The Devil Made Them Do It
Back in 2012, the then 26-year old 3B Evan Longoria only appeared in 74 games but still put up a slash of .289/.369/.527 with 17 home runs. And he did so playing a premier defensive position.
That, along with his other even more productive first four seasons, delineated Evan as one of the best young players in the game, one with a very bright, and expensive, future. So Tampa did what they were supposed to and signed him to a six-year extension.
Of course, that did not start until after his arbitration years had expired, which was 2016.
This means that Longoria is signed through 2022, likely to be paid the $5 million buyouts in 2023. Until then, he will earn an average of almost $17 million per annum.
The extension followed every line of logic: The money was team friendly, and Evan was only signed through his age-36 season. But now Tampa probably wishes they had bought out his eligibility and waited to decide on a free-agent deal.
Performance Issues
That is partially due to performance. Longoria’s numbers have been trending down since he signed the deal, although I am in no way suggesting a relationship. Evan has always played hard, and there is almost no chance he slacked off with a new deal in hand.
No, worse than that is that this is one of the chances teams take. Evan still plays almost every day but his line of .261/.313/.424 from last year is his new norm.
And a hitter who seemed destined to hit 30 home runs a year through his mid-thirties hit just 20. That was the third time in the last four years he hit 22 or fewer…and he just turned 32.
But those are just the on-field issues.