Will baseball in the state of Florida ever look the same?
It’s a legitimate question as the region’s two defining stars, Giancarlo Stanton and Evan Longoria, have both been traded in blockbuster deals that signal the Marlins and the Rays are in the midst of serious rebuilds.
Stanton, the 2017 National League MVP and the poster boy for baseball’s home run revolution, began the offseason as the Giants’ top trade target. After bashing 59 home runs last year, Stanton was considered a potential cure for a team that finished just 64-98 last season and was in desperate need of a power surge.
It turns out, Stanton’s desire to play on a club already geared up for a postseason run was a significant deterrent, and kept the California native from waiving his no-trade clause to come to San Francisco. Instead, the slugger agreed to play for the New York Yankees, which forced the Giants to turn their attention slightly north to Tampa Bay.
While Longoria isn’t the game’s best power hitter in his prime, there was only one Stanton on the market, and Stanton determined he had no interest in playing for the Giants. Fortunately for San Francisco, Longoria’s no-trade clause won’t kick in until after the 2018 season, which allowed them to execute Wednesday morning’s deal that sets the Giants up with the Rays’ former franchise cornerstone.
At the age of 32, Longoria could very well be past his prime, but general manager Bobby Evans is banking on the idea Longoria will slot in to the middle of the Giants’ lineup and bring Gold Glove defense to a left side of the infield that now boasts the surest hands in all of baseball.
To complete the deal with Tampa Bay, San Francisco sent the Rays four players including three prospects, while the Giants received an undisclosed amount of cash in the deal. Did Evans surrender too much for a 10-year veteran who’s signed through 2022? Here’s a look at what the Giants gave up.
Player 1: Denard Span
Including Span in the trade is what made the deal possible in the first place, because San Francisco wasn’t going to take on the $13.5 million Longoria is owed in 2018 without unloading one of its larger contracts. Because Span will make $11 million next season and didn’t figure to play beyond a platoon role, the Giants were motivated to move him because it will help the team stay under the competitive balance tax threshold of $197 million.
Though Span might still have enough juice left to be a productive offensive player at the top of the order, he no longer has the range to play center field and his arm is a question mark in left field, too. A native of Tampa Bay, the trade allows Span to go home for the final year of his contract, and frees up the Giants to experiment in left field, presumably with Austin Slater and Jarrett Parker, or with Hunter Pence if the team signs a free agent right fielder like Jay Bruce.
Player 2: Christian Arroyo
If including Span in the deal is what enticed the Giants to follow through with it, including Arroyo in the trade is what convinced the Rays to make the move. Long considered one of the top prospects in the Giants’ organization, Arroyo was pegged as the third baseman of the future in San Francisco.
After a trying 2017 season that included a failed stint in the big leagues and multiple hand injuries that derailed his development, Arroyo still would have had a chance to make the Giants’ 25-man roster if the team out of Spring Training.
The franchise’s first round draft choice in 2013, Arroyo has the versatility to play three different positions in the infield and the bat to develop into an above average hitter, so San Francisco is parting with a critical piece of its future in this deal. There are many fans who won’t want to see Arroyo go, but the Giants didn’t want to include 2017 first round draft choice Heliot Ramos after the potential he displayed in the Arizona Rookie League this summer.
A Florida native who will have the opportunity to return home and be one of the primary pieces of Tampa Bay’s rebuild, Arroyo now has the chance to adjust to Major League pitching in a low-pressure environment for a franchise that doesn’t expect to compete in the near future.
Player 3: Matt Krook
A Bay Area native and product of St. Ignatius in San Francisco, Krook is a lanky left-hander who’s battled control issues throughout his stint in the Giants’ organization. Krook was originally a first round draft choice of the Miami Marlins, but opted to play in college at Oregon before being selected in the fourth round by San Francisco in 2016.
Krook was once considered a top-15 prospect in the Giants’ organization, but his ranking slipped and he finished the season at No. 26 according to MLB.com. There’s a lot to like about his mid-90s fastball and breaking stuff, but he walked 66 batters in 91 innings with A-San Jose last season.
Krook’s future might be as a reliever instead of a starter, but he boasts intriguing potential and still has plenty of room to develop.
Player 4: Stephen Woods
The Giants’ eighth round draft choice in 2016, Woods is a right-hander who throws hard but has also battled control issues at various points of his career. The Albany product finished the year at No. 29 on the Giants’ top 30 prospect rankings, and turned out to be one of Low-A Augusta’s most reliable arms last season as he posted a 2.95 ERA across 23 starts.
Woods was a sixth-round pick of the Rays out of high school, so it’s no surprise Tampa Bay kept an eye on him and asked for him to be included in the trade. After recording more than a strikeout per inning last season, the future for Woods could be brighter than even the Giants once anticipated.