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San Francisco Giants’ Joey Bart (21) puts his arm around San Francisco Giants’ Camilo Doval (75) after the last out against the Philadelphia Phillies in the ninth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
LOS ANGELES — It didn’t take long for the San Francisco Giants to find a suitor for Joey Bart.
Bart, the former No. 2 overall pick who was designated for assignment Sunday, was traded Tuesday to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who parted with a 21-year-old pitching prospect for the privilege of jumping ahead of the waiver wire.
San Francisco received right-hander Austin Strickland, the Pirates’ eighth-round pick in last year’s draft. He has yet to pitch in pro ball.
The Giants had a week to find a trade partner for Bart after DFAing him in order to add Daulton Jefferies to the 40-man roster before Sunday’s series finale in San Diego, or else he would have been placed on unconditional release waivers, where any team would have the opportunity to claim him.
In Pittsburgh, Bart should have a better path to playing time than he did in San Francisco, where he had fallen behind Patrick Bailey and Tom Murphy in the organizational depth chart. Without Bart, Blake Sabol and Jackson Reetz represent the catching depth at Triple-A Sacramento.
The Pirates have their own former first-round pick as their starter behind the plate, Henry Davis, the first overall pick in 2021, but his backup, Yasmani Grandal, has been sidelined with plantar fasciitis since spring training. If Pittsburgh wanted to send Bart to the minor leagues, he would have to be DFA’d again.
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