Canadian update: Matt Wilkinson dealt, Bo Naylor optioned as San Francisco and Cleveland complete trade
In return, the Guardians sent the 29th overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft and Canadian pitching prospect Matt Wilkinson to the Giants.
Wilkinson excelled during his first season at the professional level, split between Single-A and High-A in the Guardians farm system. In 24 starts, split between the two levels, Wilkinson went 8-6 with a 1.90 ERA and 0.91 WHIP, holding opposing batters to a .169 average against. Wilkinson was downright dominant, recording 174 strikeouts across 118 2/3 innings pitched.
The southpaw did not find the same success in 2025, returning to the High-A Lake County Captains. Over 25 starts, Wilkinson posted a 4-9 with a 4.24 ERA and 1.38 WHIP, seeing opponents’ batting average shoot up to .249, and his strikeouts dropped from 174 to 117 as the league adjusted to the left-hander.
The #SFGiants new prospect Matt Wilkinson is off to an impressive start this season. 2.60 FIP, 11.4 K/9. He’s a high strikeout guy.
He’s just 23-years-old. Fangraphs had him as Cleveland’s 13th best prospect entering this year.
Before the 2026 regular season, Wilkinson took part in the World Baseball Classic, competing with Canada for the first time in his professional career. The 23-year-old opened eyes in the tournament, throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings, including two shutout innings against the United States of America in Canada’s quarterfinal loss.
Entering the top of the eighth inning, Wilkinson retired Alex Bregman and Roman Anthony before finishing off the inning with a strikeout of Cal Raleigh, who hit 60 home runs a season ago. In the ninth inning, Wilkinson capped off his tournament by striking out two-time National League Most Valuable Player Bryce Harper. After falling behind in the count 3-0, Wilkinson fought back to a full count before retiring Harper on a 77 MPH slider.
Wilkinson has used the momentum he built at the WBC as he leaped to Double-A to start the year. In six starts with the Akron RubberDucks, Wilkinson is 1-2 with a 1.59 ERA and 0.92 WHIP. Across 28 1/3 innings, Wilkinson has struck out 36 batters, finding the swing-and-miss ability he flashed during the 2024 season.
After being acquired, the Giants assigned Wilkinson to the Richmond Flying Squirrels, their Double-A affiliate.
In a corresponding move, after acquiring Bailey, the Guardians optioned Canadian catcher Bo Naylor to Triple-A. Naylor will join the Columbus Clippers after spending a large portion of the past four seasons at the big-league level.
In 28 games this year, Naylor has struggled mightily, batting .143 with two home runs and seven RBIs. The 26-year-old’s on-base percentage sits at .200, and he has struck out at 23.3% clip.
The trip to the minor leagues will hopefully get Naylor back to the form he showcased when he first arrived in Cleveland during the 2023 season. During 67 games that year, Naylor batted .237 with a .339 on-base percentage to go along with 11 home runs and 32 RBIs.
For his career, Naylor has produced a slash line of .199/.279/.651, hitting 40 career home runs across his 1003 at-bats.