The Pirates have claimed infielder/outfielder Marco Luciano off waivers from the Giants, per a team announcement. Pittsburgh’s claim of the former top prospect fills their 40-man roster. The Giants hadn’t previously announced a DFA for Luciano but were clearly trying to pass him through waivers to free up some roster space.
Originally signed as a teenager out of his native Dominican Republic, the now-24-year-old Luciano spent five consecutive seasons on Baseball America’s top-100 prospect lists, topping out at No. 12 in the game in the 2020-21 offseason. He was a steady producer throughout much of his time in the low minors, but Luciano’s bat stalled out in Triple-A and strikeouts have become a major concern.
In 226 games (1017 plate appearances) at the Triple-A level, Luciano has managed only a .227/.351/.401 batting line — despite those plate appearances coming in an exorbitantly hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League environment. He’s also struck out an alarming 29.6% of the time in Triple-A, including a 30.6% clip this past season. He hasn’t fared any better in brief major league looks, hitting a combined .217/.286/.304 with a 35.7% strikeout rate in 126 plate appearances between the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He spent all of 2025 in Triple-A.
Luciano was at one point considered the potential shortstop of the future in San Francisco — an heir to longtime shortstop Brandon Crawford. The Giants began to shift away from that possibility in 2024 when they got Luciano some time at second base in Triple-A. Last offseason’s signing of Willy Adames to a seven-year deal officially pulled the plug on any hope that Luciano could eventually claim that spot. The Giants gave him one Triple-A game at first base in 2025 and otherwise played him exclusively as a left fielder or designated hitter.
Luciano is out of minor league options, so the Pirates won’t be able to send him to Triple-A without first passing him through waivers themselves. If he makes it to spring training on the 40-man roster, he’ll have a chance to claim a bench role in Pittsburgh if he can put together a strong performance during Grapefruit League play.
The Pirates don’t have set options at shortstop, second base or in left field, so Luciano could theoretically compete for playing time at any of those spots — though Pittsburgh’s press release announcing the move referred to him solely as an outfielder. He’ll join newly acquired Jhostynxon Garcia as a righty-swinging corner outfield option on the depth chart, though Garcia has a far better chance of carving out regular playing time.
Hardly knew ya kid
Good luck 🏴☠️
I think we saw enough of him. Don’t think this is a surprise.
The end of an error
He was sooo overhyped smh
They just lost a guy who hit .123, so .217 is a drastic improvement.
First rounder too??
He’s not good
But if they keep it up, the next one will bat .300
Double it and give it to the next guy.
he was an international signing so a no rounder
No, no he wasn’t.
No. Foreign free-agents aren’t included in the draft.
Had no idea he was DFA’d.
Don’t think anyone did until this report. Grant Brisbee of The Athletic just mentioned him as tradable in a very recent article.
Making room on the 40 man for someone. I really thought Meckler would have gone first, but maybe he has too ?
I believe Meckler, Matos, and Encarnacion all out of options so something will have to give.
I have heard Meckler may receive a 4th option year.
There are certain rules that I’m not fully aware of that would allow a 4th option year and apparently Meckler qualifies.
True
of those 3 encarnaceon is the most expendable
Encarnacion —if he can stay healthy— will not be dropped by SF.
Just the opposite!
I agree with Pete. Meckler, if he doesn’t get the 4th year, would be first to go IMO.
The Pirates are all in.
Damn this made me laugh out loud. Startled my cat.
Marco and the Password, life can’t get much better as a Pirates fan can it!
Ya gotta admit the name Marco fits way better as a Pirate than a Giant. I’ll never forget that time you……..yes I will.
Good luck kid. You define change of scenery candidate.
Didn’t know you could make waiver claims in December. I don’t know the rules at all.
Too bad there isn’t a thing you could use to go learn them!
It was never announced he was DFA’d.
The 40-man roster limit is in effect all year round. Add a man in the offseason. and you have to have an open spot or waive someone. That wouldn’t make much sense if the guys on waivers couldn’t be claimed.
Finally the Giants pull the plug on this kid, never lived up to the hype.
A change of scenery will do him good and who knows he might be better off with the Pirates ?!?
If he never lived up to the hype, he’ll feel right at home here in Pittsburgh. Hope he likes pierogi races
You mad? Lol
Joey Bart has been pretty ok for Pitt.
Pretty meh, actually.
Considering the majority of the hype was when he was signed at 16, it’s not very surprising he hasn’t panned out.
Why are so many teams trying to clear roster spots right now? It must be in preparation for the Rule 5 draft or something.
I think teams already had to declare who they’re protecting
They did, but in order to make a selection, you need an open spot on your 40-man roster. These moves may be in preparation for that.
