Tampa Bay Rays: Evan Longoria Sentenced To Life With No Chance Of Parole
Sometimes, it just doesn’t pay to be good. Especially when you are a perennial All Star and the face of a team like the Tampa Bay Rays. Because more and more it’s beginning to look like Evan Longoria sentenced himself to life in prison with no chance of parole when he signed with the Rays ten years ago as a 1st round draft pick. Every year, rumors surface about his possible release but they always seem to die on the vine. What’s up with that?
The Mets traded the face of their team, Tom Seaver to the Reds and he went on to the Hall Of Fame. And they also traded Nolan Ryan, who went on to pitch seven no-hitters and make the Hall Of Fame. And just last week, the White Sox lit up the Winter Meetings by trading Chris Sale , their one and only front line starter. So why is Evan Longoria still with the Rays?
It’s a puzzling and intriguing question because the answer to it (so far) defies logic. The Rays typically operate with the second lowest payroll in baseball. Last year, for instance, was no different when they fielded a team for $66 million. What’s significant though is that Evan Longoria’s portion of that is almost 20% of that total.
What Do The Rays Gain By Keeping Evan Longoria?
This is not to undermine what he does on the field because he produces (I’m guessing) at least the same percentage of the Rays offense year after year. More importantly perhaps, he’s always on the field. So it’s not a question of whether the Rays get their money’s worth from Evan Longoria. Instead, it’s a question of whether they could allocate that money in a way that would give them more flexibility, which is something that should be important for a team that flies by the seat of their pants from year to year.
And at the same time, it’s not like Evan Longoria is bringing the folks in and crashing through the gates, despite an AL championship in 2008, a division title in 2010, an exhilarating wild card win in 2011 and a playoff appearance in 2013, the Tampa Bay Rays never seem to be playing to a full house, or often even a half-full house.
Even in the last game of the season in 2011, arguably the biggest regular season game in franchise history and with the Yankees in town bringing their own fans, only 27,000 people passed through the gates.
At 31, the window for trading Evan Longoria is beginning to close. His value following last season’s 36 HR, 98 RBI while playing in 160 games is not likely to get much higher. It’s not like the Rays will be vying for a Division title. So why not get something back for him while you can?
There are any number of teams who would be interested. Last year in July for example, the New York Post was begging the Mets on a daily basis to trade for Longoria. Here’s another story from the same timeframe. This time it was the Indians inquiring about his services. And still another one, this one from the Dodgers who reportedly offered Justin Turner to the Rays. No conditional release date, not even a parole date for Evan Longoria.
Evan Longoria: Ten Years In On A Life Sentence
The odd thing is though, that in researching this piece and scouring page after page on Google, I could not find one word that Evan Longoria has ever said about being a lifer with Tampa Bay or on the prospect of being traded. And maybe that’s it in nutshell. No one notices him until the end of the season and then everyone looks at his numbers and says, “There’s ole reliable Evan again.” The Rays take him for granted and teams interested in trading for him do it halfheartedly assuming he’s a lifer with the Rays.
Next: Turner Headed Back to Los Angeles
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking and Evan Longoria has nothing to show for his career except for the numbers he has personally put on the board. He might be good with that, and if he’s good with it then everyone should be good with it. But I just wonder sometimes if maybe a piece of him longs for the day when the warden comes to him and says, “As of today Evan, you are a free man. Now, go out and get that Championship you deserve”.