[THE SATURDAY MORNING REVOLUTION] More Thoughts On The Evan Longoria Deal
Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria April 19th. 2008, 11:09am
DRG here again after a little hiatus to get you through the weekend…
The Good: Getting Evan Longoria signed for an average salary over the next 6 years of less than the average salary in baseball right now, which is just north of $3mm. Longoria is just the latest example of how the Rays plan to compete in world of $100+ million payrolls.
The Bad: Everybody that now thinks this is proof that Evan Longoria’s delayed free agency clock had nothing to do with him being sent to minors. People like Joe Henderson. There has never been a contract since the beginning of free agency for a player with less than 6 years experience in which the year of free agency had nothing to do with negotiations. Listen to me very carefully. THE RAYS SAVED MONEY BECAUSE THEY ONLY HAD TO BUY OUT 2 FREE AGENCY YEARS INSTEAD OF THREE…Announcing the deal on a Friday afternoon. This is a national story and good press for changing the negative perception of the Rays and they announce the deal on the one day when stories die. There is a reason that White Houses only announce negative news on Fridays. Because nobody watches the news Friday night and nobody reads the paper or surfs the internet on Saturdays. Wait. So you must not exist right now. Why am I writing?
The Telling: Last night on “Baseball Tonight” on ESPN Eduardo Perez said that he had spoken to several players and they were not happy about the deal. His point was that Evan Longoria is one of those players that is supposed to be driving salaries up for the rest of the league. I’m fairly certain that Perez did not talk to Rocco Baldelli or any other player who’s career was cut short by injuries or any top prospect that never panned out in baseball. Does Perez think that Baldelli was stupid for signing a contract that at the time many thought was below market-value?…Also, we can ignore the option years of the deal, at least the final option which covers 2015 and 2016 his “free agency” seasons. If Longoria is the player we all think he can be, a new long-term deal will be worked out before that last option needs to be exercised.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Tampa Bay Sports Blog takes a look at the Rays’ excess pitching and what could be done. [Tampa Bay Sports Blog]
- Here is an interesting take on the Evan Longoria deal. One blogger thinks the deal is bad for both sides. [PG's Sportsworld]
- Skyking162 breaks down the Evan Longoria contract and figures out exactly how much money the Rays are saving. [skyking162]
- Carlos Pena was not in the lineup last night but could be back tonight. [St. Pete Times]
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I don’t understand how anyone can view the Longoria deal as bad.
The Rays got a franchise-type player for well below market value.
And Longoria got paid enough money to live off of for, oh– 5 or 6 lifetimes.
Sounds like a win-win to me!
Now the team needs to win!
I wonder, were the players Edyardo asked…Rays players? Upton and CC kinda chuckled about how quick he got locked into a deal, but they have no qualms about it.
i assume was just talkin to random ex teammates from cincy or st. louie.
Keep whining about Sonnanstine Prof!
when did I whine about Sonnanstine? All i said was 2 things.
1) when he is not on top of his game is VERY hittable. and you can go back and search it, but Shawn Riggans said the exact same thing about Sonny last year. When he is good he can be very good. when he is bad he does not have the “stuff” to struggle through and keep the team in the game…For comparison go back and watch the Andy Pettite game against the Rays last week. Pettite was awful but he battled and still won the game. Sonny cant do that.
2) when Garza and Kazmir come back two people are out. Hammel is one and as I said in the piece, Niemann is likely to be the other. All I said was IF the team wanted to keep everybody, Sonny would be in the bullpen bc Hickey and Maddon have both said in the past that they like the idea of Sonny in the ‘pen.
Last night’s start does not change either of those points.