At the end of June 2025, the San Francisco Giants signed longtime Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes to a minor league deal.
The deal made headlines because Barnes was a hated rival of the Giants for years, fans were intrigued that he was joining the Orange and Black.
Since then, he hasn’t been heard from much at AAA Sacramento. He’s hitting .207 in nine games with the River Cats thus far.
Those numbers don’t pop off the page, but the Giants are still making a grave mistake keeping Barnes in AAA. They need to call him up as soon as possible.
Barnes is An Upgrade At Two Positions
First and foremost, the Giants should slot Barnes in as their backup catcher immediately.
Their current backup catcher, Andrew Knizner, is batting only .178 with 1 home run and 2 RBI in 17 games on the season. Knizner hit .167 with the Texas Rangers last season. He clearly has struggled with the bat for a while.
Barnes is a clear and obvious upgrade as a hitter. In 2024 with the World Series winning Dodgers, Barnes hit .264. He has a .223 career average, nothing crazy, but very solid for a backup catcher.
Not only that, but Barnes is a very versatile player and a solid defender wherever he plays. He can slot in as a backup second baseman to Casey Schmitt. He has even shown he can fill in at first base if needed.
There’s an argument that he’s also an upgrade over backup second baseman Brett Wisely anyway, who is only hitting .208 on the season.
Barnes is a proven, veteran player who was an above average depth player a year ago. And he’s an upgrade over two players that the Giants are currently rostering. He can even help mentor the still-young Patrick Bailey better than any catcher he’s played with to this point.
What are the Giants waiting for?
Giants Sign Another Dodgers Catcher
Austin Barnes isn’t the only former Dodger, fallen from grace, that the Giants have added to their minor league system in recent days.
On Monday July 28, 2025, the Giants signed Diego Cartaya to a minor league deal after he was released by the Minnesota Twins.
Cartaya used to be a top-25 prospect in all of baseball, as recently as 2023. But he was cut loose by the Dodgers and Twins after struggling to hit at the AAA level. Cartaya has a .230 average in affiliated baseball and a .115 batting average at AAA.
Cartaya is still only 23. So, he has plenty of time left in his physical prime to unlock the upside that made him a top prospect in baseball just a few short years ago.
He’s less likely than Barnes to make an impact at the big league level this season, given that the Giants currently have 6 catchers in AAA Sacramento.
Those catchers include Barnes, Thomas Gavello, Sam Huff, Zach Morgan, Logan Porter, and Max Stassi. Porter and Huff have already gotten their shots at the Giants backup catcher job this season.
What do you think, Giants fans? Should San Francisco call up Austin Barnes? Was Diego Cartaya a good pickup?
The San Francisco Giants Should Call Up This Two-Time World Series Champion