Yankees just provided Guardians with golden opportunity to add former top prospect 

For four years, Marco Luciano ranked as one of the best prospects in baseball during his time with the San Francisco Giants. 

The Giants signed him out of the Dominican Republic at 16, and he eventually rose to being the team’s top prospect in 2022 while also being the No. 13 prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline. 

But he never managed to live up to that prospect billing, as he ended up playing in 41 unimpressive games with the Giants before being designated for assignment after the 2025 season. 

That’s set off a whirlwind of transactions, as he’s been a member of the Pirates, Orioles and Yankees organizations in the past month and a half. 

He was sent back into the baseball wilderness earlier this week when the Yankees designated him for assignment to make room for Cody Bellinger. 

Now he’ll head back to the waiver process, where could provide the Guardians with an opportunity to swoop him to be a much-needed depth piece. 

The Guardians have a chance to claim former top prosect Marco Luciano off waivers 

While Luciano hit .217 with a .590 OPS across 41 games at the big league level, he hit 23 home runs in Triple-A last season, though that did come with a .214 batting average. 

The biggest reason Luciano has bounced around the roster this offseason is due to the fact he’s out of minor league options, which means that the only way he can be sent off a team’s roster is by being designated for assignment. 

He’s not good enough to be a lock on anyone’s roster, but he has enough talent and potential that people are willing to give him a chance. He came up as an infielder but recently learned the outfield last season, which adds a bit of versatility to his game. 

The Guardians’ long offensive additions this offseason have been minor leaguers Stuart Fairchild and Carter Kieboom, and it’s fair to say that Luciano is a more intriguing option than either of them. 

The obvious problem with adding Luciano is the Guardians’ glut of middle infield prospects. 

A big reason the Guardians’ front office has stayed away from MLB options is because they want to give as many chances as possible to their MLB-ready prospects, and adding Luciano to the fold would make things tougher for prospects like Travis Bazzana and Juan Brito. 

While it may not be a perfect fit, Luciano is a solid buy-low option who is still only 24. He may never become the kind of marquee player that it seemed like he’d be early in his career, but he’s worth a dice roll.