When Buster Posey announced his shock retirement at the close of the 2021 season, fans were dismayed—but also tentatively hopeful. It seemed that, despite protestations to the contrary, the San Francisco Giants’ front office had seen this coming; they had taken two catchers with their top picks in two of the last three drafts (Joey Bart at #2 overall in 2018 and Patrick Bailey at #13 overall in 2020).
Of the two, Bart was the more lauded pick. A Georgia Tech product, he won the ACC Baseball Player of the Year in 2018 and the Buster Posey (Johnny Bench) award—given to college baseball’s top catcher.