The Giants Won The Patrick Bailey Trade, But Have Larger Issues
San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey sent a message to his clubhouse on May 9 when he traded catcher Patrick Bailey, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, to the Cleveland Guardians.
In exchange for Bailey, the Giants will receive the No. 29 pick in this year's draft and left-handed pitching prospect Matt "Tugboat" Wilkinson. Jeff Passan of ESPN was first to report the trade.
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Bailey was hitting .146 with no power. For all his framing acumen, the Giants were allowing 4.18 runs per game while scoring 3.16.
If those numbers aren’t convincing that Bailey was not justifying his roster spot, there’s this: According to FanGraphs.com, which incorporates catcher framing into its Wins Above Replacement metric, Bailey was worth 0.0 WAR - 24th among all MLB catchers with at least 80 plate appearances this season.
Bailey wasn’t the fastest among his peers to adapt to the new ABS Challenge System, but that would hardly predict a trade.
In exchange for a replacement-level player, the Giants received a bona fide pitching prospect in Wilkinson, who has phenomenal numbers at Double-A (1.59 ERA , 36 strikeouts, nine walks in 28.1 innings for the Akron RubberDucks).
Wilkinson, 23, didn’t allow a hit in limited work with Team Canada at the 2026 World Baseball Classic. His “invisi-ball” fastball clocks in the low 90-mph range but plays up because batters have a hard time seeing it.
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The Giants also received the 29th overall pick in this year’s draft, a slot that routinely yields future major leaguers (if not stars). With a pair of rookie catchers (Daniel Susac, Jesus Rodriguez) waiting in the wings, it was a trade the Giants could afford to make.
Bailey is still just 26. There’s a non-zero chance he figures it out at the plate this season. The Guardians, who had a starting catcher batting .143 of their own (Bo Naylor) can risk being wrong if he doesn’t.
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It isn’t always the case that Posey, a former catcher, should be given the benefit of the doubt. In this case, getting a legitimate pitching prospect and a relatively high draft pick for a replacement-level player should be seen as a win for the Giants.
Still, it’s a trade Posey should not have had to make. The Giants could afford to wait for Bailey’s bat (and, to a far lesser extent, his mastery of the challenge system) to come around if they didn’t have baseball’s worst offense at 3.16 runs per game.
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Teams that are playing well don’t need their managers or executives to send a message to their clubhouse. The Giants are 15-23.
It’s telling that Posey felt a shakeup was needed only six weeks into the season. Major league players are rarely traded in May. Players are rarely traded in June, either, but that didn’t stop the Giants from acquiring Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox last year.
It’s not a good sign that the Giants felt a trade was necessary. Even if they “won” the trade.
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This story was originally published May 9, 2026 at 12:35 PM.