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SAN DIEGO — Joey Bart, once considered the likely successor to Buster Posey as the San Francisco Giants’ catcher, was designated for assignment Sunday.

San Francisco made the move to open a roster spot for 28-year-old right-hander Daulton Jefferies, who started against San Diego in his first major league appearance since May 18, 2022, with Oakland.

Now 27, Bart was selected by the Giants with the No. 2 pick in the 2018 amateur draft. Bart played in 162 games over four seasons with San Francisco, hitting .219 in 457 at-bats with 11 homers, 38 RBIs and 178 strikeouts.

San Francisco had been carrying two other catchers in addition to Bart: Patrick Bailey and Tom Murphy.

Jefferies’ contract was selected from Triple-A Sacramento.

the 2019 World Series MVP whose career was derailed by injuries, officially was listed by Major League Baseball on Saturday as being retired.

This had been the expected outcome for quite some time, but it was unclear when — and how — word would emerge. In August, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Strasburg had decided not to try to resume pitching.

Strasburg, 35, was a hard-throwing right-hander who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft and briefly rose to stardom, leading the franchise to the first championship in Washington Nationals history

But he has not pitched since June 9, 2022 — his only start that season, which lasted 4⅔ innings before going back on the injured list.

He had surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, a nerve and blood disorder that involves removing a rib and two neck muscles.

Strasburg has thrown only 528 pitches in the majors since signing a $245 million, seven-year contract in December 2019 and did not report to spring training in 2023 or 2024.