On Friday, December 5, 2025, the Pittsburgh Pirates claimed former San Francisco Giants IF/OF Marco Luciano off waivers.
The Giants had not previously announced that they were waiving Luciano. His departure leaves an open spot on San Francisco’s 40-man roster.
Luciano, 24, was considered one of the Giants’ top prospects for several years due to his elite power hitting potential. But he struggled in the field throughout his career in the Giants organization, and hit only .217 in 115 MLB at-bats.
He spent the entire 2025 season in AAA Sacramento and was set to be out of minor league options entering Spring Training with the Giants in 2026.
Top Giants prospects have a history of going to Pittsburgh
For some reason, the Pittsburgh Pirates have taken a liking to acquiring former Giants top prospects. Joey Bart, Alexander Canario, Bryan Reynolds, Kyle Crick and Tyler Beede are just some of the former Giants who were at the top of San Francisco’s prospect list, then went on to play for the Pirates.
Of all of those players, Luciano hopes that his career turns out like Reynolds, who is a two-time All-Star who has hit .271 with 138 career home runs so far in his career, and is still only 30 years old.
Are the Giants set to make an addition?
The timing of this move is interesting. Back in mid-November 2025, the Giants made no Rule 5 protections ahead of the 2025 Rule 5 draft.
The Rule 5 Draft allows MLB teams to draft minor league players from other clubs who have spent 4+ years in their original organization. The team that drafts the player then must add them to the active roster for a full season or offer the player back to their original team the next season.
If the Giants knew they wanted to waive Luciano, why not waive him a month ago so they could protect some of their top prospects from the Rule 5 draft? The Giants have several promising pitchers that they left exposed to selection including Will Bednar, Braxton Roxby, Marques Johnson and Spencer Miles.
Maybe the Giants are looking to add someone in the Rule 5 draft, which takes place in just a few days on December 10? But more likely, they are set to add a free agent, in which case they’d need to open up a 40-man roster spot.
The state of the Giants’ minor league system
It’s no secret that the Giants have not had a lot of draft success in recent years. Now that Luciano and Kyle Harrison are both gone, the Giants’ top 2 prospects from just a year ago (2024) have not panned out.
Mason Black, a top 10 prospect a year ago, also moved teams this offseason, to the Kansas City Royals. Reggie Crawford could be selected in the Rule 5 Draft.
To add insult to injury, the Giants haven’t drafted a star in the first round of the MLB draft since Buster Posey in 2008. He is now the guy in charge of drafting, as the President of Baseball operations. That’s how long it’s been and how bad the Giants have been at identifying and developing top talent.
These are the Giants top 5 prospects right now: Bryce Eldridge, Josuar Gonzalez, Gavin Kilen (the first first-round selection of the Posey era), Jhonny Level and Bo Davidson. Will any of those players pan out in San Francisco? Or are they all destined (or doomed) to be future Pittsburgh Pirates?
Giants fans can only hope for the best. And, they will continue to wish for the best for Marco Luciano.
