Ex-Dodgers catcher's ugly 2025 season got even worse after Giants release

Austin Barnes was the second to go in a shocking forced exodus for two of the Dodgers' longest-tenured players in May. Chris Taylor was dumped on May 18 to keep Hyeseong Kim on the roster with Tommy Edman's return from the IL, and Barnes followed two days later, when LA called up No. 1 prospect Dalton Rushing to take his spot as the Dodgers' backup catcher.

Taylor was quick to sign a new major league deal with the Angels; he's since been on the IL twice with a fractured hand and was batting .189 with a .664 OPS in between stints. Barnes wasn't so lucky, and he had to settle for a minor-league deal with the Giants.

The Giants seem to have a penchant for picking up discarded former Dodgers catchers, because they also added former top prospect Diego Cartaya, who the Dodgers traded to the Twins for a single minor leaguer, was released by Minnesota after 20 games, then signed a minor-league deal with San Francisco.

Maybe Cartaya's tenure there will last longer than Barnes', because Barnes was quietly released on Aug. 1, per the Giants' transactions log.

Former veteran Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes released by the Giants after minor-league signing

Barnes was initially sent to the Giants' Rookie-level squad, spent three games there, and batted .167 with a .611 OPS. He moved up to Triple-A on July 8, but only played in 10 games, batted .212 with a .509 OPS and zero extra-base hits. Patrick Bailey and Andrew Knizer have been disappointing as the Giants' major league battery, but there's no way that San Francisco would dump either of them in favor of a catcher batting .200 in the minors, and especially not when they have a top-20 prospect alongside him on the Triple-A roster (No. 16 Jesus Rodriguez, who just freshly arrived from the Yankees).

It's been clear for years that the Barnes' career is coming to a painfully slow end. While it would be admirable, in a way, if he were to keep looking for more ways to get major league opportunities, it might be time for him to call it a day.

He could probably have a future as a bench coach or one of those nebulous "special advisor" roles with the Dodgers going forward, provided he's not too salty about the DFA and release this year. It's been clear through his time in LA that he works well with pitchers, so maybe he can harness that into a successful post-playing venture.