With longtime shortstop Brandon Crawford’s contract having run its course, the Giants will be looking at a new starting shortstop in 2024 for the first time in over a decade. While the club pursued Carlos Correa in free agency last offseason to take over the reins at short, the club now appears poised to stay internal as they look for their future shortstop. As relayed by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters as much during his end-of-season presser today, saying that “As we sit here now, we want to give Marco Luciano the chance to be the everyday guy next year.”
“If anything, his call-up was slowed down by the injury he had this year,” Zaidi added. “We would have liked to see him up here a little bit more, but he’s worked his way up and earned this opportunity and we’re really excited about what we saw the last couple of weeks.”
With that vote of confidence, it seems fairly safe to assume that the club won’t pursue significant upgrades up the middle, instead placing Luciano at short with Thairo Estrada, who was among the club’s most valuable hitters in 2023 alongside Lamonte Wade Jr. and Wilmer Flores, remaining at second base. Luciano hit .231/.333/.308 with a 37.8% strikeout rate during his time in the big leagues this year, though of course that was a minuscule sample size of just 45 plate appearances. More representative of the talent that made Luciano a consensus top-40 prospect in the game entering the 2023 campaign is his .259/.356/.479 slash line in 292 career minor league games, including a .223/.334/.442 slash line in 320 plate appearances split between Double-A and Triple-A this year.
The shortstop position was far from the only thing Zaidi addressed during the presser, of course. Zaidi noted (per Pavlovic) that he hopes to create a more athletic roster with improved defense this offseason, citing both Luciano and fellow rookie Tyler Fitzgerald as possible pieces of the puzzle in that regard. Fitzgerald slashed .219/.265/.469 in 34 plate appearances at the big league level this year while playing both third base and center field. In 121 games between the Double-A and Triple-A level in 2023, Fitzgerald slashed an impressive .292/.365/.511.
Zaidi also discussed the club’s managerial search following the club’s dismissal of Gabe Kapler last week. As relayed by Pavlovic, Zaidi indicated that the club plans to begin the interview process next week with internal candidates before expanding to asking for permission to interview candidates from other organizations. As the club looks for a new manager, Zaidi also indicated that the Giants are heading into 2024 with uncertainty about his own future as things stand, confirming to reporters (including Danny Emerman of KNBR) that he’s headed into the final year of his contract in 2024.
So you’re telling me there’s a chance?
I’m sorry to hear this.
He struck out 100 times in 259 AB’s in the minors this year. That’s not a plan. That’s a wish and prayer.
Imagine using ABs instead of PAs when referencing Ks. He walked a ton
Right……..ok. He struck out 100 times in 320 plate appearances. That changes everything.
And now account for the fact that 320 PA is a comically small sample to begin with and he was coming off almost a year-long layoff after injury issues. He didn’t have K problems in A or High A – 22% in each, which is below league average.
This is way overblown
Then let him prove in the high minors for an extended period that he is able to lower his k rate to low to mid 20s in the high minors.
I’m not saying he sucks as a prospect but calling him up now imo would set him up for failure.
It is not uncommon for guys not striking out in low minors but doing so in high minors, especially for guys with a good eye like luciano because lower minor guys won’t command their stuff very well.
Luciano probably still needs to work on hitting stuff that is not center cut 91 mph fastballs and that is fine, but he should do that in AAA and prove that he can hit the high minors before calling him up. A 15% swinging strike rate in AAA last season won’t cut it, let him show that he can lower that number to 11-12% (generally k rate is around swstr rate times 2).
He can still become a good player but give him time.
The layoff and injuries are certainly possible, but it’s also not unheard of for players to see a spike in their strikeout rates as they go higher in the minors and get exposed to more advanced pitching. It’s possible that’s not who he really is, but at the very least it’s worth mentioning.
This is a pet peeve of mine when people try to argue over numbers. If you thought even his PA didn’t matter why did you argue over PAs vs ABs if it ultimately made no difference in what you wanted to argue?
Back to the dugout, yes. He got his 10,000 steps in daily
It amazes me that people who watch the game everyday still don’t have the slightest clue which flaws in players mlb teams will over look. You don’t have to agree with them just makes you look ignorant if you don’t acknowledge they’re willing to put up with high strikeout numbers.
I only watch about every other day. That’s probably my issue
It is probably tough to watch TV or stream it in the freezing conditions where you live, huh, Yeti?
I have to ask—Aren’t you worried about being discovered, posting on MLBTR? All they need to do is trace your IP and they can go hunt you down. “Oh look at me, I caught an Abominable Snowman. Come see it at my circus tent.” Or in jail at some Zoo. Man, good luck out there…
I’m finding a new hiding place every day I’m not watching baseball. It might make me ignorant regarding strikeout numbers, but it saves my hide.
