Prospect Retrospective: Marco Luciano

 Marco Luciano was claimed off waivers today by the Pirates.  While losing Marco Luciano from the Giants organization was almost a foregone conclusion for a long time now, this was a surprise because the Giants never announced he was DFA'd, probably because they hoped to sneak him through and keep him in the organization.  Maybe they thought if they DFA'd him this close to the Rule 5 Draft, teams would already have their 40-man rosters set and would not have room to add Luciano.  Since he is a waiver claim and remains out of options, the Pirates must keep him on their 40-man roster all season or DFA him for some other team to claim.  And so the merry-go-round begins.  It's a hard pill to swallow for Giants fans after Luciano was at or near the top of Giants prospect rankings for close to a decade.  Let's take a retrospective look at Luciano's Giants prospect journey.

Marco Luciano was just 16 years old when he signed an international free agent contract with the Giants for $2.6 M in July 2018.  If I remember right he was ranked as the #2 or 3 international prospect in that signing cycle.  

2019(AZL):  .322/.438/.616, 10 HR, 8 SB, 8 SB, 15.2 BB%, 21.9 K%, 178 PA.

2019(Short- Season A):  .212/.316/.333, 13.2 BB%, 15.8 K%, 38 PA.

Luciano skipped the DSL and started his pro career in the Arizona rookie league and put up terrific numbers earning a late-season cup of coffee with the more advanced Northwest League.  After a long series of failures of high-priced international signings, Luciano finally seemed like the real deal.

2021(A):  .278/.373/.556, 18 HR, 5 SB, 12.3 BB%, 22.1 K%, 308 PA.

2021(A+):  .217/.283/.295, HR, 6.9 BB%, 37.2 K%, 145 PA.

Like many prospects, the lost 2020 season to COVID probably hurt Luciano's development.  Instead of his age 18 season in A ball, it became his age 19 season plus the 2020 season counted against his service time for Rule 5 Draft eligibility.  The A+ numbers were a bit deflating but an aggressive promotion for his age.  Again, it could be seen as a preview/prep for his next season.

2022(A+):  .263/.339/.459, 10 HR, 9.6 BB%, 22.2 K%, 230 PA.  

Numbers a bit less dazzling but still solid for his age at the level.  He also missed some time with back problems if I remember right. He was added to the 40-man roster in the offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.  I am not sure why he was Rule 5 eligible then as it looks like he only had 4 years of service time even with counting the lost 2020 season.

2023(AA):  .228/.339/.450, 11 HR, 6 SB, 14.4 BB%, 31.3 K%, 242 PA.

2023(AAA):  .209/.321/.418, 4 HR, 12.8 BB%, 35.9 K%, 78 PA.

2023(MLB):  .231/.333/.308, 13.3 BB%, 37.8 K%, 45 PA.  

The better pitching at higher levels seemed to catch up with him as his BA approached the Mendoza Line and his K rates soared.  This season burned an option.

2024(AAA):  .250/.380/.380, 10 HR, 4 SB, 16.8 BB%, 26.8 K%, 384 PA.

2024(MLB):  .211/.259/.303, 6.2 BB%, 34.6 K%, 81 PA.

AAA K rate improved to manageable rates but the power numbers were disappointing, especially playing in an extreme hitter-friendly environment.  This was the season  of the horrific series of middle infield errors that forced a move to the outfield and probably sealed his fate with the Giants organization.  

2025(AAA):  .214/.335/.413, 23 HR, 10 SB, 15.3 BB%, 30.6 K%, 555 PA.  

The power rebounded but the K rate went up and the BA cratered again.  Given the Giants crowded OF situation and having run out of options for 2026, the writing was on the wall.  Luciano was not going to the the first big international bonus baby to hit it big for the Giants.  

Comment:  It's hard to say exactly what went wrong.  Probably several things.  It appears the missed development season of 2020 was a big factor.  The Giants also probably kept him at shortstop too long after the industry consensus deemed him to not have the defensive tools to play short at the MLB level.  And maybe the bat was just not as good as it looked at lower levels and got exposed by better pitching at higher levels.  In any event it's a shame to lose him.  For all of the talk in the FZ era about integrating players development throughout the system, Marco Luciano and Joey Bart stand out as examples of developmental failure in the system with tragic consequences to the MLB team.