According to multiple reports, the Diamondbacks and free agent Evan Longoria have agreed terms of a one-year deal.
- Longoria has spent the last five seasons in San Francisco, batting .244 with 14 homers and 42 RBIs in 89 games last season.
- The three-time Gold Glove Award winner has appeared in 68 games as a third baseman and 17 games as a designated hitter in 2022.
- Longoria was a three-time All-Star and won the American League Rookie of the Year award in 2008 with Tampa Bay.
inside story
The Giants turned down Longoria’s $13 million option in November, instead paying him a $5 million buyout and handing him a free agency invitation for the first time in his 15-year career. The veteran third baseman posted .812 OPS against lefties in 2022 and led his league in production against southpaws in 2021 when shortstop Brandon separated his shoulder in a collision with Crawford. was doing.
However, Longoria admitted on the final weekend of the regular season that he would not ask for $8 million on the open market and was prepared to meet with the Giants at the negotiating table if they wanted to consider bringing him back for a lower price. showed that there is
everything to stay healthy
Longoria’s problem isn’t declining baseball skills. He can still turn on his fastball, produce high rates against left-handed pitchers, and even put together professional at-bats. Unfold. Longoria’s problem is that his 37-year-old body continues to break down.
Injuries from flukes (sprained shoulder inflicted in clash with Crawford, broken thumb from bad hop grounder, torn ligaments in finger when hit with pitch), plus all other leaks and blowouts There are gaskets that are: touch-and-go hamstrings, oblique strain, neck pain, foot pain. The Giants couldn’t expect him to be an everyday player. — Bugery
Off-field impact
Longoria still has value as a veteran in the clubhouse and bench, and the Diamondbacks are like a team with a young core that could benefit from more experience in the room. Longoria has been a key liaison to Giants manager Gabe Kapler’s clubhouse and has always been keen to promote team bonding by organizing competitions, themed road trips and group trips. I was aiming.
He will likely be a mastermind in Arizona as well, and will also help improve the strained relationship between the Diamondbacks and Madison Bumgarner. He may have ill-advisedly limited his market when he declared that he was only interested in one place. But the Diamondbacks must have listened. — Bugery
must read
(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)