splash’ (Chris Farley air quotes gif) in the trade market.
love this move. bailey needed some coaches that could develop his hitting. you don’t get that in sf.
As a Guardians fan, he won’t get that in Cleveland either lmao
Half the a coaching staff is prior catchers. He’ll continue to develop.
As a Cubs fan I hope you get to see the Guardians win a world series one day. Knock on Wood but 22 years to reach the century mark. There’s plenty of time. I’m not saying that sarcastically.
Has Bailey ever had a 5 WAR season?
No, not even close
4.3 in 2024 so yes, “close”
No expert here, but Baileys defensive metrics don’t match the eye test. So many times just looks lost at the plate and behind it he has been awful on ABS challenges.
Hope for him he just needs to get his vision corrected, would have figured if that is all it was it would have been take care of by now. Best of luck Patty.
Framing isn’t about ABS challenge success rate dawg
Never said it was, apparently his framing confuses himself he doesn’t know what is off the plate or in the zone.
Also I’ve never seen a catcher drop so many pitches that hit him in the glove either, again, maybe it’s a sight issue.
Ok, but Tugboat Wilkinson headed to McCovey’s cove? There’s a lot of headlines just waiting to happen.
Did Ryan Walker go with him? That would be the cherry on top.
Bye, bye Bo?
This is such an out of character move for the Guardians that I have to wonder what else is going on.Not sure if these are the full terms of the deal or not, but on the surface it seems like a decent amount to pay for a switch-hitting Hedges.
The bright side is that they genuinely might have the best defensive catching tandem in history, but it doesn’t make the offense any better. They either see something they think they can fix, or they’re that concerned about Naylor. Curious what this ends up meaning for Ingle down the line as well since Bailey isn’t really a short term piece.
Angels could not make a move like this?
SMH 🤦♂️
Cool. If the Giants are giving up this early, the Rockies might not be looking at another 5th place finish this year.
Don’t need to see how this trade pans out. Cleveland automatically loses for giving up Tugboat
I was really pulling for Wilkinson but he profiles as a AAAA reliever. He just doesn’t throw that hard. I genuinely hope he pitches well with the Giants, but I’m not optimistic. On the other hand I hope the Giants draft a catcher with the #29 pick. They have done so well with catchers picked high, after all….
Maybe the Giants should stop drafting catchers with their first pick
Patrick Bailey and Austin Hedges is a hilarious catching duo
This is such a Guardians move. They’ve shown over and over that catcher defense is their priority.
Giants drafted two years in a row a catcher in first round both ended up with dead bats. Although Bailey did prove himself with defense which is what cleveland apparently desires most.
Maybe CLV thinks they can fix his bat.
10.2 fWAr in 2.5 seasons for a clinically obese long reliever and a nothing pick
Incredible
Buster making chicken salad out of chicken 💩
Bailey and Hedges on the same roster?
Well, Hedges is actually hitting, this year. Will he keep it up? No idea, but he has been terrific, so far.
I do like the idea of two great catchers on the same roster, though. I wonder what Vogt’s contribution was to this trade given that he was a fielding first catcher.
Couldn’t be more upset. Thanks for ruining my Mother’s Day. Unreal.
Bailey is by a fairly wide amount the best defensive catcher in baseball. He is a natural fit for Cleveland, who have Hedges…and Roberto Perez before that.
Check out the defensive metrics for the past three+ seasons.
DRS….33 more than anybody else.
FRV….51 more than anybody else.
dWAR. .34.5 more than anybody else.
Frame..29.4 more than anybody else.
Bailey is also a switch hitter, which Cleveland values highly. While not much of a hitter, he isnt totally helpless against either handed pitching.
The Guardians think highly of him. Wilkinson and a draft pick are a steep price to pay, but they view Bailey as an impact player under control for nearly four years at below market value.
One of the most interesting trades in awhile. Easy to think Cleveland gave up to much or that Giants traded the wrong player but should help both teams like the article mentions. Cleveland now has best defensive catching duo in MLB and Giants get to see more of two rookie catchers, one who can play other positions.