The San Francisco Giants just made a crafty move to show their intent in the NL West race.

Recently, the Dodgers had released catcher Austin Barnes after 11 years in Los Angeles that included two World Series titles.

On Sunday, the Giants signed Barnes to a minor-league deal.

Barnes will reportedly head to San Francisco's spring training complex to ramp up before heading to the minors in hopes of returning to MLB.

The Giants haven't had great luck at catcher this season. Patrick Bailey can defend but struggles at the plate, and Andrew Knizner isn't much of a backup.

Barnes' bat hasn't been good for a while, but he's a trusted veteran presence and defensive master of the position.

At 35 years old now, Barnes is likely chasing one last chance at the postseason. That it comes in the same division as his only MLB team might appeal to him or not, but the reality was, if he wanted to keep playing, he probably had to take this chance.

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The Giants' front office is led by Buster Posey, who both knows all about catching and also battled with Barnes plenty in his MLB career.

Sometimes in a big game, you just need someone trustworthy behind the plate. Barnes was that for the Dodgers, and Clayton Kershaw specifically, for more than a decade.

Now, he may get a chance to do it in San Francisco.

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