2020 MLB redraft has Kansas City Royals taking SF Giants Gold Glove catcher

The 2020 MLB draft is nearly five years in the rearview mirror. Where has the time gone? Baseball America put together a redraft of the first round from that year with the Kansas City Royals taking SF Giants Gold Glove winner Patrick Bailey with the fourth overall pick.

2020 MLB redraft has Kansas City Royals taking SF Giants Gold Glove catcher

Much of the analysis is behind a paywall and they do excellent work if you are looking to add a new subscription to your rotation this year. However, they did provide a snippet as well:

It has only been a few years since the draft, but two of the three players ahead of Bailey (Spencer Strider and Garrett Crochet) have already made an All-Star team. Masyn Wynn put together a stong rookie season with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2024 and looks to be a foundational player for that club for years to come.

It was an unusually strong year for NL rookies last season. Wynn's quality bat and excellent defense would have normally put him in the running for Rookie of the Year, but Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates had an incredible rookie campaign as well.

This redraft does highlight that the Giants seemed to have done quite well so far. They do not have much to show from many of their recent drafts, but the 2020 draft looks to be an exception.

The Giants selected Patrick Bailey with the 13th overall pick. This was only two years after picking Joey Bart with the second overall pick. While Bart went on to have a strong year with the Pirates in 2024, the Giants have a reliable catcher of their own in Bailey. That dynamic would look a lot different if Bailey was not in the picture.

The switch-hitting catcher debuted with the Giants in 2023. He only had 28 games in the upper minors by the time of his promotion, but the Giants ran out of catching depth. They knew that his bat was a work in progress but Bailey quickly established himself as one of the best defensive catchers in baseball.

Despite being in the minors for the first six weeks of the 2023 season, Bailey did merit serious consideration for the Gold Glove Award behind the plate. That eventually went to Gabriel Moreno of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2023, but Bailey followed this up by being the best defensive catcher in baseball last season. There was even a case to be made that he was the best defensive player last year. Bailey took home his first Gold Glove Award in 2024 as well as a Fielding Bible Award.

The 25-year-old backstop has shown flashes of being an above-average hitter but he has not yet put it together through a full season. The Giants hope that his bat takes the next step in 2025, which would likely put him in the conversation of being an All-Star. For the time being, it looks like they did quite well in the first round of the 2020 draft thanks to Bailey's defensive prowess.