In Luciano, Giants have potential star in the making
It’s easy to follow the sensible path with Marco Luciano, speaking with caution about the Giants’ best prospect and realizing that a great deal of patience will be required.
Then you see the videos, and you get a little crazy.
It’s just the simple stuff out of spring training, a batting practice session or a few grounders taken at shortstop, but they’ve had a hypnotic effect. Whomever it may be — scouts, managers, fellow players, media — everyone’s drawn to an athlete who combines raw, undeniable power with a natural elegance.
This 19yearold shortstop looks good at everything he does. He’s got everything it takes defensively and — even with such fleeting evidence — responsible folks are thinking he could become the Giants’ best hitter since Barry Bonds.
Luciano steps into the batting cage and immediately starts launching rockets into the galaxy. He’s a committed member of the launchangle generation, with that pronounced uppercut swing, and as much as traditionalists decry the decline of situational hitting, the launch angle is a devastating weapon in the proper hands — say, Mike Trout, Cody Bellinger, Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, Nolan Arenado or Eugenio Suarez.
Remember to set Luciano’s upcoming season aside. After breaking into professional ball two years ago (.322, 10 homers, eight stolen bases and a 1.055 OPS in 38 games for his Rookie League club in Arizona), he joined thousands of minorleague prospects shut down by the pandemic. He hopes to work his way through the system this year, perhaps even winding up at TripleA before it’s all over. Sometimes, history tells us, it takes only a few months for a kid to prove himself.
Realize, also, that it’s all about next season for the Giants. Not to discount this year’s club in any way, or the impressive work being done by manager Gabe Kapler and his innovation-minded staff, but with so much money coming off the books — including shortstop Brandon Crawford — according to Fangraphs, the Giants are projected to have just $31 million in payroll commitments (compared to the current $151 million).
You don’t just tell Crawford “thanks for the memories” and move on, not without some soulsearching and heartbreak. He’s still a highly capable shortstop, one whose mere presence brings tremendous relief to any Giants pitcher. Let’s see if he’s got a fountainofyouth season in store before shutting any doors. It’s just that baseball’s business side has no conscience. New era, new faces, lots of money to spend — that’s been the 2022 theme within the organization since Farhan Zaidi took over as president of baseball operations.
Luciano works so perfectly into that plan, one can’t help but look ahead. He fits the mold of today’s elite shortstop, the doeverything, MVPcaliber type we see in Fernando Tatis Jr., Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa, Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Javier Baez and Trevor Story. All but Tatis, as it happens, are potential free agents in the coming winter. Would the Giants feel comfortable looking elsewhere with their bigtime expenditures? Do they dive into that superstar market and move Luciano to third?
These are the flights of fancy one experiences during a pandemic. Perhaps there’s a little too much time to think. In fact, I’m going to get back to the real world with a hearty breakfast of porridge and mutton. Admit it, though: Sometimes it’s fun to feel a little crazy.
The Dodgers didn’t need Trevor Bauer. He’s such a pill — ask anyone around the game, even those who like him — he represents considerable risk for an organization that takes pride in its integrity. On the positive side, Bauer has parlayed years of outsidethebox study into a modernday rarity: someone who can throw all day and desperately wants to work the full nine innings. The game needs more of those, and his stuff can be unhitttable. But he admits to a knack for annoying people, often making a spectacle of himself on the field, and his socialmedia behavior has been disgraceful: bullying and harassing women, mocking transgender people and peddling ludicrous conspiracy theories. The Dodgers already had Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and David Price in their rotation, with excellent candidates in Dustin May and Julio Urias, but just to make sure they stay ahead of the increasingly dangerous Padres, they gave Bauer the highest annual salary in the history of the game: $40 million, escalating to $45 million in 2022 and guaranteeing him an overall $102 million if he exercises a player option for ’23. ... You really wonder how he fits into a clubhouse rich in exemplary characters, but for Giants fans — many of whom grudgingly admired L.A.’s run to a longawaited championship — there’s a new villain in town. Potentially even more detestable than Yasiel Puig. And with no DH in the National League this year, Bauer will have to step up to the plate. Down in Arizona, Madison Bumgarner awaits. ... The Dodgers did well to resign 36yearold third baseman Justin Turner, described as “the heart and soul of this team” by catcher Austin Barnes and many teammates. Turner wasn’t punished for his reckless display in the World Series — yanked from Game 6 after testing positive for the coronavirus, he showed up without a mask for much of the onfield celebration — but what’s the point? That is today’s America, jampacked with folks who ridicule the pandemic and feel they’re quite above it all. ... In a comment the Giants surely noticed, Turner called the Padres’ freespending winter “good for the game of baseball. They’re going out, being aggressive and going for it. ... We’re going to get 19 World Series games this year, so it will be a good test for us, a good preparation to get ready for the playoffs.” ... And finally, heed these words from old friend Dusty Baker, who got his second vaccination shot Feb. 5: “I’m still pretending like I didn’t get my shots. You just can’t let your guard down, because there’s still so much about it that we don’t know.”