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Report: SF Giants catcher Joey Bart is coming up in trade talks

Former SF Giants top prospect Joey Bart's name "has been mentioned" in trade talks before the deadline, according to a report by Jon Morosi.
Marc Delucchi|
Report: SF Giants catcher Joey Bart is coming up in trade talks
Report: SF Giants catcher Joey Bart is coming up in trade talks

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San Francisco Giants

The SF Giants have only made one trade so far this deadline season, but president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi is still involved in several conversations to potentially make another deal. It seems that catcher Joey Bart is at the center of some trade talks, according to a report by MLB Network's Jon Morosi.

Bart is an obvious trade candidate, given the emergence of rookie catchers Blake Sabol and Patrick Bailey. While he began the past two seasons expected to be the team's primary catcher, he has been relegated to the minors each year. Bart has hit just .231/.286/.295 with five doubles, two walks, and 21 strikeouts in 84 MLB plate appearances this season. Since returning to Triple-A, he has continued to struggle, managing a meager .230/.326/.369 triple-slash in the incredibly hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. 

Despite his struggles, Bart made significant strides defensively this season and still possesses the massive power potential that once made him a top prospect. Given how many teams are struggling to get production from their backstops, it's easy to see why plenty of organizations might want to take a flier on Bart. Earlier on Tuesday, Joel Sherman of the NY Post reported that the Rays, Diamondbacks, and Marlins were scouring the trade market for catchers, making them the most likely landing spots.

With that said, the Giants may be more hesitant to move Bart without receiving something significant in return given their limited catching depth. Sabol has struggled defensively behind the plate, and Bailey has never caught more than 90 games in a season. San Francisco may have enough confidence in catcher Ricardo Genovés, who nearly made his big-league debut earlier this season, to move forward with him as the third catcher on the organization's depth chart. However, the SF Giants may be worried about relying on such a young group down the stretch of a potential postseason race.

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Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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