SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Giants traded struggling two-time Gold Glove-winning catcher Patrick Bailey to the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday.
The Giants received minor league left-hander Matt Wilkinson and the 29th pick in the 2026 amateur draft in the trade.
Cleveland optioned Bo Naylor to Triple-A Columbus to make room for Bailey. Naylor has been the Guardians' regular catcher since 2023.
Bailey has been regarded as one of the top defensive catchers in the game thanks in part to his elite pitch-framing skills since being called up in 2023. He leads the majors since 2023 with 69 catcher framing runs and 42 defensive runs saved over the past two-plus seasons.
But his hitting has been an issue and bottomed out this season. Bailey was batting .146 with one homer and five RBIs in 89 plate appearances. His .396 OPS ranked last among 286 players with at least 75 plate appearances this season.
Bailey had become expendable for the Giants with Daniel Susac and Jesus Rodriguez expected to handle most of the catching duties, with Eric Haase as another option. Those players have provided much more offense for the Giants, who enter the day last in the majors in scoring with 3.16 runs per game and tied with the New York Mets for the worst record in the National League.
Bailey, who turns 27 later this month, won Gold Gloves at catcher in 2024 and 2025. He is a career .224 hitter with a .611 OPS.
Naylor had a .237 batting average as a rookie in 2023 but has struggled offensively the past two-plus seasons. His .143 batting average this season is last in the majors among the 29 catchers with at least 90 plate appearances.
His .192 batting average since 2024 is next-to-last among catchers with at least 200 games played.
The Guardians entered the day with a 21-19 record and in first place in the AL Central. Bailey was expected to join the team before first pitch Saturday night against Minnesota. Austin Hedges also has seen steady playing time behind the plate.
The 23-year-old Wilkinson pitched for Canada in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year. He has made six starts this season at Double-A Akron, going 1-2 with a 1.59 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 28 1-3 innings.
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Kansas City Royals' Carter Jensen (22) beats the tag by Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor (23) to score on a single by Nick Loftin during the fourth inning of a baseball game Monday, May 4, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Cleveland Guardians' Bo Naylor crosses the plate past Kansas City Royals catcher Carter Jensen after hitting a three-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
San Francisco Giants' Patrick Bailey walks back to the dugout after striking out against the San Diego Padres during the third inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to revive his struggling government but faced growing calls Saturday to resign after a disastrous set of local and regional elections for his Labour Party.
As the final results came in Saturday, Labour suffered a net loss of more than 1,100 local council seats across England, lost control of several local authorities it had held for decades and was booted from power in Wales after 27 years. Anti-immigration party Reform UK gained over 1,300 seats across England and made significant gains in legislative elections in Wales and Scotland.
It was a blunt verdict from voters in elections widely seen as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he led the center-left party to power less than two years ago.
Here are five things we’ve learned from the elections.
Starmer insisted he would not walk away and "plunge the country into chaos.”
"The right thing to do is rebuild and show the path forward,” Starmer said Saturday. “That’s what I’m going to do in the coming days.”
Starmer’s Cabinet colleagues expressed support, and none of the high-profile Labour politicians considered potential challengers made a move against him. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham have kept quiet so far.
But a growing number of Labour lawmakers urged the prime minister to set a timetable for his departure this year. British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a new election.
“There has to be a timetable,” legislator Clive Betts told the BBC. Another lawmaker, Tony Vaughan, said there should be an “orderly transition of leadership.”
Labour lawmaker Catherine West said she would try to run for party leader if the Cabinet did not remove Starmer by Monday — though she acknowledged she had nowhere near the support of 81 colleagues needed to force a contest.
Starmer tried to demonstrate change on Saturday by bringing back two figures from past Labour governments. He made former Prime Minister Gordon Brown a special envoy on global finance, and appointed the party's ex-deputy leader Harriet Harman an adviser on women and girls.
Starmer is due to make a speech on Monday in an attempt to regain momentum, before the government sets out its legislative plans on Wednesday in a speech delivered by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament.
The elections were a breakthrough for Reform UK, the latest hard-right party led by the veteran nationalist politician Nigel Farage.
Running on an anti-establishment and anti-immigration message, the party won hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England’s north, such as Sunderland, that were solid Labour turf for decades. It also made gains from the Conservatives in areas like the county of Essex, east of London, and increased its vote share in Wales and Scotland, new terrain for the party.
Farage said the results marked a “historic change in British politics.” He said he's confident that “voters who have come to us are not doing it as a short-term protest.”
Reform UK currently holds just eight of the 650 seats in the House of Commons and it’s unclear whether it could repeat its success in a national election.
The elections produced semiautonomous administrations in Scotland and Wales led by parties devoted to independence and the breakup of the United Kingdom — though neither has that policy on the front burner.
The Scottish National Party, which has governed in Edinburgh since 2007, won another term but fell short of a majority, meaning an independence referendum is unlikely. Labour and Reform tied in a distant second place.
Plaid Cymru (The Party of Wales) won the most seats in the Cardiff-based legislature, the Senedd. The party, which has an ambition for Wales to leave the U.K. but no plan to do so anytime soon, fell short of a majority but will likely form the new government. Reform came second and Labour a distant third in one of its most historic heartlands, with outgoing First Minister Eluned Morgan losing her seat.
The economy lies at the heart of Labour’s troubles, as it does for many incumbent governments.
Since ending 14 years of Conservative rule roiled by austerity and the COVID-19 pandemic, Labour has struggled to ease the cost of living and jump-start a sluggish economy against the tough economic backdrop of war in Ukraine and, more recently, Iran. Starmer also has angered supporters with attempts to cut welfare spending, some of which were reversed after Labour revolts.
Some in Labour say the government's achievements, including protections for renters and a higher minimum wage, are going unnoticed. Many blame Starmer, an uninspiring leader distracted by scandals including his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.
But Stephen Houghton, the outgoing leader of Barnsley council in northern England, where Labour lost to Reform, said the problem “goes deeper than the prime minister.”
“This has been coming for 30 years around the country, in post-industrial communities, coastal communities, that have been left behind,” he said. “You can change prime ministers all day long. If you don’t change policy, it’s not going to change.”
The results reflect a fragmentation of U.K. politics after decades of domination by Labour and the Conservative Party, which also suffered major losses on Thursday.
The elections offered voters a rainbow of choices, including the centrist Liberal Democrats and the nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales.
But the big winners were populist insurgents, Reform UK and the Green Party, whose focus has expanded from the environment to social justice and the Palestinian cause under self-described “eco populist” leader Zack Polanski. The Greens won hundreds of council seats from Labour in urban centers and university towns and took control of several local authorities.
Tony Travers, professor of government at the London School of Economics, said the results suggest the next national election, due by 2029, won’t produce a majority for any party.
“So then you’re in the world of, after the election, two or three big minority parties trying to work out how they would govern,” he said — something traditionally considered “very un-British.”
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)
First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney with some of the newly elected SNP MSPs in Edinburgh, Saturday May 9, 2026, following the 2026 Holyrood elections. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)
Observers from the Scottish National Party (SNP) watch as votes are counted for the 2026 Holyrood elections, at Dewars Centre in Perth, Scotland, Friday May 8, 2026. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaks to supporters at Chelmsford City Racecourse, Friday May 8, 2026, in Essex, England, following the 2026 local election results. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks to Labour Party members at Kingsdown Methodist Church Hall, in Ealing, west London, Friday May 8, 2026, a day after the local elections. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)
