Giants sign shortstop Hernandez, top prospect on int'l market

For the second consecutive year, the Giants have opened the international signing period by landing the highest-ranked amateur player from Latin America. This time around, it’s Venezuelan shortstop Luis Hernandez, the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2026 class.

It may not be unanimous, but an overwhelming number of talent evaluators consider Hernandez the top prospect among this year’s international group.

The Giants were able to come to an agreement with Hernandez despite having just $5,440,000 in pool money this year, tied for the lowest of any club. Hernandez will receive the vast majority of that allotment, but it’s worth noting that organizations can sign international amateurs for $10,000 or less without it counting against their pool.

Hernandez is one of the most heralded players on the international scene in the past few years. Gifted with immense physical projection and a laundry list of impressive tools, he also earns plus marks for his work ethic and all-around baseball IQ. Hernandez is making a bit of history as the first player born in Venezuela to rank as MLB Pipeline’s No. 1 prospect in a given class. (San Diego’s Ethan Salas was signed out of Venezuela in 2023, but was born in the States.)

“He has a very strong character,” senior director of international scouting Joe Salermo said during a Zoom call with reporters on Thursday. “He’s worked hard at the game. He is a professional through and through. He plays golf. If you think about a 16-year-old or 17-year-old in Latin America playing golf, you can see the advancement that he has had with his maturity. That’s a credit to his parents -- he had a really good upbringing -- and to his agent, Carlos Guillen, who took him under his wing.”

As a 15-year-old, the right-handed-hitting Hernandez excelled during a stint in the Venezuelan Major League. Playing against much older and more experienced competition, Hernandez hit .346 across 104 plate appearances and showcased his top-tier bat speed and propensity for making loud contact. While he already shows the ability to back-spin the ball, he figures to get to even more extra-base hit prowess as his frame fills out and acclimates to the rigors of pro pitching.

Seen as an above-average runner who is extremely aggressive, Hernandez could serve as a menace on the basepaths, particularly at the lower levels. The combination of his hit, power and run tools add up for him to be a potential 30/30 threat if it all comes together.

Defensively, the 17-year-old has a quick first step at shortstop. If there’s one nitpick of his game, it’s that he has merely an average throwing arm. But it all works due to the fluidity of his movements, as his quick release and sound mechanics help alleviate concerns about his ability to play up the middle long term.

Some scouts believe Hernandez is so advanced that he might bypass the Dominican Summer League entirely and make his professional debut in the Arizona Complex League this year. Salermo hopes Hernandez will be able to go the “non-traditional way” and jump directly to stateside competition, but he said that decision will ultimately be up to president of baseball operations Buster Posey, general manager Zack Minasian and player development heads Randy Winn and Kyle Haines.

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San Francisco has never been shy about shooting for the moon on the international market. Exactly one year ago, it made a seismic splash by landing Josuar Gonzalez, the No. 2 overall prospect in the 2025 class. The shortstop has since torn through the Dominican Summer League and landed on the Top 100 overall prospects list at No. 82, with executives around baseball expecting even more to be in store during his stateside debut this season.

Gonzalez and Hernandez are likely to have just enough separation – at least initially – for both to continue on their upward trajectories as full-time shortstops. But the club also has a group of slick defenders at the six in A ball between Gavin Kilen (SF No. 3), Jhonny Level (No. 4), Maui Ahuna (No. 12), Walker Martin (No. 28) and Lorenzo Meola (No. 29).

Who’s the shortstop of the future in the Bay Area? That’s a question for a later date. For now, the potential signing of Hernandez is nothing short of an extraordinary addition for the Giants, firmly establishing their reputation as a premier destination on the international market.

“I think our scouts have done a really good job identifying the prospects early,” Salermo said. “It’s not just the international department. This is a team collaboration. We work with five other departments to make a final decision on these players. We work with the medical department, the education department, player development, strength and conditioning, the data department. It’s a team effort, and we try to get out in front of the other teams by kind of grinding it out and trying to be the first on the spot with these players.”

In addition to Hernandez, the Giants signed Mexican right-hander Alexis Gallego and Venezuelan center fielder Angelo Ugueto on Thursday.

An international player is eligible to sign with a Major League team between Jan. 15 and Dec. 15. He must turn 16 before he signs and be 17 before Sept. 1 the following year.

That means players born between Sept. 1, 2008, and Aug. 31, 2009, will be eligible to sign in the current signing period. Players must be registered with Major League Baseball in advance to be eligible to sign.