There are multiple good prospects that should probably be the Major Leagues for the specific Rule 5 draft. You have about four pitchers from the Red Sox organization in double A who will probably be picked.
Look out Konnor Griffin… the Buccos aren’t just going to give you SS without competition!
Let the crying games begin.
Some will say the Giants mismanaged this kid. They didn’t. He couldn’t play shortstop. Everyone in baseball knew it. But the previous regime in SF wouldn’t listen. He was coined the starting SS in 2023; it looked like he had a stone glove.
Biggest mistake the Giants made was not trading this kid when he was a Top 20 prospect in 2021..
Wish him all the best.
What about DH? The Giants couldn’t have tried Luciano at DH?
Not positive but I think he got some AB at DH in 2024. He’ll run into one every now and then but he was horrible on defense. Change of scenery and familiarity with Bart can’t hurt.
Yeah, possibly.
Luci has power but it never showed up in MLB. No homers.
He might blossom in Pittsburgh like Bart. He’s only 24 years old. But he didn’t have a great year in 2025 at an extreme hitters park in Sacramento.
It’s difficult to carry a “maybe” player on your roster when you’re in contending mode. I just feel sad when people don’t reach their potential in general. Of course maybe it was my error to assign Luciano a higher level of potential than warranted to begin with! That might be the case. lol
Most teams want a hitter as a DH that’s what the H is
Don’t mind this move but that’s enough with the righties. PNC Park is not friendly to them. The only other righty I will allow is Suarez coming to Pittsburgh. Or, in my dreams, Alonso. No one else.
Always felt like he was beyond overrated as a prospect. He’s never even really hit in the minors..yet every year, Giants fans would talk about him as the next great SS.
Prediction: He’ll be in the KBO by ‘27.
not really – I think that the spinal fracture was highly underreported. if you look at him before and during/after the stress fracture in his spine they are like night and day. hopefully he can bounce back but it has been a painful process
He didn’t deal well with the mental side of that back injury at all. I remember hearing him talk about it and thinking “oh no”. The way he spoke about it indicated a mental softness that didn’t bode well.
I mean it is kinda tough in that he is still just a kid. he is still only 24 even though the name has floated around for so long but he was signed at something like 16 and touted so much that I don’t know if it is a mentality thing or just a young and unexposed to failure thing
Thanks bag o and foppert. Good insight. A LOT to deal with for a guy his age (along with the expectations both external and internal).
I definitely think it was a mental thing. He wasn’t as bad defensively as we saw, or they would have moved him off the position years ago. Krukow talked about young guys when they get called up, thinking they needed to be perfect. They don’t relax and just play. I wonder if the Giants ever tried using a sport’s psychologist to get his head in a better place.
I hope he does well in Pittsburgh. Sometimes the Buccos succeed in grabbing the Giants’ failed prospects and doing them some good.
luciano, reynolds, bart…
Reynolds definitely doesn’t belong with the other 2. He was not at all a failed prospect.
he was given up on, the front office saw the future as duggar
Not really. SF wanted McCutchen, and Pittsburgh wanted Reynolds, not Duggar. Duggar was older and was showing flaws. The Giants demoted him in 2017 from AAA Sac down to High A San Jose.
But the point was that Reynolds was not a failed prospect. He had good numbers in the MiLs, And he had been playing well when traded days before his 23rd birthday.
This is sneaky
I imagine the Bucs will make a trade of one of their infielders next week which might include this kid
Griffin is expected to compete for a job during spring training and if his talents are achieved, he will become the starting shortstop next year
No one wants this kid why he was able to be claimed vs traded for. As for other infielders good luck. Cheng Cook if they have value it’s low as can be. Yorke a bit better but that’s a low bar. Gonzales next tier but still a lower tier. TJ can get you something but not many will like that something
You think no one wants a 24 yr old former top prospect? Yeah, that’s one of the most ridiculous comments I’ll read this month, that’s saying something.
If they wanted him the Pirates wouldn’t have got him as a waiver claim. Could have got him for a reliever they took in the 14 16th round last year or something.
Never a top prospect. Only a top prospect on the ranking websites who don’t really know what they are doing. Top prospects put up ops with numbers higher than starting with a 7. Never a SS. Fringe top 100 that’s fine. Top 100 getting crazy there. But where they had him ranked shows how clueless they are. Should have traded him to Boston for Sale they would have ate up that top prospect talk.
1st Reynolds, then Bart & now Luciano to Pirates
We got some decent players from the Pirates also. McCutchen, Freddie Sanchez and Javy Lopez come to mind. Javy helped a lot for sure.
Jason Schmidt. Rick Reuschel and Don Robinson going further back.
