Three-time All-Star and 2008 American League Rookie of the 12 months Evan Longoria will signal a one-day contract to formally retire as a member of his authentic group, the Rays, stories Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Occasions. He’ll be honored in a ceremony earlier than the Rays’ recreation on June 7.
Longoria sat out the 2024 season and mentioned final summer season that he was not pursuing a return to enjoying however was additionally not formally submitting his retirement paperwork simply but. That left the door ever so barely cracked for one closing comeback bid, however Longoria will now formally name it a profession after almost 2000 large league video games and greater than 8200 main league plate appearances.
Longoria, 39, was the No. 3 general choose by the Rays out of Lengthy Seashore State again in 2006. He was within the majors lower than two years later, getting his first name to the majors on April 12, 2008. He signed a six-year, $17.5MM extension simply six video games into his main league profession. On the time, bets of that magnitude on such younger and unproven gamers have been nowhere close to as commonplace as they’re in immediately’s recreation.
That extension, which contained a trio of membership choices, was the biggest deal ever assured to a participant with such little MLB expertise on the time it was signed. Longoria wasted little time in proving it cash nicely spent. He hit .272/.343/.531 with 27 homers, 31 doubles and a pair of triples as a rookie, making the American All-Star staff only a few months into his MLB profession.
From 2008-13, Longoria was on the brief listing of greatest gamers in MLB. Solely Miguel Cabrera, Cliff Lee, Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez generated extra wins above alternative than Longoria’s 34.8 in that span, per FanGraphs. His Twelfth-inninng walk-off residence run (video hyperlink) within the closing recreation of the 2011 common season wound up propelling Tampa Bay to the postseason that yr, and Longoria’s celebratory trot with each arms above his head as he rounded first base is a timeless reminiscence for Tampa Bay followers — one which the staff commemorated with a statue outdoors of Tropicana Discipline.
Longoria proved such a cut price and such a crucial piece to the Rays’ success that in November 2012, they prolonged him for a second time — this time on the primary nine-figure contract in franchise historical past. Tampa Bay exercised all three of Longoria’s membership choices in a single fell swoop and tacked on one other six years and $100MM in new cash (bringing the whole assure to $136MM over 9 seasons).
Longoria didn’t fairly sustain his early profession kind, however in 5 subsequent seasons with the Rays (2013-17) after signing that second contract, he nonetheless slashed .265/.325/.457 (113 wRC+) whereas sustaining his model of standout protection on the scorching nook. FanGraphs (19.8 WAR) and Baseball-Reference (22 WAR) recommended he was nonetheless one of many recreation’s high 25 or so place gamers even when he wasn’t fairly on the very high of the game anymore.
With Longoria set to safe 10-and-5 rights early within the 2018 season — ten years of service, together with 5 straight with the identical staff — the Rays made the choice to search for a commerce within the 2017-18 offseason. Gamers with 10-and-5 rights acquire full no-trade safety, and Longoria’s remaining 5 years and $81MM have been extra palatable to larger-market golf equipment than the cost-conscious Rays. In December 2017, the Rays lined up on a swap sending Longoria to San Francisco in trade for outfielder Denard Span, infielder Christian Arroyo, lefty Matt Krook and righty Stephen Woods. On the time of the swap, Arroyo was just a few years faraway from being a first-round select of highschool and was thought of to be a top-100 prospect on some rankings.
Longoria’s first season as a Large was a disappointment — the least-productive of what would find yourself being 16 seasons within the majors. He bounced again to league-average offense with stable protection in 2019, however at that time his days of star-level output have been behind him. Longoria had a down displaying in 2020 and posted large price stats in a extra restricted, part-time position in 2021-22. He signed a one-year take care of the Diamondbacks in 2023 and had a pleasant first half of the season earlier than fading down the stretch.
That 2023 season with Arizona, throughout which Longoria performed within the second World Collection of his profession, will now formally show to be his final. He’ll stroll away from the sport with a profession .264/.333/.471 batting line, 342 residence runs (tied with Ron Santo for 108th all-time), 431 doubles (145th all-time), 26 triples, 58 stolen bases, 1017 runs scored and 1159 runs batted in (185th all-time).
Longoria made three All-Star groups, gained three Gold Gloves, gained a Silver Slugger and landed MVP votes in six of his 16 MLB seasons. FanGraphs pegged him at 55.2 wins above alternative, whereas Baseball-Reference was much more bullish, crediting him with 58.9 (133rd all-time amongst place gamers). Between his pair of extensions and that closing one-year take care of the D-backs, he earned greater than $148MM in a 16-year profession that may garner some official consideration among the many citizens when his title is on the Corridor of Fame poll 5 years from now.
