3 teams that should try to revive Joey Bart’s career after being DFA’d by Giants

The San Francisco Giants drafted Joey Bart with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft thinking he'd be Buster Posey's heir apparent behind the plate. Filling those shoes entirely would be almost impossible, but Bart had the tools to be a star catcher in this league. Or so they thought.

Bart was given the chance to play often during the shortened 2020 season when Posey opted out of the season, but he put up a 68 OPS+ in 33 games played. He got the chance to play a lot in the 2022 campaign with Posey retired, but he had an 87 OPS+ in 97 games. He was better, but still subpar as a hitter.

Last season was seemingly Bart's last chance to prove himself. He was San Francisco's primary catcher for the first two months of the season but simply didn't hit. He wound up posting a .528 OPS overall. With that in mind, he spent most of the season in the minors.

While Bart was out of the way, Patrick Bailey emerged and proved he was the best option behind the plate for San Francisco. With the team adding Tom Murphy in free agency, Bart's path to playing time in San Francisco got that much trickier. He had the advantage of not having options, but the Giants clearly didn't care about that as the team DFA'd him on Sunday. With Bart available for free, these three teams should pounce to try and help him revive his career.

The team across the Bay should try and revive Joey Bart's career

There isn't much to look forward to for Oakland Athletics fans nowadays. Zack Gelof looked great as a rookie last season, Mason Miller should be awesome in relief, but there isn't much else. With not much going on in Oakland, they should give Bart a chance across the Bay.

Shea Langeleirs is the starter, and he should be given a chance to play after being a huge piece in the Matt Olson trade. However, Langeliers, like Bart, has struggled when given a chance to play. He had just a .681 OPS last season in 135 games played as Oakland's primary catcher, awfully similar to Bart.

Backing Langeliers up is Kyle McCann, a 26-year-old who is not one of Oakland's top 30 prospects according to MLB Pipeline and a player who has just a .726 OPS in his minor league career. Bart certainly has a higher ceiling than McCann, and considering how putrid Oakland is, they'd be foolish to not give him a look.

Worst case scenario, if it doesn't work out, they don't have to commit long-term. If it does, they have their new catcher of the future.

The Tigers should try to revive Joey Bart's career

The Detroit Tigers are a team many view as a sleeper to win the AL Central division. It won't take much considering how bad that division is, but it's a step in the right direction for a Tigers team that hasn't made the postseason since 2014.

For the Tigers to get to where they want to go, their offense is going to have to be better. They were just 28th in the league in runs scored last season. Additions of players like Mark Canha and Gio Urshela should help, as should the debut of Colt Keith, but an area where Detroit has to improve offensively is from the catcher position.

Tigers catchers ranked 24th in the majors with a 77 WRC+ last season. Bart hasn't hit much in his career, but perhaps a change of scenery can change that. Power hitting catcher Jake Rogers should see a bulk of the playing time, but Carson Kelly, a player who has been a below-average hitter for most of his career, is easily replaceable.

Kelly, like Bart, was a highly-touted prospect. He was a big piece of the trade that sent Paul Goldschmidt from the Diamondbacks to the Cardinals. It didn't work out for Kelly in Arizona, and in an 18-game stint with the Tigers last season he had just a .540 OPS.

Both of these catchers are trying to revive their careers, but Kelly has played in more games than Bart has at-bats in the majors. Kelly is what he is, while Bart has yet to play more than 100 games in a MLB season. Give the unproven guy with more upside a chance. He can't be much worse than Kelly has been in his career anyway.

The Pirates should try to revive Joey Bart's career

Like the Tigers, the Pittsburgh Pirates are a young team trying to make their mark. The NL Central isn't as bad as the AL Central, but it's a very winnable division without a clear favorite. The Pirates are certainly not favorites, but they have a puncher's chance at the very least, especially with the team getting off to a 4-0 start.

For the Pirates to get to where they want to go, they're going to have to improve their offense behind the plate. Starting Henry Davis behind the plate this season will obviously help with that, but the backup catcher spot is still lacking.

With Endy Rodriguez set to miss the season, Jason Delay is the clear backup for Pittsburgh right now. While Delay provides some value as a good pitch framer, he provides almost nothing offensively. He has just a .604 OPS in 127 big league games over the past two seasons, a mark that Bart would easily beat.

Bart would have less of a chance to break through as Pittsburgh's full-time starting catcher with Davis and Rodriguez being highly touted themselves, but at least for this season, he can break through as a backup. If he plays well with semi-regular playing time, he might have a future spot elsewhere.