Before getting too deep into this blog, I have to admit, it’s only April 25th and there’s still a long way to to go in the 2024 season, but so far, it’s looking the San Francisco Giants might’ve made one of the dumbest trades in a long, long, long, long, mother f***in’ long time. Before discussing this trade and the reason its looking so terrible, we should do a quick recap on the player the Giants gave away, Joey Bart. In 2018, the Giants had an opportunity to pick second overall in the MLB Draft, their highest pick since 1985 when they took Will Clark second overall as well. They’ve never had a first overall pick. So, with that pick, they took a power hitting catcher out of Georgia Tech named Joey Bart. The General Manager at the time was named Bobby Evans, who would be out by the following season when the Giants signed new Presidential of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi after the 2018 season.
Tom Murphy
Bart produced at every level of the minors and also tore it up every year during Spring Training. His introduction to the big leagues came suddenly in the weird Covid-shortened 2020 season after Buster Posey decided to opt out of the season. With no fans in the stands and a sudden unanticipated pressure to produce, Bart hit just .233 in 33 games without a homer and a .288 on-base-percentage. He spent most of 2021 in the minors, continuing to hit well there. Then in 2022, he got an extended opportunity but struggled with a high strikeout rate and low batting average, causing him to get sent down. When he came back up, though, Bart looked much better, reducing his strikeouts dramatically, although he still wasn’t exactly tearing it up. He spent most of 2023 in Triple-A, where he hit just .248 with 6 homers. By this point, even I was about ready to give up on Bart, who was clearly looking like a bust.
However, since he was a 2nd overall pick, the Giants obviously weren’t just going to get rid of him for nothing – or so I thought. Bart was invited to 2024 Spring Training and absolutely raked, hitting .414 with a .975 OPS, one of his best Spring Training performances ever. But, the Giants, still with Farhan Zaidi as the Presidential of Baseball Operations and now Pete Putila as the GM, decided to sign Tom Murphy to a 2-year contract. Murphy was actually with the Giants during 2019 Spring Training, but they decided to cut him. He went to Seattle and hit .273 with 18 home runs that year. That was when the Giants could’ve used him. He continued hit well with the Mariners despite some injury issues that kept him off the field. In 2022, he played in just 14 games and in 2023, 47 games. But the Giants decided to sign him anyway, effectively admitting that they had given up on Joey Bart, since Joey Bart was out of Minor League options and Patrick Bailey was already in line to be the starting catcher. Furthermore, the Giants also had catcher Blake Sabol now in the system since he stayed with the Giants during the entirety of the 2023 season as a Rule 5 pick.
Austin Strickland
Still, after Joey Bart’s Spring Training, the Giants had no choice but him to put him on the roster since they were apparently unable to find an acceptable trade. At this point in time, it looked like he would get the chance to show once and for all if he was capable at the big league level. By giving Joey Bart some at bats, he could hit well, which would improve his trade stock or possibly convince the Giants to hang on him after all. Alternatively, if he hit poorly, well the Giants could say they gave him every opportunity to prove himself. Instead, the Giants gave him precisely zero at bats before trading him to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a relief pitcher named Austin Strickland, an 8th round pick who had yet to appear in a minor league game. Strickland had a 5.28 ERA in 3 seasons at Kentucky.
So, in the end, the Giants basically traded Bart for nothing, because, with all due respect to Strickland, the odds of an 8th round pick making it the big leagues are very slim, and in this case, he hasn’t even pitched in the professional ranks, so there’s no evidence to suggest he is a realistic prospect at this time. Meanwhile, the backup catcher the Giants stuck with, Tom Murphy, is 1 for 18 with 9 strikeouts, zero home runs and a single RBI. The season is still young and he should absolutely improve those numbers. But Joey Bart, who tore up Spring Training as a second overall pick, went to Pittsburgh and gave them an instant jolt with a home run in first at bat. He followed it up with more big hits and at this point in time, is hitting .350 with 3 bombs, 8 RBIs and an OPS of 1.308. He’s also walked 4 times compared to 2 walks for Murphy. I expect Bart’s numbers to slow down a bit and Murphy’s to improve, but so far, this is looking like an absolutely terrible signing and even worse trade.
Joey Bart with the PIttsburgh Pirates
I wonder if Farhan Zaidi was in the front office in 2018 and was part of the Bart draft, would he have traded him for a pitcher who has yet to make his minor league debut? Would he have signed Tom Murphy, or given Bart one more chance to prove himself? Even if they were ready to give up on Bart, wouldn’t you give him a shot to improve his trade value if you’re going to trade him for next to nothing anyway? Imagine what the Giants could’ve gotten for Bart if he had 3 home runs in 20 at bats with a .350 average after tearing it up in Spring Training. Of course, at that point, they might’ve just held on to him and used a killer duo behind the dish of Patrick Bailey and Joey Bart – two first round picks that could’ve created a major threat every day in the lineup at the catching position, and with the DH now in the NL, they could’ve both played on some days.
Maybe I’m dreaming and maybe Bart will go into a huge slump and end up being a complete bust after all, but even if so, the Giants really messed up by letting him go for almost nothing and going all-in on an older often-injured backup catcher instead. I hope in a few months a complete regret making his video and that Tom Murphy starts to really produce and maybe Austin Strickland ends up being a nice prospect. However, at this point in time, there’s no doubt that the way the Bart situation was handled was absolutely terrible. But let me know your thoughts...
