SAN FRANCISCO — Jesús Rodríguez and Daniel Susac, a pair of 24-year-old rookie catchers, have played a combined 15 games in the majors. Realistically, neither will match the defensive capabilities of Patrick Bailey, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner and arguably the best defender in the sport.

But as of Saturday morning, when Bailey was traded to the Cleveland Guardians for a draft pick and a pitching prospect, Rodríguez and Susac will be tasked with running the show behind the plate.

President of baseball operations Buster Posey said Saturday the trade wasn’t an indictment of Bailey, who has struggled at the plate early this season.

“I think it’s more the confidence that we have in Jesús Rodríguez and Daniel Susac and just the strides that we feel like, as an organization, they’ve made defensively,” said president of baseball operations Buster Posey. “Both of them are swinging the bat well. As you noted, not necessarily only Patty who’s been off to a slow start offensively this year, but just as a whole, just trying to find ways to get more runs on the board.”

Posey declined to share the details of how the trade materialized, but did say there was “a lot of interest” in Bailey, who was notified following Friday’s 5-2 win and joined the Guardians in Cleveland on Saturday.

“He was a pro,” Posey said. “He was a pro this whole last week with not even starting like he normally does.”

The Giants are still several days away from the Susac-Rodríguez era as Susac is currently rehabbing from right elbow ulnar neuritis with Triple-A Sacramento. He’ll likely jointhe Giants on their upcoming three-city road trip.

As for Bailey, who lost playing time to both rookies this season? He’ll get a new opportunity with manager Stephen Vogt and the Cleveland Guardians, one of the best possible landing spots for his elite defensive services.

“Patty’s importance to our team kind of speaks for itself,” said third baseman Matt Chapman. “He’s been great behind the plate for us for a few years now. Obviously, the offensive struggles happened. But you see Jesús come up, and obviously, we’ve got Susac coming up too, whenever he’s ready. They played really well.

“I think Buster liked what he saw in those guys. Sometimes you have a lot of good players at the same position. I think he was ready to make a change.”

Despite Bailey’s well-documented struggles on offense, it’s hard to overstate just how valuable he was on defense. He already has two Gold Gloves, and there’s an argument he should have three. The automated ball-strike system (ABS) has sapped some of his value, but he’s still been the game’s best framer with an elite pop time.

There are also unquantifiable skills such as calling pitches and guiding a pitching staff. Take Friday, for example. Bailey entered as a defensive replacement for Rodríguez and guided Caleb Kilian through a rocky ninth inningwhen he clearly didn’t have his best command.

“He’s pretty much the only guy I’ve thrown to, except a couple different guys here and there,” said Logan Webb, who landed on the injured list for the first time since 2021. “But it’s been me and Patty for a long time. Obviously, I’m going to miss him. I’m going to miss him more as a friend, but I’m excited for him.

“He gets to be a little closer to home. I’ve never played on the East Coast. I’m from here, so I don’t know what it feels like to be far away. I did in the minor leagues, and it was hard. But I’m happy for him. Sometimes a fresh start is the best thing that can happen.”

Bailey had clearly lost his grasp on the starting job. Susac started to get more playing time over Bailey after starting his career 11-for-23 at the plate before landing on the injured list. Rodríguez was promoted earlier this week along with top prospect Bryce Eldridge, getting starts at catcher on Monday, Tuesday and Friday.

“A little bit surprised, but at the same time, you kind of see the writing on the wall,” Bailey told reporters in Cleveland.

One lingering question with this trade is whether it would have happened if the Giants’ offense hadn’t been the worst in the majors up to this point.

While Bailey had been objectively bad at the plate, the Giants’ offensive struggles were not on his shoulders. If the likes of Rafael Devers, Willy Adames and Chapman were clicking, Bailey’s struggles would’ve been minimized.

“It’s a tough hypothetical,” Posey said. “It’s hard to say. Again, more so than detracting from some of the shortcomings for Bailey offensively, I’d rather just focus on Jesús swinging the bat well in Triple-A, and then Daniel with a nice start here. Hopefully, that’s some momentum that they can carry going forward.”

In time, the Giants will have to decide if they continue rolling with a three-catcher mix when Susac returns from injury.

Given Rodríguez and Susac’s lack of major-league experience, 33-year-old veteran catcher Eric Haase could be a valuable resource to help the rookies navigate their first season in the majors. Rodríguez’s defensive versatility makes keeping Haase on the roster more feasible, but the impending return of center fielder Harrison Bader adds to the complexity of the roster calculus.

When asked about having two rookie catchers take up most of the playing time, Vitello said that the pitching staff has “a little bit of a responsibility” to help bring them along. Webb said throwing to Rodríguez and Susac is “definitely going to take a little bit of time,” noting that there were “a decent amount of shakes” when the rookies caught him this year.

“But it was the same thing when Patty first came up,” Webb said. “I wore PitchCom when Patty came up. It’s not that I don’t trust them. I know what I want to throw, or I have something in my head.”

Webb noted that it’s not uncommon for teams to be very successful with a young catcher behind the plate, pointing out how the Arizona Diamondbacks went the 2023 World Series with Gabriel Moreno. Of course, as one reporter pointed out to Webb, there’s another example of a rookie catcher leading his team to a championship.

Sixteen years later, that former catcher is putting the responsibility of the team he runs into the hands of two rookies.

“Those two work their butts off. It’s been fun to be around them a lot. I haven’t thrown into either of them a ton, but I think it takes some time,” Webb said. “I’m sure if you went back to 2010 and you asked Matt [Cain] or one of those guys, they’d probably say the same thing about Buster.”