Tampa Bay Rays: Trade Evan Longoria to San Francisco

The Tampa Bay Rays have traded the face of their franchise as Evan Longoria is headed west to San Francisco for a package of prospects and Denard Span.

After two weeks of rumors, the Tampa Bay Rays finally came to an agreement to trade Evan Longoria. The long-time third baseman for the Rays was traded to the Giants today according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times via Twitter. Both clubs confirmed that San Francisco will send top prospect Christian Arroyo, Denard Span, Matt Krook, and Stephen Woods to Tampa for Longoria and cash.

The trade was worked out this morning after weeks of rumors. Trade rumors had swirled around Longoria as the third baseman said that he was “in limbo” last week.

Longoria made his debut with the Rays in 2008 and had been the foundation of the franchise for the last decade. Drafted third overall out of Long Beach State in 2006, Longoria won Rookie of the Year and led the Rays to their only World Series trip in 2008.

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Over the last decade, Longoria was named to two All-Star teams, awarded three Gold Gloves, and won one Silver Slugger.

Longoria was the superstar that the young franchise needed. He was touted as a superstar, and he did nothing but live up to that potential. Longoria departs the Tampa Bay Rays as the franchise’s all-time leader in home runs, RBIs, runs, and games played. The impact that Longoria had on the Rays on and off the field will be insurmountable.

The Return

Coming back for the Rays is a decent return led by Arroyo. The Giants brought Arroyo up in 2017 after being the organization’s top prospect for two seasons. Arroyo hit .192 in 125 at-bats as a rookie.

Krook and Woods are both young pitchers with decent upsides. Krook has struggled since being selected in the fourth round last season, but Woods broke out. Woods was named an Organizational All-Star in 2017 after going 6-7 with a 2.95 ERA and 113 strikeouts.

The Rays will take on the contract of Denard Span in the deal as well. Span had a good year in 2017, but it is doubtful the Rays keep him as they try and dump salary.

Next: Tampa Bay Rays Rumors: Archer, Longoria Gaining Interest

Next: Tampa Bay Rays Rumors: Archer, Longoria Gaining Interest

We will have more on the fallout of the Longoria deal in the coming days.