SF Giants got rid of a problem by trading Patrick Bailey but now they have a new one

When the SF Giants traded away catcher Patrick Bailey earlier this season, it seemed like a logical move. He was hitting so poorly that the Giants simply had to find more offense from that spot in the lineup.

Fair enough, but the team hasn’t gotten great offensive production from its catchers since that trade. Not only that, but Bailey’s defense and ability to manage a pitching staff has been missed at times.

The biggest issue is that the Giants have no obvious solution at catcher right now. Daniel Susac showed a lot of promise earlier in the season but he has cooled off at the plate considerably and is hitting .262/.310/.330 with no home runs and 14 runs batted in.

San Francisco was hoping Jesus Rodriguez could also bear some of the load at catcher but his defense was so bad during his big league stint and his bat was nowhere near hot enough to get the team to overlook that so now he’s back in Triple-A.

Eric Haase has been alright but he’s obviously a backup catcher and is not a guy the Giants can count upon going forward.

Drew Cavanaugh has been interesting after being called up as he has four hits in 17 at-bats and put up some solid numbers in the minors but he hasn’t done anything to suggest he’s going to grab hold of the starting job and never relinquish it.

Giants have no clear catcher of the future right now

As Evan Webeck of the California Post notes, “Before the trade, Bailey was hitting .146 with a .346 OPS. Since, Giants catchers have combined for a .187 average and a .539 OPS.” That’s just not going to cut it and Buster Posey needs to find someone, probably in the offseason, who will fill that void.

The only problem is the free agent class at catcher after 2026 isn’t especially enticing. Names like Carson Kelly, Tyler Stephenson, and Travis d’Arnaud don’t exactly get the blood flowing.

Maybe he will have to swing some sort of trade for a catcher. Adley Rutschmann of the Baltimore Orioles could be a possibility especially since Baltimore has young Samuel Basallo locked up for a while. 

It’s just clear the Giants need to figure out the future of that position sooner rather than later. Posey should know better than anyone how valuable it is to have a strong catcher so they need to address that area of need. 

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