Guardians are getting a taste of the Patrick Bailey experience SF Giants grew sick of

The SF Giants traded Patrick Bailey to the Cleveland Guardians last week. It was a bold move by both sides, but the Guardians are quickly learning exactly why the Giants were willing to get rid of a two-time Gold Glove winner.

Bailey has played in three games for Cleveland now and he has yet to record a hit. He's had seven at-bats and has one walk, two strikeouts, and one RBI but has yet to record a hit.

The Guardians knew the player they were getting when they traded for him. They had no illusions about his offense as he was hitting .146/.213/.183 at the time of the trade. His lone highlight was a clutch three-run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers but outside of that it was very grim at the plate.

Maybe they thought they could unlock some untapped offensive potential or at least make him a more consistent hitter, but that is going to be a very tall task since Bailey has really struggled at the plate the last few years and even in 2023 and 2024 he started off hot offensively only to severely drop off in the second half.

Guardians made a big bet on defense behind the plate while Giants bet on offense

He’s already shown off his prowess behind the plate as he threw out a runner trying to steal second base in one of his first games with the Guardians which is a sight Giants fans grew accustomed to over the years.

The Guardians decided to double down on defense behind home plate as their other catcher Austin Hedges profiles the exact same as Bailey. Hedges is a great defender but his career batting average is .187. It would not be a shock if Bailey has a similar career.

Meanwhile, the Giants have chosen to double, or triple, down on offense at the catcher position. They are likely going to roll with Daniel Susac, Jesus Rodriguez, and Eric Haase the rest of this season. All three of those players are known more for their bats than their defense although Susac did remind us he's no slouch behind the plate last night.

President of baseball operations Buster Posey knows a thing or two about catching and hitting and clearly he was not satisfied with what Bailey was bringing to the table so he felt it was time to make a change.

Only time will tell if it was the right call, but based on how Bailey has looked so far offensively with Cleveland combined with the fact that Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson, the prospect acquired in exchange for Bailey, had a great debut in Richmond, Posey probably isn’t losing too much sleep over the deal.

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