Don’t listen to the naysayers about strikeouts and what you may or may not know. They work in zoos and at the circus and they’re looking to break your spirit so that you’re easier to catch.
If they continue to bother you let me know. I’ll call in an airstrike on their last known pos.
And Head Pizza Maker
The Dominican Republic is famous for producing major league shortstops and, apparently, pizza.
And when a Dominican Pizzeria opens near me, I am going
The Giants. Geez, what an embarrassing mess
Spoken from the fan of the most embarrassing team of the year.
27 is a White Sox fan??
All trolling aside, most SFG fans have known about this timeframe for a couple of years now. Hopefully Marco continues the hard hitting and stays healthy.
This is a fun prospect. Need to give him runway and time to adjust. No reason not to.. they aren’t going anywhere next year.
Love the good vibes portion of your post but the clouded crystal ball ending was a bit premature.
Worse teams have made the playoffs that’s for sure, but they’ll have to pull down quite a FA haul to make the playoffs next year. Pretty tough division, not a good enough lineup much like my M’s.
I think Farhan can spot talent. There’s no doubting that. And the Pitching has to be his calling card so far. Offensively Home Runs are good as we’ve seen. But High Strikeouts numbers can’t be hidden with injuries to the home run hitters as well. Also Defense is a problem getting these cheaper injury prone guys. And low walk numbers as well as base running speed including steals.
That’s a lot of holes in a lineup and roster. Can Farhan look at himself well enough to change these issues in one off season, when the team is much worse off now than last off-season.
At his next stop, I don’t imagine Farhan leading an organization. Scouting and analytics he definitely is a big value with pitching and some offensive hitting mechanics. Valuable stuff. But only part of a whole.
This will be his last season. And draft next June. They’ll get some guys and evaluate from here. I don’t imagine Farhan will make a good hiring for Manager Either.
That’s It. I’m pulling my support for this guy. He’s very chummy and that’s what got him the job with ego inflated Baer. But Farhan’s press conferences show me zero leadership skills. His small laugh at everything is beyond weak. It’s a cover. And he’s been doing it the whole time. I’d want him gone, Unless he proves me wrong and wins the world series next year. Because the clout that he has built up is gone. It’s win it all now and show mass improvement or fired.
Four score and seven years ago…
Where is this talent you are talking about?
In rough order of debut appearance. Sabol, Walker, Schmidt, Bailey, Matos, Beck, Winn, Meckler, Luciano, Harrison and Fitzgerald.
According to Zaidi, next years debutants are expected to be pitchers Black, Wisenhunt, Birdsong and Roupp.
I like Harrison the rest are very flawed and have more bust then not on them.
We’ll see. There’s plenty there.
Im not writing any of them off. They built Papago for a reason. Im trusting it. I want to see them again after an off season working on what they learnt.
lol at pulling your support. He gets hired, not elected.
The press conference showed he has a great relationship with the media. You might be reading a bit too much into the relaxed atmosphere. Worth a thought anyway.
He’d have a legitimate chance at a 300 strikeout season, so at least there’s that. Might be a fun novelty at the end of next year. Mark Reynolds has nothing on this guy.
Reynolds could hit bombs, not sure this kid can, at least right now.
His minors numbers suggest he’s got great power for a young kid, but whether that translates has a lot to do with things he’s currently struggling mightily with. As of now Reynolds might not be the worst comparison
Giants will need to bring in an insurance option unless they believe Casey Schmitt is a viable option if Luciano struggles
it’s either Luciano or Fitzgerald at short. Schmitt is not a shortstop option.
Excuses from Zaidi already. They need everyday players to win over the fans and be competitive. A .500 team is not competitive. So instead of thinking big, he is talking about Luciano, Schmitt, Fitzgerald, Matos. Where do you put the everyday player? It won’t be any of the four mentioned. They get platooned and will not be able to prove they can play everyday. Plus, name me a great player that wants to sign with a team with a lame duck leadership? Zaidi has made the Giants go from bad to worse. The Peter Principal applies here. He is over his head. It will take the Giants decades to recover from this inept video game player.
Ha ha ha. Yep. Decades to recover from this absolute travesty.
I love how Zaidi is over his head as a POBO, but the butt hurt random internet sook is well qualified to judge his performance.
Decades. lol. You folks are hilarious.
In his grand total of 74 games above A ball he has not hit well. Not a player I would count on right now to be a major league SS on a team with playoff aspirations. If this is a rebuilding year for the Giants then that’s different.
The best part of that press conference was the guy asking about Judge and when Zaidi knew he wouldn’t be a Giant. Hey dude, I’m thinking the deadline for that article might have passed. Farhan had this “sh@t, I’m going have to run to my office and grab my old notes” response. I laughed hard.
In Zaidi we trust.