Tampa Bay Rays MLB Trade News: Christian Arroyo Headlines the Return in Evan Longoria Trade
As Tampa Bay Rays fans continue to vent their frustrations after the club shipped franchise cornerstone Evan Longoria to the San Francisco Giants, people have to understand that the Rays felt they had to make the move to ensure a better tomorrow.
Parting ways with their longest-tenured player wasn't easy, but the Rays seemed to think it's worth the risk with top prospect Christian Arroyo, center fielder Denard Span and pitching prospects Stephen Woods and Matt Krook all heading to Tampa Bay as part of the deal.
"Obviously there's genuine excitement about all four of the players that were acquired," Rays manager Kevin Cash said after they made the trade on Wednesday, via MLB.com.
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"Arroyo, being that he's versatile. I think we all look at him as a young player that is going to kind of come up in that grouping with some of our young prospects that have spent time in Durham, and then also the young players that we have in the big leagues that experienced big league baseball this year. Just building off that core and continue to build that core," he added.
It's interesting to note that Arroyo actually grew up in the Tampa/Brooksville area so this trade is a homecoming of sorts for him.
Arroyo posted a 0.192/0.244/0.304 slash line as he struggled in his first season in the major leagues, but observers think he has a ton of potential. He also had 14 runs batted in, three home runs, and five doubles in 135 plate appearances last season.
Span is also a Tampa native and he's excited to play for his hometown team — if they keep him, of course.
Span has played in center field for most of his career, but the Rays already have Kevin Kiermaier at the position so they will probably have to shift Span to one of the corner outfield spots if he stays with the team.
