The deal: The Rays trade 3B Evan Longoria and cash to the Giants for OF Denard Span, IF Christian Arroyo, minor league LHP Matt Krook and minor league RHP Stephen Woods.
Why the Giants made the deal: The Giants were desperate for a third baseman and found a long-term solution in Longoria, who is signed through at least 2022 (there's a team option for 2023). Longoria is a three-time All-Star who has twice finished as high as sixth in the MVP voting, but he's also coming off his worst season at the plate, hitting .261/.313/.424, production that made him three runs worse than the average hitter over his number of plate appearances. Thanks to his defense, however, he was still worth 3.6 WAR. He's been in that range the past four seasons -- between 3.2 and 3.9 -- which means the Giants are getting a superstar name, but not a superstar player (he averaged 7.5 WAR per season from 2009 to 2011).
That doesn't mean it's a bad deal. Giants third basemen were last in the majors in average (.216), home runs (nine), RBIs (51) and OPS (.568) in 2017, so Longoria is a huge upgrade. A 3-win player is a good player and Longoria has also been remarkably durable, missing just 12 games over the past five seasons. He's also just one season removed from hitting 36 home runs and slugging .521. Still, his .320 OBP over the past four seasons suggests his bat isn't much better than average -- and slightly below for a third baseman -- at this point in his career. The Giants also take on $86 million over the five years, minus whatever cash the Rays sent along in the deal.
Longoria will have to age well to make the deal work for the Giants. He's 32 and his defensive metrics, while excellent in 2017, were below average the three previous seasons. At the minimum, it helps the Giants immensely in 2018, a four- of five-win upgrade over what they had. Now they just need to add a center fielder, a power-hitting corner outfielder and a couple bullpen arms.
Giants grade: C+
Why the Rays made the deal: It's no fun trading away the face of the franchise and the greatest player in team history, but given the years left on Longoria's contract, his declining bat and the state of the Rays in comparison to the Red Sox and Yankees, it made sense to trade Longoria before his value craters any further and they would potentially be left with a highly-paid player who isn't much above replacement level.
Did they get enough in return? Arroyo ranks as MLB.com's No. 1 Giants prospect and we've been hearing about him since he was a first-round pick in 2013. He also looks like a classic tweener -- not enough glove to stick at shortstop and not enough bat to hold down third base. His production in the minors has never matched the hype, other than a 91 at-bat stretch at Triple-A in 2017 when he hit .396/.461/.604. Otherwise, he's never hit for much power, doesn't walk much and was destroyed in his major league debut, hitting .192/.244/.304 in 125 at-bats. I think he's one of the more overrated prospects in the minors and probably projects as a utility guy. Put it this way: If the Giants believed in his bat, they wouldn't have traded him. He does have good contact skills and maybe the Rays can get him to change his launch angle or something, but barring that, he's not an impact player.
If anything, the keys to the trade for Tampa are Krook and Woods. Krook is the more interesting prospect, a lefty taken in the fourth round in 2016 out of the University of Oregon. He has a Tommy John surgery in his past, but throws 92-94 and scouts rave about his plus curveball. At Class A San Jose he posted a 5.12 ERA -- he had 105 strikeouts and just 75 hits in 91.1 innings, but walked 66 batters. It's all about the control if he's going to develop as a starter, and the Rays have certainly had success developing these kinds of arms.
The Rays actually drafted Woods in 2013 out of high school, but he instead attended Albany, and the Giants drafted him in the eighth round in 2016. As with Krook, he has a good arm and shaky command, walking 64 in 110 innings at Class A Augusta. Both are worthwhile gambles, but also more likely to end up in the bullpen if they even reach the majors.
Rays grade: C