In the 70s the pirates were named the LUMBER COMPANY. In the 2020s their name has become the STRIKEOUT COMPANY. Here’s another dumpster dive by cherrington. Another strikeout machine
That prospect stock didn’t fall, it crashed, burned, and left a crater in the earth…
That’s more like the modern Bucs! The story of his career seems all too common: drafted as a SS or CF (that’s where the best players play so understandable) that eventually is forced/asked to move to a different position. You gotta wonder what that does to their ego and confidence level going forward. I would guess that a lot of said players take such a psychological hit that they can’t perform well (if at all) anymore. Maybe I ll search the Sports Psychology literature.
both surprised and not surprised by this. he was out of options and playing OF where the giants had 10 OFs on the 40 man, I am a little bit surprised that other guys were kept ahead of him though
For all we know, other(s) have also been DFA’d.
Luciano and Bart will beat the Giants at least once next season.
Yup. I can smell that cooking as well.
Probably tried to trade him for a SP.
Bucs said no interest, SFG then DFAs him.
Bucs say, interested in a freebie though…
A+
Imagine what they could have got for him if they traded him when he was still viewed as the future of the franchise. Usually teams are hesitant to do that but just goes to show how unreliable prospect ratings and projections are
Waiting for the Preller-Haters to show their ugly mugs and retort that prospects should NEVER be traded lol
Yeah. The man’s work has me thinking differently. No doubt.
Could have got a cy young winner if you traded him to the red sox
Let him inflate his stats banging balls off the monster and Preller would have given him 300 million
Value day. I can roast 2 teams in 1 comment
Fatten him up and move him to DH. Tell Posey he’s a superstar and trade him to Giants.
Missed opportunities. Kid still got a chance though as he is now with the Yankees Quad A team. Hopefully one July 30th he will get the call up.
Maybe give him a brief stint in Atlanta and AA can dump his contract on the Angels. Just in case Nashville Jeff shows up.
No need for replies. I am perfectly fine entertaining myself.
Everyone but me has put you on mute. Do go on!
free pickup as long as there is a roster spot… yay!
This move may be the dumbest move in the history of the SF Giants. Giving up on a 24 yr old (former top prospect) before he ever got a real shot. Heliot Ramos just proved 2 yrs ago that you give these talented kids some time and a chance and they can become All Star or at least solid players.
Giants are going to regret this.
Regret? No. He may eventually hit some but he’s going to strikeout a ton and he isn’t good on defense at all on the infield. Being honest I didn’t watch him in the outfield in Sacramento though. Being so hyped from 16 on probably created a lot of pressure on him. When you’re touted as the answer at SS & catcher in Bart’s case, some players just can’t handle the pressure. The Majors are not a good place for guys who don’t like pressure.
He was out of options. Would have had to carry him. Had plenty of chances and he didn’t do enough. No brainer.
Spot on, mab. It’s a tough gig. You got to have a tough mindset to succeed.
Dumber than the Cutch trade? Dumber than the Devers trade? This dfa is epic dumb! 29 gms are dumb as well for not trading for him.
He’s from San Francisco …. the one in Dom Rep but still 😏
Wow. I would have kept Luciano merely for his hitting potential. Especially on a team as offensively challenged as the Giants. It shocks me that Luciano was DFA’d. Posey doesn’t seem like a patient GM. Of course hitting came very easy for him. I hope Luciano figures it out soon. He’s too talented a hitter. Reminds me of Luis Campusano with my Padres. Except Campusano is three years older.
I think Posey must have a big move up his sleeve to DFA a former golden child.
Or he’s just preparing for rule 5 draft
OK campers…
Imagine this …
Many years from now – Bryce Eldridge has been up and down and not really quite made it up to his MLB expectations … but there was always hope 🤞
However
He gets claimed Off waivers in 2030
Giants get nothing in return – as what just happened with Luciano
Will you look back on today’s time and say.. how foolish it was that we didn’t trade Eldridge while he was still a hot prospect and could’ve gotten some from???
So easy to second-guess isn’t it ?
Your scenario is based on a big assumption.
Maybe the Giants trade Eldridge, and they get 3 years of decent production from the acquisition, but Eldridge turns into a hitter similar to Aaron Judge. Then everyone, makes parallels to SF trading Wheeler, Reynolds, or the W Sox trading Tatis, Jr., and talk about how stupid it was to trade away a guy like Eldridge.
Few years ago, he could’ve headline a group of prospects going to Pirates at deadline for some veteran player. LOL
This is more of a question? Big SF fan but not a baseball expert. With Luciano not panning out, what is it with SF & their prospects? Is it a player development thing & how do MLB teams develop players (I get they get them on weight training routines & tinker with their swing) but why are the Giants so bad a developing their prospects? It seems to me a lot of it is just luck. What made Heliot Ramos go from a top prospect to a under achieving prospect to now an every day player? Did they change something in his development or did he just start to figure it out?