Farhan Zaidi: SF Giants want Marco Luciano to be everyday shortstop in 2024

During a press conference on Tuesday, SF Giants president Farhan Zaidi said the team wants 'to give Marco Luciano the chance to be the everyday' shortstop.

During his final press conference of the season, SF Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi was asked about the team's plans at shortstop this offseason. Longtime starting shortstop Brandon Crawford is slated to be a free agent this offseason, and many believe he played his final MLB game on Sunday. Coming off a disappointing 2023 season, it's reasonable to expect the Giants to consider adding a player to solidify that spot. However, Zaidi gave a strong endorsement of rookie shortstop Marco Luciano (Giants Top 4 Prospect).

"We want to give Marco Luciano a chance to be the everyday guy next year."

— Farhan on the Giants' vacancy at shortstop pic.twitter.com/TPzhmhekp0

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) October 3, 2023

"As we sit here now, we want to give Marco Luciano the chance to be the everyday guy next year," Zaidi said. "If anything, you know, his call-up was slowed down by the injury he had this year. His time at the big leagues, we would've liked to see him up here a little bit more, but he's worked his way up, earned this opportunity, and we're really excited about what we saw the last couple of weeks."

Luciano made his big-league debut in July and returned in September after he was optioned back to the minor leagues and subsequently suffered a hamstring injury. Luciano only hit .231/.333/.308 with three doubles, six walks, and 17 strikeouts in 45 plate appearances in the majors. However, he took massive strides forward defensively and looked like a viable big-league shortstop. He also flashed his incredible power potential, posting an average exit velocity of 93 mph, which would have ranked 15th in MLB this season among qualified hitters (just ahead of Mookie Betts and Kyle Schwarber).

The biggest blemish on Luciano's resume has been struggling to stay on the field throughout his minor league career. He missed the start of this season with a back injury and returned to the field in May at Double-A. In 56 games before he was promoted to Triple-A, Luciano hit .228/.339/.451 with 12 doubles and 11 home runs in the pitcher-friendly Eastern League. While those numbers may not jump off the page, he hit .306/.416/.564 with six doubles, six home runs, 18 walks, and 32 strikeouts in his final 26 games at the level.

Luciano has been one of the best prospects in the Giants organization since he was the team's top signing during the 2018-19 international free-agent period. Luciano crushed the Arizona Rookie League in his professional debut, hitting .302/.417/.564 between the Arizona Rookie League Short-Season as a 17-year-old. After the pandemic-canceled 2020 season, Luciano made his full-season debut in 2021 and was one of the best players in the California League.

Luciano remains incredibly young for a big-league player, having turned 22 in September and only hit .209/.321/.418 in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League at Triple-A. With that said, this offseason's free-agent class lacks any proven shortstops. Barring a trade, it makes sense for the SF Giants to view Marco Luciano as the favorite to be the Opening Day shortstop in 2024.