Giants designate former No. 2 overall pick for assignment

The Giants have designated catcher Joey Bart for assignment, thus creating 26-man and 40-man roster space for Daulton Jefferies, whose contract selection was reported on Saturday.

The move likely marks the end of Bart’s time in San Francisco, which began with great fanfare when the Giants selected the backstop with the second overall pick of the 2018 draft.  

Widely considered a top-tier prospect coming out of Georgia Tech, getting drafted by the Giants added another layer of expectation onto Bart since he was now viewed as the heir apparent to franchise legend Buster Posey.

Bart continued to place in the top-100 prospect rankings as recently as 2022, yet after posting solid numbers in his first two pro seasons, the catcher was promoted to the majors in 2020 without any Triple-A time. 

The lack of a minor league season in 2020 kept Bart from any more minor league seasoning, but even though the Giants liked what they saw of Bart at their alternate training site, he didn’t look ready for the Show while hitting .233/.288/.320 over his first 111 MLB plate appearances.

Posey’s decision to opt out of the 2020 season left a hole for the Giants at the catching position, but he returned with spectacular numbers in 2021 in what ended up being the 12th and final season of his Cooperstown-worthy career.  

Bart played in only two games in the majors in 2021 but still couldn’t seize the job with Posey retired, as Bart hit .215/.296/.364 in 291 PA in 2022. Injuries further hampered Bart in 2023 as he struggled to a .528 OPS over 95 PA in the majors, and Patrick Bailey’s ascension to the starting catcher role essentially served as the writing on the wall for Bart’s chances of sticking in San Francisco.

Trade speculation has followed Bart for well over a year, though since he is now out of minor league options, teams might have been waiting to force the Giants’ hand with a DFA rather than work out a trade.  

It doesn’t seem likely that Bart will pass through waivers without a claim, and it’s possible he might not even end up far outside San Francisco — NBC Sports Bay Area’s Taylor Wirth reports that the Athletics are among the many teams who have scouted Bart.

Now 27 years old, Bart has a career .219/.288/.335 slash line over 503 PA in the Show, and a .274/.357/.434 slash over 554 Triple-A plate appearances.  Those minor league numbers are a little underwhelming, considering how Bart played in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.  

Bart has also struck out 28.34 percent of the time in Triple-A, as he has yet to figure out how to make either consistent contact or quality contact against even minor league pitching, let alone MLB hurlers.

With this in mind, it is far from certain that Bart might enjoy a post-hype breakout with a change of scenery.  Simply sticking as a big-league regular would be a good outcome given how inconsistent Bart’s pro career has been. 

Given his prospect pedigree, he’ll certainly get some kind of opportunity from one of the many teams in need of catching depth.