Rays Trade Evan Longoria to San Francisco But Will He Leave His Heart in St. Petersburg?

The Tampa Bay Rays have traded third baseman Evan Longoria to the San Francisco Giants for veteran outfielder Denard Span, infielder Christian Arroyo and two minor league pitchers.

To put it simply Longoria is the greatest player to ever put on a Rays uniform. In 10 big league seasons at Tropicana Field, Longoria has collected 1,471 hits for a .270 lifetime batting average with 261 home runs and 892 RBI. Longoria has hit at least 20 home runs a season in 9 of his 10 campaigns. He won AL Rookie of the Year in 2008, has been named to three AL All-Star teams and has thrice won the AL Gold Glove for his work at the hot corner including in 2017.

The Rays, who were last in the post-season in 2013, appear to be headed for full fledged rebuilding mode and Longoria wanted greener pastures. On the surface, the Giants seem an odd choice given they were tied for the worst record in MLB (along with the Detroit Tigers). But the Giants were expected to contend in 2017 and view a season plagued by injuries as an aberration. It doesn't hurt to have a guy who has played more games than any other MLB player over the past five seasons. Longoria should improve the Giants' offense. But will he leave his heart in St. Petersburg?

As for the Rays, they get a dependable veteran outfielder in Span who hit a career high 12 home runs with the Giants in 2017. But the key to this deal is Christian Arroyo. He was the Giants number one draft pick in 2013 and he made his debut in 2017, but hit .192 in 35 games. It remains to be seen if Arroyo can hit big league pitching and he now has the unenviable task of replacing his new team's most beloved player at third. Even if the Rays aren't expected to contend in 2018, the expectations on Arroyo will be very high. Perhaps even higher than expectations on Longoria in the Bay Area. It could be worse. Arroyo could be playing in Boston or New York. Although he will be playing against them.

Longoria turned 32 in October. He has an outside shot at both 500 home runs and 3,000 hits. Even if he doesn't quite get to those numbers his chances for Cooperstown are reasonable given the paucity of third basemen in the Hall. For now Longoria would settle for a World Series ring.