MLB Trade Rumors: Tampa Bay Rays Ship Evan Longoria To San Francisco Giants
Star third baseman Evan Longoria is no longer a member of the Tampa Rays, as the Rays reportedly agreed to trade Longoria to the San Francisco Giants. After being involved in MLB trade rumors involving a litany of hitters, the Giants land a huge bat and recognizable face in Evan Longoria.
According to NBC Sports Bay Area, the San Francisco Giants adds long-time star Evan Longoria to their everyday lineup. Evan Longoria has been an MLB all-star for several seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays. He now gets a fresh start with a new baseball.
The Giants have designs on competing, not only for the National League West, but for another championship. The addition of Evan Longoria should give the Giants’ offense a huge boost.
Acquiring Evan Longoria did come at a price for the San Francisco Giants. In order to complete the Longoria trade the Giants had to agree to send former top prospect Christian Arroyo, Matt Krook, Stephen Woods, and veteran outfielder Denard Span to the Tampa Bay Rays. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Span was included to offset Evan Longoria’s incoming salary.
Losing Denard Span may come back to haunt the San Francisco Giants going forward. Span added some irreplaceable intangibles, with his defense and versatility.
BREAKING: Reports: #SFGiants acquire Evan Longoria from #Rays https://t.co/riePHnC5lz pic.twitter.com/B49YKeLpxP
— NBC Sports Bay Area & CA (@NBCSAuthentic) December 20, 2017
The question now becomes how good are the San Francisco Giants with Evan Longoria in the fold?
Evan Longoria is not Giancarlo Stanton, whom several MLB trade rumors had the Giants linked to. The Giants were one of the teams to offer the Baltimore Orioles a trade proposal for Manny Machado, according to NBC Sports Bay Area.
In the MLB trade rumors for Machado, the Giants reportedly offered Christian Arroyo. Perhaps the Giants decided to pull the trigger on a trade with the Rays for Evan Longoria after a possible change of heart from the Orioles.
According to FanRag Sports, the Baltimore Orioles are contemplating pulling Machado off of the MLB trade market. This likely opened the door for the San Francisco Giants to trade for Evan Longoria before other teams began kicking the tires.
Source: Giants get Evan Longoria for Christian Arroyo, Denard Span, Matt Krook and Stephen Woods.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 20, 2017
Evan Longoria may have seen his best playing days a couple of seasons ago. For what the Giants are looking for, however, he fits their needs.
Longoria had a WAR of 3.6 last season. That makes him an slight upgrade versus Manny Machado’s 3.5. The outgoing Denard Span had a WAR of minus 1.1. The advantage goes to Evan Longoria. Also, Longoria’s three gold gloves will help the Giants defense tremendously.
The thought is that Evan Longoria will be an upgrade over what the San Francisco Giants have in the middle of their lineup. It remains to be seen how much of a difference Evan Longoria will make in the standings.
