Face Of The Franchise Heads Out West
According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter), the Tampa Bay Rays have traded the face of the franchise Evan Longoria to the San Francisco Giants.
Acording to Topkin, the Rays send Longoria and cash considerations to the Giants for Christian Arroyo, Denard Span, Stephen Woods, and Matt Krook.
Longoria, 32, was drafted by the Rays as the third overall pick in the 2006 draft. He quickly made his way to the big leagues debuting in April of 2006.
In 10 seasons with the Rays he has hit .270/.341/.483 with 261 home runs. He has often expressed a desire to finish his career with the Rays and signed two team friendly contracts. He is the franchise leader in games played, home runs, RBI, and total bases.
Currently, he is owed $86MM dollars through the 2022 season and is entitled to an additional $2MM trade bonus.
The key player acquired from the Giants is Christian Arroyo. The 22 year old Arroyo is rated as the top prospect in the Giants system by MLB Pipeline. He is a third baseman who has also play shortstop. He is known as a pure hitter and last year made his major league debut. He returned to the minors after suffering a wrist injury and later broke his hand missing the rest of 2017.
Minor league pitchers pitchers Stephen Woods (RHP) and Matt Krook also are included in the deal.
Woods, 22, spent the 2017 season with the Giants Class A affiliate and went 6-7 with a 2.95 ERA. He struck out 113 batters in 110 innings but walked 64. He was rated by MLB Pipeline as the Giants 29th best prospect.
Krook, 23, spent the 2017 season with the Giants High-A affiliate and went 4-9 with a 5.12 ERA. He struck out 105 batters in 98.1 innings of work but walked 66. He was rated by MLB Pipeline as the Giants 25th best prospect.
Span, 33, is coming home. He was a graduate of Tampa Catholic high school. Last season with the Giants he hit .272/.329/.427 with 12 homers in 542 plate appearances. He is owed $9MM in 2018 and a $4MM buyout (or $12MM) in 2019.
