Patrick Bailey said he was beginning to feel the past couple weeks as if his time with the San Francisco Giants might be coming to an end.
That's why the two-time Gold Glove-winning catcher was not shocked when he learned from Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey after Friday night's game against Pittsburgh that he was being traded to the Cleveland Guardians.
The trade, in which the Giants received minor league left-hander Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson and the 29th pick in the 2026 amateur draft, was announced Saturday afternoon. Bailey took a cross-country flight from San Francisco to Cleveland and arrived before the Guardians faced the Minnesota Twins.
Bailey was listed as a pinch-hitter on the pregame lineup card. The game did not start on time due to a rain delay.
“A little bit surprised, but at the same time you can kind of see the writing on the wall a little bit there with my time,” Bailey said. “Just felt like I was losing opportunities, losing at-bats and obviously Jesús (Rodríguez) and Sus (Daniel Susac) had been playing really well. When you stop playing, you get a feel for what’s going on.”
Bailey has been regarded as one of the top defensive catchers in the game thanks in part to his elite pitch-framing skills since being called up in 2023. He leads the majors since 2023 with 69 catcher framing runs and 42 defensive runs saved over the past two-plus seasons.
But his hitting has been an issue and bottomed out this season. Bailey was batting .146 with one homer and five RBIs in 89 plate appearances. His .396 OPS ranked last among 286 players with at least 75 plate appearances this season.
Bailey had become expendable for the Giants with Susac and Rodríguez expected to handle most of the catching duties, with Eric Haase as another option. Those players have provided much more offense for the Giants, who enter the day last in the majors in scoring with 3.16 runs per game and tied with the New York Mets for the worst record in the National League.
“I think it’s more the confidence that we have in Jesús Rodríguez and Daniel Susac and just the strides that we feel like as an organization they’ve made defensively,” Posey said about the trade before Saturday's game against the Pirates.
Manager Tony Vitello pointed to Susac and Rodríguez's offense as another reason.
“You get competitive at-bats. You don’t always get the result you want but they’re both versatile. I mean, we could use either of those guys in a pinch-hit spot, a DH position and Jesús in particular, in different spots,” he said.
Besides acquiring Bailey, the Guardians made another surprising move by optioning Bo Naylor to Triple-A Columbus. Naylor has been the Guardians' regular catcher since 2023.
Cleveland general manager Chris Antonetti said before Saturday night's game against the Minnesota Twins that the organization has had interest in Bailey for a long time, but the right opportunity didn't happen until this past week.
“We didn’t set out necessarily to acquire catching, but this was an opportunity that we felt made sense because it, in our view, will help us win games and help us pursue our goal of winning a World Series,” Antonetti said. “About a week ago, we had some initial dialogue with the Giants and it seemed like for the first time there might be the opportunity to overlap."
Bailey, who turns 27 later this month, won Gold Gloves at catcher in 2024 and 2025. He is a career .224 hitter with a .611 OPS. He also becomes teammates with Austin Hedges, who is a close friend, and David Fry.
The Guardians entered the day with a 21-19 record and in first place in the AL Central.
“Kind of excited about a fresh start here. Super confident in my ability to hit. I know I’ve shown spurts of being a really good hitter and I’m confident that’s going to show up," Bailey said.
Manager Stephen Vogt, a former catcher, said bringing in a new backstop can be a learning curve for everyone involved, and that the first couple days will be a bit of a whirlwind.
“It's difficult. You’re coming overnight to a place that’s already rolling, 13 pitchers, other catchers game planning, how’s their stuff working that the teams aren’t always familiar that you’re playing," he said. "So it takes a lot of work and your first few days are very busy. It’s a lot of information, a lot of conversations, trying to get those relationships going.”
Naylor had a .237 batting average as a rookie in 2023 but has struggled offensively the past two-plus seasons. His .143 batting average this season is last in the majors among the 29 catchers with at least 90 plate appearances.
His .192 batting average since 2024 is next-to-last among catchers with at least 200 games played.
“That was probably my least favorite conversation I’ve had since getting this job (in 2024),” Vogt said of the conversation with Naylor about being sent down. “We still believe that Bo has a bright future with us, but any time you send somebody away from here, it’s the worst. But that one, especially.”
The 23-year-old Wilkinson pitched for Canada in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year. He has made six starts this season at Double-A Akron, going 1-2 with a 1.59 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings.
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Freelance reporter Kenzo Fukuda contributed to this story. Dubow reported from San Francisco and Reedy from Cleveland.
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