Longoria To The Giants

An era in Tampa Bay has ended, the Rays flagship player has been traded. Third baseman Evan Longoria was sent to the San Francisco Giants for Christian Arroyo, Denard Span, Matt Krook, and Stephen Woods. Arroyo is number 57 on MLB.com pipeline's top 100 prospect list and was a key piece in the Stanton deal that didn't go through, and will most likely be Longoria's replacement in the future as he is a 3rd base prospect. Span is a veteran presence who will help the young Ray's players develop at the big league level. Krook and Woods are solid prospects but missed out on being in the top 100 prospects; Arroyo and Span were the main pieces of the deal going to the Rays.

Longoria is going to be an amazing player for the Giants, and he's under contract until 2022. He's heading into his age 32 season, and he's already had an illustrious career. Longoria is a 3-time All-Star, a former Rookie of the Year, and a # time Gold Glove winner. Longoria was undoubtedly the Rays leader in the club house, and on and off the field he was the player everyone associated the Rays with. Longoria's time with the Rays was magical, and from his game 162 heroics against the Yankees, to his saving a reporters life in a viral video, Longoria was the Rays franchise player. Trading him was a good move however. The Rays are in a rough spot right now, as they have the talent to make a playoff push, but the top heavy AL East would make it difficult for the Rays to succeed if they were to make a playoff push. The powerhouse Red Sox and reemerging Yankees would be a big problem for the Rays moving forward, so instead of trying to get past those super teams, the Rays decided to build for the future. The Rays have a lot of talent on their roster which a lot of teams will be looking into acquiring. Pitchers Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi have been hot commodities this offseason as many teams have inquired about those pitchers. Power hitter Brad Miller is relatively young and has a few years of club control so he could be another piece that teams could look into. Finally closer Alex Colome has been looked into by several teams, as he's been atop the league leaders in saves the past few years.

The Rays have a lot of talent and will look to unload some of it to prepare for the future. If they can wait out the storm that is the Yankees and the Red Sox, the Rays could be back on top of the AL East, and the first part of that is trading Longo. It's tough to see a franchise player like Longoria be traded, but it's for the best for both teams. The Rays are preparing for the future and the Giants are looking to have a strong bounce back season.