According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants have been looking to trade for a potential shortstop upgrade. She also notes that the team’s recent signing of Tom Murphy to a two-year contract may result in the sale of previous top catching prospect Joey Bart. Bart, young pitching, and/or outfield talent might theoretically be deployed in some combination to add the needed assistance at shortstop.
The top prospect Marco Luciano is presently atop the Giants’ depth chart at shortstop as Brandon Crawford becomes a free agent for the first time in his career. Another option at the position is 24-year-old Casey Schmitt, who made his MLB debut this past season, or 26-year-old Tyler Fitzgerald, who also made his debut in 2023 The Giants have begun to use Fitzgerald more frequently at other positions in the minors, however.
It’s enough to suggest that this bunch lacks experience. While Luciano has the biggest ceiling of the group, he struggled in Triple-A last year, slashing.309/.321/.418 with a 36% strikeout rate, and batted just.231/.333/.308 with 17 strikeouts in 45 plate appearances during his MLB debut. Since Luciano will just turn 22 in September, a few setbacks in the major leagues and especially in the upper minor league ranks aren’t precisely enough to raise red flags.
However, those difficulties also imply that Luciano might gain from spending a little more time in Triple-A for growth. Giants president Farhan Zaidi expressed optimism that Luciano may take over the position last month, but he also stressed the need of having insurance. A more seasoned player would be a wise addition, given that Schmitt only managed to hit.206/.255/.324 in 90 games in his own debut and Fitzgerald has only made 34 MLB plate appearances.
Slusser makes a hypothetical list of potential candidates that includes Willy Adames of Milwaukee and Ha-Seong Kim of the division foe Padres, but it’s unclear if the Giants have had any serious talks with either. Adames is entering his final year of arbitration, while Kim has a mutual option for the 2025 season; both would be one-year stopgaps.
It should be emphasized that mutual options are rarely exercised by both parties. Even if/when Kim exercises his end-of-the-2025 option, he will not have served six years in the Major League Baseball, but MLBTR stated upon Kim’s signing that he will remain a free agent once the deal expires. Conversely, Adames is hardly a lock that can be opened. The Brewers are still hoping to contend in 2024, even as his free agency approaches, so they probably wouldn’t trade him unless it meant getting MLB-caliber players in exchange.
There are other choices to think about. Given their packed infield, the Twins are expected to move Kyle Farmer this offseason. Zaidi was general manager of the Dodgers before, thus he is well acquainted with Farmer, who was drafted by the team. Infield skill abounds for the Reds, Rays, Cardinals, and Guardians as well. Though adding Bart (and maybe others) is obviously only one of many ways the Giants could handle the situation, not all of those clubs are in dire need of a catcher.
In 2018, 27-year-old Bart was selected with the second overall choice in the draft. Despite playing in portions of four major league seasons, he had a dismal hitting line of.219/.288/.335 with a 35.4% strikeout percentage. Bart has 554 Triple-A plate appearances and a slugging percentage of.274/.357/.434; he will be out of options in 2024. Another former first-round pick, Patrick Bailey, who hit just.233/.285/.359 as a rookie but graded out as possibly the best defensive catcher in MLB, is ahead of him on the depth chart.
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