With the news that long-time San Francisco Giants third baseman Evan Longoria is looking to extend his career, is it possible he could reunite with his former manager, Bruce Bochy, with the Texas Rangers?
Could a Texas Rangers reunion between Evan Longoria and Bruce Bochy make sense?
According to a tweet from MLB insider Jon Heyman, the 37-year-old Longoria, who enters the 2023 season as a free agent, is looking to keep his MLB career going after spending 10 years with the Tampa Bay Rays and five years in San Francisco with the Giants.
Free agent Evan Longoria hopes to play one or two more years and is open to any competitive team. Longoria, who turned 37 last month, has 120 career OPS plus (114 in 2022). Can play 1B as well as 3B.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 20, 2022
Longoria played under Bochy in San Francisco in 2018 and 2019, so the duo have a familiarity with each other. In those two seasons, Longoria slashed .249/.303/.424 with 36 homers and 123 RBI in 1,020 plate appearances (933 at-bats) while posting a cumulative 96 OPS+.
After finishing with a 68-94 mark last season, the Rangers are certainly rumored to once again be looking to bring in more talent, including being a potential destination for top free agent pitcher Jacob deGrom. After last season’s inclusion of Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jon Gray, and others to the Texas roster, and the addition of Bochy this offseason, would that be enough to show Longoria the Rangers were “competitive?”
And is Texas even a fit? Josh Jung is expected to be the main option for the Rangers this season at third base, and the addition of Longoria could certainly cloud that spot for the former first-round pick. However, adding Longoria as a potential option at third while Jung gets some swings in at designated hitter (or vice versa even) could be a possibility should the Rangers and Longoria show mutual interest.
FanGraphs forecasts the Rangers posting 2.5 fWAR from the third base position in 2023. That’s tied for the sixth-lowest in all of baseball. Would Longoria provide a veteran presence and some offensive pop at the plate for the Rangers to help boost that number? Knowing the relationship between Bochy and Longoria from San Francisco, don’t be surprised if the thought of a reunion isn’t discussed in Texas.