What Happened to Evan Longoria?

Evan Longoria was the Rays' star third baseman for much of the past decade. After his callup in 2008, he contributed to their run to the 2008 World Series and became one of the best players in franchise history. With such memorable plays as the walk off home run in 2011's Game 162, Longoria became synonymous with the Tampa Bay Rays. So what ever happened to him?

Longoria posted an almost league average 99 OPS+ in 2017, his final year in Tampa. He won the Gold Glove for third basemen, posting double digit Defensive Run Saved for the fifth time in his career. After that, the 31 year old Longoria was traded to the San Francisco Giants

Since then, his play has undeniably declined. This may be because the natural product of aging, or another factor. His swing% is down 2 whole points from his high in 2017, especially on pitches inside the zone. Additionally, Longoria's contact percentage on the swings are down as well. With pitchers pounding the zone 47.6% of the time against him, Longoria is quickly finding 2 strike counts. Although his raw stats are dragged down by his playing environment, his bat is not what it was. One positive is Longoria has taken more walks than he had all of last year. Already.

Glove-wise, Longoria is still satisfactory at third but not a Gold Glove-caliber player. Longoria's range has gotten better this season, but his errors are red flags. Fans Scouting Report has Longoria's tools as worse than before, but he is still performing enough to be on the field.

Longoria's contract is...a problem. Being owed a ton of money, and performing at a 3 WAR level is generally not acceptable (Hi, Bryce Harper). His early decline had led to him falling off of the HOF path many projected he was on, with 50 WAR at his age 31 season

May your pennants, especially your 2008 Rays AL Champions one, fly forever.

-Prentiss