Guardians' Patrick Bailey trade officially finalized as Giants draft tough lefty at No. 29

On May 9, the Cleveland Guardians kick-started trade season by trading away pitching prospect Matt Wilkinson and their Competitive Balance Round A pick (No. 29 overall) in this year’s draft to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for catcher Patrick Bailey. 

At the time, the trade led to some huge ramifications for the Guardians, as it brought about an end to Bo Naylor’s time on Cleveland’s roster while also stopping Wilkinson’s ascent through Cleveland’s system. 

But that trade gained a new tentacle earlier today when the Giants selected high school left-hander Carson Bolemon with that pick in this year’s MLB Draft. 

While Bailey’s been a great addition to the Guardians’ roster who has helped provide some much-needed stability behind the plate, Cleveland tends to hold on to their draft picks given they provide them with an easy (and cheap) way to build their roster from within. 

Now the Giants are going to get that luxury thanks to their selection of Bolemon, MLB Pipeline's pre-draft 24th-ranked prospect. This slight steal adds Gatorade's South Carolina prep player of the year to their coffer - a strikeout-heavy arm who can touch 96 and nicely complements ... well, Wilkinson in the system.

Giants selection of tough lefty at No. 29 adds pressure on Guardians, Patrick Bailey 

Bolemon's potential production will go hand in hand with what Wilkinson has done since being traded. The 23-year-old posted a 2.40 ERA in 15 innings at Double-A before getting promoted to Triple-A, where he’s posted a 5.02 ERA in 14 1/3 innings. 

On the other side, Bailey entered the weekend hitting .213/.260/.348 with two home runs, eight RBI and four doubles. 

Not the greatest offensive performance ever, but much better than the .146/.213/.183 slashline he had in 30 games with the Giants prior to being traded to Cleveland. 

But most of his value comes from what he does behind the plate, as ranks in the 95th percentile in caught stealing rate and pop time while helping guide Guardians pitchers to a 4.11 ERA in games he’s behind the dish. 

The latest example of that came on Thursday when he helped guide Gavin Williams through seven strong innings in Cleveland's win over the Twins.

Hopefully, Bolemon's path is at least slow enough to take his progression out from in front of Guardians fans' faces. Regardless, this trade will continue to evolve after Saturday's draft added an asterisk to it.

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