Like their Miami counterparts, it must be hard to be a Rays fan.
Source: Giants get Evan Longoria for Christian Arroyo, Denard Span, Matt Krook and Stephen Woods.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 20, 2017
Via NBC Sports:
Longoria is coming off his worst season as a major leaguer, having hit .261/.313/.424 with 20 homers in 2017. He’s also still owed $86 million through 2022, which seemed like a great deal several years back but now seems sort of hefty for where he is as a player. Still, he’s the most important player in Rays franchise history, spending his entire career in Tampa Bay, hitting .270/.341/.483 (OPS+ 125) with 261 homers and 892 RBI since coming up as a rookie in 2008.
Despite his worst season and not being the player he quite was Longoria will most certainly provide a better option for the Giants than Pablo Sandoval who was on track to be their starting third baseman come opening day 2018.
San Francisco also lands a pretty notable player on the trade market after missing out on Giancarlo Stanton.
As far as the Rays go, what could take some of the sting off dealing Longoria is Christian Arroyo is more than likely going to be a legitimate All-Star at some point down the line. Meanwhile Matt Kronk and Stephen Woods both finished in A-Ball at the end of last season and were drafted by San Francisco in the fourth and eighth rounds respectively in 2016. As far as Span goes, the Giants parting with him is more or less a salary dump for San Francisco. This past season the 34-year-old slashed at 272/.329/.427 with 12 homers, 43 RBI and 12 stolen bases.
