Big news today is the Giants, as expected, landed Luis Hernandez SS for a reported $5M signing bonus on opening day of the 2026 international signing period. Hernandez is a 4+ tool SS with advanced plate discipline and baseball IQ who trained at the Ozzie Guillen Academy in Venezuela. He immediately slots into the Giants #3 prospect on DrB's 2026 Giants Top Prospects list. In case anyone still wonders if the Giants have signed too many highly ranked shortstops, shortstop is a position players often move off of but almost never move too. You can't have too many young shortstops in an organization.
The Giants did sign two other international players. They are limited in how many large bonuses they have to give out as Hernandez takes up most of the $5.4 M of their allotted bonus pool. They can sign unlimited numbers of players for bonuses of $10 K or less and will probably fill out there DSL rosters with players signed in that range. Some of those emerge to be pretty good players.
The Giants have now signed top 5 international prospects in 3 of the last 4 cycles and the fourth cycle included Jhonny Level who is now one of their top-rated prospects. I well remember the days when the Padres and Dodgers routinely signed the top international prospects while the Giants shelled out a $ million or 6 for players that left analysts scratching their heads. Those days are gone. Giant Futures on Bluesky pointed out the surge in international scouting and signings started under Bobby Evans with the Luciano/Matos/Pomares class. Victor Bericoto was in that group too. That group did not quite turn out as we all hoped but it was a start which should eventually pay off with the development of a superstar or two.
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Thanks to BaseballJeff1 on Bluesky for the heads up on a couple of Giants minor league free agent signings:
Mitch White RHP. DOB: 11/21/1999. 6' 1", 185 lbs.
2025(Frontier League): 3-2, 3.77, 9.6 K/9, 5.8 BB/9, 11 Saves.
Not the same Mitch White who was briefly a Giants a couple of years ago. Pitched 2 years in NCAA Div I without much success. 2 years of Indy ball with solid ERA but walk rate much too high. Maybe the Giants see something they can fix?
Jared Oliva OF. DOB: 11/27/1995. B-R, T-R. 6' 2", 203 lbs. 2 Options.
2025(AAA- Brewers): .252/.335/.413, 11 HR, 57 SB, 8.8 BB%, 20.6 K%, 398 PA.
Speedy OF who had a couple cups of coffee back in 2020 and 2021. Split time between CF and RF in AAA last year. Probably no more than organizational depth but the SB's are interesting.
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The Hot Stove heated up this week with some moves.
The Cardinals finally unloaded Nolan Arenado 3B to the D'Backs while eating most of his remaining salary. They got a pitcher drafted in 2025 who has yet to appear in a pro game in return. I am not thrilled that Arenado is back in the NL West but he seems to be a shell of his former self and there are not fewer intradivisional games.
The Marlins unloaded a couple of talented but oft-injured pitchers Edwin Cabrera RHP and Ryan Weathers LHP for a shipload of prospects of questionable talent. The best one appears to be Owen Caissie OF and former 2'nd round draft pick by the Cubs who has slugged his way up the minor league chain.
The Cubs signed Alex Bregman 3B to a 5 yr/$175 M contract. Bregman is coming off a good, but not great, season with the Red Sox in which he missed 6 weeks with a quad strain. 3B is a redundant position for the Giants. Bregman signaled willingness to play 2B but clearly prefers 3B so doubtful the Giants were every a serious consideration even if they showed interest. If they can swing a trade for Nico Hoerner 2B or Brendan Donovan 2B/OF they will get similar value with far less risk.
The Red Sox signed Ranger Suarez LHP to a 5 yr/$130 M contract. Suarez is a soft-tosser whose FB velocity is declining. He depends on excellent command and strong ground ball tendencies. He has missed significant time with a variety of injuries over the past 4 seasons. I can understand why the Giants passed on bidding for him.
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