SF Giants ship two-time Gold Glove winner Bailey to Guardians in stunning trade
SAN FRANCISCO - If Buster Posey has proven anything during his tenure as the Giants’ president of baseball operations, it’s that he’s more than willing to make big, bold, brash moves.
On Saturday morning, he made the latest.
The Giants announced that they’ve traded catcher Patrick Bailey, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner and one of the best defenders in the sport, to the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for left-handed pitching prospect Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson and the No. 29 pick in the 2026 MLB draft, according to multiple reports.
Cleveland is allowed to trade the No. 29 pick because it’s a competitive-balance pick. The draft pick will also provide the Giants with an additional $3.7 million in slot value, giving them a total draft pool of $17.35 million, the fourth-most among teams. San Francisco also owns the fourth pick in the draft as well.
Bailey, for all of his defensive value, had lost playing time in recent weeks due to his continued offensive struggles, posting a .396 OPS over 89 plate appearances.
Posey shook up the roster this week by calling up catching prospect Jesús Rodríguez and top prospect Bryce Eldridge, and the 24-year-old Rodríguez got starts over Bailey on Monday, Tuesday and Friday. Bailey started on Wednesday and proceeded to go 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts in what ended up being his final game as a Giant.
The Giants were facing a tough decision after rookie catcher Daniel Susac started a rehab assignment on Thursday. Susac was performing well before landing on the injured list in late April (11-for-23), while Rodríguez (5-for-11) has been an instant spark plug on offense. San Francisco, then, had to decide what to do with Bailey, Rodríguez, Susac and veteran Eric Haase.
One of San Francisco’s potential paths could have been to demote Bailey to the minors since he had options. That would’ve been a bold move in and of itself.
Instead, the Giants are making an even more shocking decision to ship Bailey, who will be eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason, to the Guardians, who have their own crowded catching room between Bo Naylor and Austin Hedges.
With Bailey out of the mix, Rodríguez and Susac stand to get the majority of the playing time going forward once Susac recovers from right elbow ulnar neuritis.
San Francisco could feasibly maintain its three-catcher mix by keeping Haase, who has nearly 400 games in the majors. Given that Rodríguez and Susac are both rookies, Haase could be a valuable resource for the young players to acclimate to the majors.
Wilkinson, 23, was selected in the 10th round of the 2023 MLB draft and had been pitching for Cleveland’s Double-A affiliate this season. The left-handed starter has a career 2.82 ERA over 252 innings in the minors with 330 strikeouts.
Bailey’s .533 OPS since the second half of 2024 is the lowest mark in the majors among all hitters (min. 700 plate appearances). but despite his struggles, Bailey orchestrated some of the most memorable home runs in recent memory.
A 2020 first-round pick, Bailey hit four walk-off homers during his four seasons as a Giant, including a walk-off inside-the-park home run and a walk-off grand slam last year. Earlier this year, Bailey hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh inning to lift the Giants to a win over the Dodgers.
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This story was originally published May 9, 2026 at 8:49 AM.