SF Giants sign highly-touted shortstop Luis Hernandez, top player 2026 international signing class
The Giants have built one of their stronger farm systems in recent years, a development made possible by an influx of players from Latin America. On Thursday morning, San Francisco strengthened that talent pool by officially signing shortstop Luis Hernandez, the top prospect of this year’s international signing class, during a ceremony at the team’s Felipe Alou Baseball Academy in the Domincan Republic.
Hernandez reportedly received a $5 million signing bonus, the largest bonus of the 2026 signing class and the second-largest in franchise history behind only Lucius Fox ($6 million).
San Francisco’s addition of Hernandez comes exactly one year after they signed switch-hitting shortstop Josuar Gonzalez, who has drawn comparisons to Francisco Lindor.
San Francisco was tied with the Houston Astros, New York Yankees and New York Mets for the smallest bonus pools at $5.44 million. All four teams lost $1 million from their bonus pools after signing a player in free agency who rejected his team’s qualifying offer. In the Giants’ case, that player was Willy Adames.
The 17-year-old Hernandez hails from Guárico, Venezuela and has trained under former major-leaguer Carlos Guillén, a three-time All-Star who amassed 1,331 hits for 14 seasons. At 15-years-old, Hernandez played in Liga Mayor de Béisbol Profesional (Venezuelan Major League) and had a slash line of .346/.386/.452 over 114 at-bats despite playing against older players.
Hernandez has been lauded as possessing 30-30 upside with projectable physical tools and high baseball IQ while playing a premium defensive position. On the 20-80 scouting scale, MLB Pipeline tabs Hernandez as having an overall scouting grade of 65 with a 65-grade hit tool and 60-grade power, run and field tools.
Signing Gonzalez ($2,997,500) and Hernandez in back-to-back years marks a significant step for a franchise that has not produced much foundational homegrown talent from Latin America in recent years. The Giants have developed All-Stars such as Pablo Sandoval (Venezulea), Camilo Doval and Randy Rodríguez (Dominican Republic), but the franchise’s edge in Latin America pales in comparison to the days of Juan Marichal, Orlando Cepeda and the Alou brothers.
The Giants know prospects aren’t promised to pop. Last month, the Giants cut ties with Marco Luciano, their former top prospect who signed for $2.6 million in 2018 out of the Dominican Republic. Luciano never converted his potential into production with either the bat or the glove, and he currently finds himself on the Baltimore Orioles after being claimed then cut by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Along with Luciano, other international prospects such as Fox ($6 million) and Dominican first baseman Angel Villalona ($2.1 million, then a club record) have failed to pan out. The Giants not only paid about $4 million in penalties for going over the bonus pool allotment to sign Fox, but the team couldn’t sign an international amateur free agent for more than $300,000 over the next two years.
Gonzalez, 18, began to justify the lofty comparison to Lindor during his first taste of pro ball last year in the Dominican Summer League. Over 52 games, Gonzalez had a slash line of .288/.404/.455 with four home runs, 33 steals and more walks (37) than strikeouts. Where Gonzalez truly shined, though, is with the glove, which Baseball America assessed a 70-grade.
“The first part that stood out to me was just how good he was defensively,” said senior director of player development Kyle Haines. “So many of these guys, you end up saying, ‘Well, maybe they stick at short.’ With him, he answered the question; there isn’t a maybe. He is a shortstop. At least, that’s what he showed last year.”
Hernandez joins a farm system brimming with talent from Latin America. Along with Gonzalez, the Giants’ system features 18-year-old Venezuelan infielder Jhonny Level, the team’s No. 4 prospect according to Baseball America. Pitchers Keyner Martinez (No. 6), Argenis Cayama (No. 11) and Luis De La Torre (No. 17) were also promoted to San Jose last season, a talented trio that shined in the Arizona Complex League.
This is to say nothing of the team’s prospects born stateside, a group that’s also making waves. Bryce Eldridge, of course, remains the team’s top prospect and will likely shed that status sometime this season, though it’s not a guarantee he makes the Opening Day roster.
Along with Eldridge, the Giants’ farm features outfielders Bo Davidson (Baseball America No. 3) and Dakota Jordan (No. 7), 2025 first-round infielder Gavin Kilem (No. 8) and left-hander Jacob Bresnahan (No. 5), the reigning California League Pitcher of the Year.
In July, the Giants will have an opportunity to bring even more premiere talent into their farm system when they select fourth in the 2026 MLB draft thanks to draft lottery luck. This will be the sixth time that the Giants have drafted in the top-five, and three of those selections became franchise cornerstones: Buster Posey (2008, No. 5), Matt Williams (1986, No. 3) and Will Clark (‘85, No. 2).
This year’s draft class is currently headlined by a quartet of shortstops: Roch Cholowsky (UCLA), Grady Emerson (Fort Worth Christian School), Justin Lebron (Alabama) and Jacob Lombard (Gulliver Prep).