Patrick Bailey Traded to Guardians from Giants, Full Details on Return for Gold Glover

Amid a disastrous start to the season for Bo Naylor, the Cleveland Guardians are acquiring veteran catcher Patrick Bailey from the San Francisco Giants.

The Guardians will send the No. 29 pick in the 2026 MLB draft and pitching prospect Matt Wilkinson to San Francisco for the two-time Gold Glove-winner.

Per The Athletic's Zack Meisel, the Guardians will option Naylor to Triple-A Columbus to make room for Bailey on their 26-man roster.

The 29th pick is the first in Competitive Balance Round A, making it the earliest selection in this year's draft that could be traded. It also adds $3.3 million to the Giants' bonus pool, bringing their total to $17.4 million.

San Francisco is in a difficult spot right now with a 15-23 record, last in the NL West, despite having a payroll close to $200 million. There is some help on the horizon with a slowly-improving farm system, led by Bryce Eldridge, who was just called up from the minors on Monday.

Wilkinson, a 10th-round pick by Cleveland in the 2023 draft, is off to a strong start in Double-A with a 1.59 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 28.1 innings. He threw five innings as part of a combined no-hitter on April 18 against Binghamton.

The Guardians were in the market for a primary starting catcher because Naylor has really been scuffling to start the season. He was hitting .143/.200/.238 with 21 strikeouts in 90 plate appearances prior to being demoted. His 22 wRC+ is tied for the third-worst in MLB among all players with at least 90 plate appearances.

Bailey is not an offensive dynamo with a .224/.282/.329 career slash line, including a .396 OPS in 30 games this season, but his defense behind the plate makes him extremely valuable.

The combination of Bailey and Austin Hedges gives the Guardians arguably the best defensive catching combination in MLB.

Hedges has been a pleasant surprise with the bat so far this season. He is hitting .306/.352/.449 in 54 plate appearances. Even though that seems unlikely to continue given his career-long hitting issues, he has at least played himself into more regular playing time for Cleveland.

Based on how Guardians manager Stephen Vogt has deployed Hedges so far this season, he will likely continue to get most of the starts against left-handed pitching. Bailey could be the primary starter when the opposing team has a right-hander on the mound.

The Guardians also acquire Bailey with three more years of team control remaining beyond this season before he can become a free agent after the 2029 season.