The Giants released veteran catcher Austin Barnes from their Triple-A affiliate, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. He’d signed a minor league deal with San Francisco after being designated for assignment and released by the Giants’ archrival Dodgers back in June.

Barnes, 36 in the offseason, played in parts of 11 seasons with the Dodgers but got into only 13 games this season before being cut loose. He tallied 44 plate appearances, during which he batted just .214/.233/.286. He totaled a similar 46 plate appearances with the Giants’ top affiliate after signing there and posted a .205/.326/.205 slash in that short audition. He’ll now head back to the market in search of other opportunities.

Barnes has always been more of a glove-first catcher, whose primary offensive contributions have come via his plate discipline. He’s a career .223/.322/.318 hitter who’s walked in just over 11% of his plate appearances in the majors. Barnes had a passable year at the plate in 2024 but hasn’t been an average or better hitter since 2022. Over his past 400 plate appearances in the big leagues, he’s batted .217/.283/.272 (57 wRC+).

Though he can’t be expected to return to even his modest career rate stats with the bat at this stage of his career, Barnes is a seasoned backstop who has worked with dozens of high-profile pitchers over his career — most notably, of course, Dodgers icon Clayton Kershaw. That experience, paired with his reputation as a teammate and game-caller, figures to get him a look with a team in need of some catching depth down the stretch.