Longtime SF Giants 3B Evan Longoria signs with Diamondbacks

The SF Giants likely expected to lose longtime third baseman Evan Longoria this offseason. Now, he'll be staying in the division with the Diamondbacks.

When the SF Giants decided to decline their $13 million club option for veteran Evan Longoria, it still looked like they might reunite with their third baseman of five years. But now they'll only see him 13 times a year, as Longoria signed a one-year $4 million deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The signing was first reported by Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Terms of the agreement were later reported by Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.

SF Giants third baseman Evan Longoria. (2022) / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Back in November, Bob Nightengale reported that Longoria would only consider playing for the Giants, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Diamondbacks, and it looks like he got his wish.

Longoria provides quality right-handed hitting and power for the heavily left-handed Diamondbacks. Arizona traded left-handed hitting Daulton Varsho for right-handed Lourdes Gurriel last week, and now they've acquired a potential platoon partner for incumbent left-handed third baseman Jake Rojas.

When he's been healthy, Longoria has still been an above-average hitter and fielder. In 170 games in 2021-22, he put up a line of .252/.333/.466. Against left-handed pitching last year, it was .282./333/.479, far better than Rojas' .243/.333./.333 triple-slash.

The Giants acquired Longoria from Tampa Bay in the 2017-18 off-season, in exchange for Denard Span, Christian Arroyo, and two minor-league pitchers.

Overall, the Giants only finished above .500 once in Longoria's time with the team, although they were way over, winning the NL West with a record of 107-55. Longoria slugged .482 in his 81 games that season, sharing third base duties with Kris Bryant and Wilmer Flores.

He was in the middle of a career resurgence early in 2021, with a career-high on-base percentage coupled with his best slugging numbers in five years. But Longoria collided with Brandon Crawford on a routine ground ball and suffered a sternoclavicular joint dislocation.

The injury kept Longoria out for ten weeks.

Longoria's greatest moment as a Giant came in Game Three of the NLDS against the Dodgers, when his 5th-inning home run off Max Scherzer provided the only scoring in a 1-0 win.

He finishes his Giants career with a .250/.312/.438 slash line, 70 home runs, 239 RBIs, seven stolen bases, and 18 sacrifice flies. He only led the league once, by grounding into ten double plays in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Longoria played in 477 of a possible 708 games, which is just over two-thirds of them. For this, the Giants paid him $86 million, though Tampa sent them $15.5 million.

Longoria spent the first ten years of his career with the Rays, where he won Rookie of the Year in 2008. He won three Gold Gloves - his defense is still solid even now - and made three All-Star teams from 2010-12. Longo is easily the best player in the history of the Rays franchise.

Who is playing third base for the Giants next season? It's not going to be Carlos Correa, or Brandon Crawford moving over to make room for Carlos Correa. It could be Wilmer Flores, who played 34 games at the hot corner last year, and finished second on the team with 19 home runs. Yes, the Dodgers and Braves each had six players with 19 or more home runs, what's your point?

They could also decide to go with the right-handed power and sketchy defense of J.D. Davis, acquired in a deal for Darin Ruf last year. Davis slashed .263/.361/.496 last year and hit eight homers and eight doubles in 49 games, and for his career, he has virtually no platoon split. 

According to this depressing depth chart from ESPN, Flores is the presumptive starter at first base, Davis is the backup at third, and third base would be manned by second-year infielder David Villar, who slashed .231/.331/.455. It won't be Tommy La Stella, who the Giants designated for assignment last week after failing to find a trade partner.

Eventually, third base could be manned by prospect Casey Schmitt, who jumped from High-A ball to Sacramento last year, though you'd imagine the Giants would want to give him plenty of playing time at Triple-A first.

Farewell to Evan Longoria, who was rarely terrible, but always a little bit injured and never rekindled his prime production. In that way, he was the perfect San Francisco Giant for his era. Now, he will to have a late-career resurgence with the rival Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West.