Giants draft Patrick Bailey

The San Francisco Giants had been connected to a catcher in the first round of Wednesday's major league baseball draft.
The Giants didn't disappoint those predictions by position, but it was a mild surprise with the catcher that the team selected in Patrick Bailey of North Carolina State.
Not that I'm disappointed in Bailey, who was rated as the top catcher in the class and most mock drafts had Bailey rated as a top ten player, but the Giants had been noted by many mock drafts as interested in California high school backstop Tyler Soderstrom, but in those mocks, Bailey was likely off the board by the Giants choice.

Bailey hit .296 with six homers and 20 RBI in the shortened college season in which Bailey played only seventeen games.
The 6'2 Bailey has been credited with being the best defensive catcher in college baseball with a plus arm (as shown in the video below) and his six homers in seventeen games show that he does have power, but .296 in college is respectable, but not extraordinary and there may be questions about hitting for average in the majors.

The question asked by many Giants followers about Bailey is why him when the Giants already have Joey Bart in the system with both selected out of ACC colleges (Bart from Georgia Tech) in two of three drafts?
Bart, however, will turn 24 in December to Bailey's 21 and from what I saw (and I didn't put nearly as much time into looking at the draft prospects this year) from and about Bailey, the Giants decided to take the best player on the board and not worry about position.

This is what successful teams do in the draft, especially in the MLB draft as developmental time can vary, but there is one concern- college catchers usually are moved quickly as their prime can be short and they are often close to the majors coming out of the college game, so Bart and Bailey could find themselves arriving within a year or two of each other with a team that still could have Buster Posey for a little while as Posey is signed through 2021 with a club option for 2022 at twenty-two million that I would think (as of this writing) that the Giants aren't likely to pick up.
I do wonder a little about that, but if Bart, who should get there first, is hitting well and establishing himself as a starter and Bailey is moving through the minors quickly as a top catching prospect, the Giants should be able to move Bailey as catching prospects that are close to the bigs are always in demand.

All and all, I'm rarely going to rap a team for taking the best available player and if this was a situation with two players at any other position than catcher, it would be scarcely mentioned.
It'll be interesting to see how the catching situation eventually plays out, but dealing from a position of strength is always preferable and part of building (and maintaining) a winning program.
The Giants hope to see that problem of too much talent arriving sooner than later.

I'm hoping to find time this morning to look at the Indians' pick with a very familiar name.
Should time be short and it may with some evening responsibilities, I'll write on it tomorrow.