Tuesday, February 16, 2021

NRIs: infielders

Marco Luciano is all of 19 years old (he turns 20 in September) but he's rated by FanGraphs as the no. 2 prospect in the Giants organization. He signed as an amateur free agent when he was 16 years old. You can do that in the Dominican Republic (Luciano is from San Pedro de Macoris) and other places like Venezuela. You have to be 17 if you are from the United States. The Giants were willing to risk $2.6M on this teenage phenom so it should be fun to follow his progress.

Luciano is projected as a slugging shortstop or third baseman. He raked (.322/.438/.616) in the Arizona League (rookie-level) in 2019, hitting 10 homers, 9 doubles, and 2 triples in 38 games. He spent 2020 at the so-called "alternate site." Luciano is right-handed and listed at 6'-2" and 178 lbs.

Another interesting fellow is Will Wilson, a 2B/SS from North Carolina. He was the first-round pick (#15) in the 2019 draft for the Angels after tearing it up at NC State. The Giants, trading cash and a PTBNL (who turned out to be LHP Garrett Williams), took on Zack Cozart and his big salary in order to land Wilson. Cozart was released after the 2019 season and did not play in MLB in 2020. The Giants also have the #10 pick from that same draft, OF Hunter Bishop, who I wrote about yesterday. Wilson is listed as the no. 7 prospect in the system. He will be 23 in June.

Three infielders get the invite to camp, the last one being lefty first baseman Logan Wyatt. He was a 2nd-round pick (#51) from, you guessed it, the 2019 draft. Wyatt is from Kentucky and played college ball at Louisville. He's big, listed at 6'-4" and 230 lbs., but is known for his high OBP rather than his slugging. Scouts like his contact skills and expect his power hitting to emerge. He will be 24 in November and will likely be assigned to AA.

--M.C.

5 comments:

M.C. O'Connor said...

Tyler Anderson signs a major league deal with the Pirates. The Giants obviously weren't impressed enough to give him a roster spot. He was waived by Colorado before landing in SF and then was non-tendered after last season. His fastball velocity and his ground-ball rate have both been on the decline so perhaps teams were wary of him.

M.C. O'Connor said...

The San Francisco Giants have three openings in the Baseball Operations department.

One is a Performance Science Analyst. You'll need a PhD in an "analytical field." The other two are Systems Engineers. You'll need a CS degree.

Guys who used to go to work for NASA or IBM now chase MLB jobs!

M.C. O'Connor said...

Giants pick up another RHP, this time 30-yr old Nick Tropeano. He came up as a starter with the Astros and also started with the Angels but converted to a reliever with the Pirates. It's a minor league deal. He's from NY and pitched at SUNY Stony Brook (the "Seawolves").

M.C. O'Connor said...

According to MLBTR the Giants have signed Aaron Sanchez, RH starter who will be 29 in July. He's a Boras client who the Giants saw at a showcase and were impressed enough to offer a contract with the big club ($4M+ incentives). He's had his ups and downs but FZ and Kap love reclamation projects. Sanchez came up with the Jays but was with the Astros last year.

Here's a link to his B-R page.

That's another 40-man roster move they have to make. There's an injury roster timeline that kicks in about now that will allow the Giants to move guys like Brebbia and Beede so they can make room.

Sanchez is another former 1st-rounder, #34 in 2010. Toronto drafted him out of HS. He's from Barstow.

M.C. O'Connor said...

Also I note that Tony Watson goes to Philly on a minors deal.