Evan Longoria, who spent the past five seasons in San Francisco, signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The one-year, $4 million deal that keeps Longoria in the National League West went official on Thursday after being initially reported last week.
San Francisco traded for Longoria in 2017 after he spent the first 10 years of his career with the Tampa Bay Rays. San Francisco sent Christian Arroyo, Denard Span and two minor league pitchers for the three-time All-Star — a trade that looks spectacular for SF in retrospect.
Span registered 1.0 WAR in one season with the Rays. Arroyo only played 36 games for the Rays before eventually becoming a reliable utility player for the Red Sox.
Longoria, now 37 years old, racked up 6.9 WAR for the Giants, per Baseball-Reference. He did so even as he dealt with a myriad of injuries. In five seasons with the Giants, Longoria played 477 games, hit .250 with 70 home runs and was a consistently valuable presence in the clubhouse.
Last year, Longoria played 89 games and hit .244 with 14 home runs. Even as the Giants struggled, he tried to raise morale, at one point organizing an impromptu pregame home run derby and at another bleaching his mohawk.
His last act as a Giant was celebrating David Villar’s walk-off hit in San Francisco’s home finale.
The Giants declined to pick up his $13 million option, a move that Longoria openly anticipated. San Francisco paid him a $5 million buyout instead. He expressed interest in returning to the Giants, but also said he’d have interest in playing in either Tampa Bay or Arizona, where his family has homes.
The Diamondbacks are a nice fit for Longoria, who is still very productive — especially against left-handed pitching — when healthy. Arizona has a young, athletic core that will likely benefit from his veteran experience.
