Guardians acquire catcher Patrick Bailey from Giants
The Cleveland Guardians acquired catcher Patrick Bailey from the San Francisco Giants, sending left-handed pitching prospect Matt Wilkinson and the No. 29 pick in this year’s draft to San Francisco. Bailey has won Gold Gloves in 2023 and 2024 and is regarded as one of MLB’s top defensive catchers. He has a career .224 batting average and a 74 OPS+, so the Guardians are prioritizing elite defense and pitch handling to bolster their pitching staff even at the cost of offensive upside.
Not a big fan of this Patrick Bailey trade. Getting rid of the best defensive catcher in baseball because two prospects have combined for 10 good games with the bat while remaining extremely unproven defensively could end up looking idiotic within weeks
McCovey Chronicles13Then again, if it doesn’t look idiotic, you got a first round pick and a prospect while also upgrading the position. But it’s a huge risk, and one I’m not comfortable with
Kelly Miller4I wonder about the two PHIL losses last week in which he called for 7 straight splits to Schwarber and 8 sinkers to Stot, finally giving up tying hits to both. When your value is entirely on the defensive side that seems like a major demerit.
