The Orioles have claimed outfielder Marco Luciano off waivers from the Pirates, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. The Bucs designated him for assignment last month. The O’s will need to make a corresponding move to open a 40-man spot.
DFA limbo is normally capped at one week but the rules are clearly different around the holidays, even if the specifics of the exceptions aren’t publicly known. Luciano was bumped off Pittsburgh’s roster on December 19th, almost three weeks ago.
The 24-year-old Luciano was once one of the top prospects in baseball. The Giants gave him a $2.6MM signing bonus in 2018 as an international amateur out of the Dominican Republic. He flashed huge power potential from the shortstop position and Baseball America ranked him the #12 prospect in the league in 2021. Since then, his glovework tailed off to the extent that he was moved to left field, putting more pressure on him to provide value with the bat. Unfortunately, significant strikeout issues have plagued him since reaching the upper levels of the minors.
He has taken 939 trips to the plate at the Triple-A level over the past two years. His 16% walk rate in that sample is massive but he’s also been punched out at a 29.1% clip, leading to a .229/.354/.400 line and 101 wRC+. He also has 126 big league plate appearances with a 35.7% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate, .217/.286/.304 line and 68 wRC+.
Luciano exhausted his final option season last year, pushing him to a fringe roster position. The Giants put him on waivers in early December. The Pirates scooped him up but he was nudged off their roster a few weeks later.
The Orioles are one of the most aggressive clubs when it comes to claiming players off waivers, often putting the same players back on the wire later on. The ideal outcome in that scenario is that the player stays in the organization without taking up a roster spot. He can then be retained as depth and be added back to the roster if he earns a spot.
The best-case scenario in that situation is Ryan O’Hearn. The O’s acquired him from the Royals in January of 2023 and then designated him for assignment a few days later. He cleared waivers but eventually hit his way back onto the roster and was a productive member of the club for over two years.
That is perhaps the plan with Luciano, as it’s hard to see a path for him earning a regular role on the current roster. The Orioles have an outfield mix consisting of Colton Cowser, Taylor Ward, Dylan Beavers, Tyler O’Neill, Jeremiah Jackson, Leody Taveras, Heston Kjerstad, Reed Trimble and Jhonkensy Noel. The designated hitter spot doesn’t provide much relief as the O’s are likely going to have Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo sharing the catching duties. There’s also the first base group consisting of Pete Alonso, Coby Mayo and Ryan Mountcastle, which should spill into the DH spot.
Luciano has fewer than three years of service time and hasn’t been outrighted in his career. That means he would not have the right to elect free agency if he eventually clears outright waivers. That may be his fate with the Orioles or some other club but he gets a roster spot for now after a long holiday in limbo.
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