The Cleveland Guardians are trading their tugboat for gold.
The Guardians are acquiring two-time Gold Glove-winning catcher Patrick Bailey in a trade with the San Francisco Giants for the No. 29 pick in this year’s draft and left-handed pitching prospect Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson.
Jeff Passan broke the news on X.com.
The trade could to strike an end to Bo Naylor’s run as the team’s primary catcher. Naylor was optioned to Columbus, according to The Athletic’s Zack Meisel.
Naylor’s served as Cleveland’s starting backstop 23 games this season. He’s slashing just .143/.200/.238.
It also could impact Guardians catching prospect Cooper Ingle, who is the No. 5 prospect in the organization and No. 84 overall player in all of baseball, according to MLBpipeline.com.
What the Guardians are trading for in Patrick Bailey
Bailey has won a Gold Glove each of the past two seasons, but is hitting .146 this season and is a career .224 hitter.
He was selected 13th overall in the 2020 MLB draft out of North Carolina State and is a switch-hitter.
In three-plus years, he’s totaled 22 home runs and 154 RBIs. He’s caught 85 would-be base stealers in 215 attempts and has a .992 fielding percentage.
What the Guardians give up by trading Matt Wilkinson to the Giants
The Guardians gave up crowd favorite Wilkinson, who was 1-2 with a 1.59 ERA in 28⅓ innings this season. The left-hander was a 10th-round pick by Cleveland in the 2023 MLB draft.
The 23-year old was 13-17 with a 2.82 ERA and 330 strikeouts in 56 career games.
The Guardians were allowed to trade the No. 29 choice because it is a competitive-balance pick, which has been movable since its inception.
The Giants will get an additional $3.27 million in slot value, bringing their total pool to $17.35 million, the fourth highest in the draft.
Brad Bournival can be reached by email at bbournival@usatodayco.com and is on X at @bbournival.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Patrick Bailey traded to Guardians by Giants for Matt Wilkinson, pick
