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.
I remember an podcast with Rodger Munster a few years ago where it was flippantly said that if Marco Luciano and Luis Matos don’t become part of the next core Farhan will need to be looking for a new job. And pretty much that’s what happened.
ReplyDeleteHe couldn’t afford a slow development path for players who would likely never end up as stars.
He like any good sabermetrician realized the gamble that either they end up in the majors as stars and he keeps his job if they flopped he was getting fired anyways.
- Fan
LOL Rodger Munster.
DeleteHillarious typo - Fan
DeleteOver the course of 12 months Farhan flubbed the #2 pick in the draft on Bart, a top 2 or 3 IFA signing on Liriano and the #10 pick in the draft on Hunter Bishop. Despite each individual decision making plenty of sense at the time, the Giants got nothing from any of these assets.
ReplyDeleteOne of these is not like the other two. Bishop was beset by a string of brutal injuries during critical development times. I don't think you can blame Farhan for that. I do think there is reason to believe Luciano and Bart's development was mismanaged.
DeleteI was never a fan of the Joey Bart pick. But Bart was the absolute, 100%, concensus #2 pick in '18 draft.
DeleteIf Farhan had reached down to pick a local kid like Nico Hoerner at #2 (who might be the only real superstar from the 1st round) , he'd have been run out of town then and there.
Joey Bart was drafted during Bobby Evans final year as GM
DeleteThe 2028 draft was extremely weak. When you look at the players drafted after Bart, you have to go all the way to the Mariners and Logan Gilbert at #18 to find an impact player. Alec Bohm and Jonathan India started out hot but faded.
DeletePart of Bart's problem was being called up in 2020 when Buster decided not to play. Likewise, in 2022, again Bart was forced into the job when Buster retired early – Bart could have been Posey's backup and learned a lot.
DeleteInteresting how Bart excelled in his first year with the Pirates (121 OPS+ in the half of his MLB season that he played), but things caught up with him this year.
FZ catches the blame for his development because it happened when he was the Boss – the haphazard process was forced upon both of them.
Bart was a pick under Evans...development gaffe under farhan
DeleteThis is exhibit A in the argument for trading Eldridge!
ReplyDeleteGood post Doc, Luciano's failures was caused by a combination of factors. They stubbornly kept him at SS, when scouting reports I read said he had no future at SS. Made no sense. I'm hoping Buster and Randy Winn will do what needs to done to improve their player development in their system. I think this is very important area to improve if they want sustained successful teams. I'm not sure if Joey Bart will turn out as a big miss by the Giants as people think. He improved a little with the bat for the Bucs but his power was underwhelming only 4 hrs..He continues to be below average defensively. Paul Skenes preferred throwing to Henry Davis, who became his personal catcher. My guess is that Bart will end up bouncing around MLB as a backup catcher, nothing wrong with that.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I saw Bart play in San Bernardino I thought he had a grooved swing. Not sure that is fixable.
DeleteSo that may have been more of a problem with pre-draft scouting than player development.
DeleteThis falls on the bungled development plan for Luciano by farhan. He 100% screwed his development. This organization as a whole in fact has failed at developing prospects and that is why we are continuing to be a .500 ball club
ReplyDeleteSome B. S. by management to get fan's into the ballpark in the past is what I felt. We can't say we do not have experienced managers now with all this hiring of coaches with winning records that is happening now. If we don't get to the playoffs now then the Giant's boss needs to spend big money because I see the winning teams in baseball now spend the big dollars to get the best players. Maybe we need a salary cap or ballplayer salary based on last year's performance.
DeleteWhat we need is more smart baseball decisions.
DeleteThe easiest money to spend is called OPM...
DeleteAgree what giants need is good baseball decisions and may I add the farm system continuously producing good young mlb players, similar to the world series era starting in 2010 when Buster Posey burst onto the scene!
DeleteBuster substantially upgraded the farm system with the midseason trades. The Giants now seem to have a steady pipeline to the best international prospects. They are expected to sign another top kid named Luis Hernandez in January. Hopefully the drafts improve. 2025 was a weak draft for the whole league. Hopefully Gavin Kilen's slow start is just that, a slow start.
DeleteJim Bowden of TheAthletic proposes SF trade Jacob Bresnahan and Carson Whisenhunt for 2 years of LHP MacKenzie Gore (27 yo for next season). Bowden suggests that Gore's record is bloated by playing for a bad team (Washington).
ReplyDeleteOther than being older with more experience, is Gore really better than Whisenhunt, who certainly didn't play for a "good" team?
If I'm Buster Posey I make that trade in a split second, but I don't think the Nationals would.
DeleteMaybe for younger and longer control?
DeleteI get the idea but the Nationals are going to want more than Bresnahan and Whiz for Mackenzie Gore with 2 years of control.
DeleteBresnahan seems to be skyrocketing up prospect lists!
DeleteI've seen Bresnahan pitch at least once. I get that he was relatively young for the level but to my eye he is more of a pitchability guy than a prospect with great stuff. Low 90's FB with a couple good secondary pitches. Relatively high floor/low ceiling profile. It will be interesting to see how he performs at higher levels.
DeleteI have another name I want to throw out thhere, and it may seem to come out of left field: Tony Torcato. Join Sheman Peabody and I in the wayback machine, to the days when TT was a highly regarded prospect. At least when he was drafted as a third baseman, before several shoulder injuries nixed his ability to throw flat footed across the diamond. He was retooled to play 1st base and outfield, but here's the thing- There are mashers who can play a competent left field or 1st base. Hot corners, shortstops CFs catchers and even 2Bs can be cut some slack offensively, for playing the kill positions, but the second one drifts into LF/1B, you just aren't all that and a bag of chips. Luciano had question marks about SS from day 1 and never had the hit tool to be a masher. The end was inevitable.
ReplyDeleteTorcato had a beautiful swing but was a bit on the long side and he didn't have a lot else going for him. Limited power, limited defensive profile even before the injuries.
DeleteHe went to the Pirates. Bryan Reynolds V2? I pray he does well. He'll definitely get the reps in Pittsburgh.
ReplyDeleteHe did pump 23 hrs this season with a low BA. Perhaps he'll be Duvall v2. Still doesn't feel good.
ReplyDelete