Giants’ top pick Bailey signs, adds to catching depth
The Giants are as loaded as it gets in the catching department, and they officially added another catcher to the depth chart Wednesday by signing their firstround draft pick, Patrick Bailey.
Bailey is expected to be added to the Giants’ 60man player pool and join sixtime AllStar and threetime World Series champion Buster Posey along with Joey Bart, the second overall pick in the 2018 draft.
The Giants took Bailey 13th overall last month. The slot value for the selection was $4,197,300, and the Giants signed him for $3.8 million, according to MLB.com.
The Giants must stay within their $9.2 million pool for their seven draft picks and earlier had signed lefty Kyle Harrison of De La Salle High in Concord for $2.5 million. Harrison was a thirdround pick (85th overall), a position with a slot value of $710,000 — the Giants paid more than three times that amount to keep him from honoring his scholarship offer at UCLA.
Bailey is a switchhitter from North Carolina State who batted .302 with 29 homers, a .411
onbase percentage and .568 slugging average in twoplus seasons.
Without a minorleague season, Bailey is expected to train at an alternate site (West Sacramento) rather than at Oracle Park, with players in the Giants’ pool who aren’t on the bigleague roster.
The Giants are leaning toward opening the season with two catchers, according to president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, and that presumably means Posey and either Rob Brantly or Tyler Heineman.
Posey is signed through the 2021 season with a club option for 2022. With rosters expanding to 26 and the possibility of a universal designated hitter becoming a fixture in the future, the Giants envision rosters with two frontline catchers and, while valuing versatility, have indicated Bart would be learning to play first base.
John Shea covers the Giants for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: jshea@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnSheaHey