Longoria locked up the next nine seasons

[ReasonablySober]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Rookie third baseman Evan Longoria and the Tampa Bay Rays agreed Friday to a $17.5 million, six-year contract, a deal that could be worth up to $44 million over nine seasons.

Tampa Bay has a club option for 2014 and a second option that covers 2015 and 2016.

Taken third overall in the 2006 amateur draft, Longoria appeared in just six major league game before agreeing to the deal.

The 22-year-old was brought up from Triple-A Durham last Saturday and made his big league debut that day. Because he was not on the major league roster for the first 13 days of the season, Longoria's eligibility for free agency was pushed back an extra year until after the 2014 season.

The Rays have signed a number of their younger players to long-term deals, including right-hander James Shields, and outfielders Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli.

[Schad]

Well, looks like he is with the big club to stay...no more yo-yo to gain an extra arb-eligible year.

Great looking deal for the Rays, assuming that Longoria doesn't lose an arm in 'Nam along the way. It's a guarantee of $17.5 over six years (avg. $2.9m a year) and could max out at under $5m a year until 2016 ($44/9 total), and even had they played the cheap route for the next six seasons, contract inflation and his production would have necessitated some very large numbers on the back end.

[HCYanks]

Smart on the Rays, definitely. Even if he doesn't live up to the hype (not that I think he'll flop) his deal's still pretty manageable. And the back end of the contract could end up being the bargain of the century.

[craig01]

Definitely a win win deal.

Longoria gets up front money, and the Rays get a huge bargain later.

Smart move by both sides.

[yaomac11-1]

great job by the rays to get this guy locked up. he's already making a good impact and has a solid future ahead. AL ROY???

[gooGD]

This deal is getting absolutely smashed and ridiculed by the guys on ESPN and baseball tonight. It is downright disgusting and putrid. It goes the same with people trying to convince me that Miggy is underpaid on his current deal.

Some of these guys come from blue collar, middle class backgrounds. If you're a stud prospect, even if you're playing well on the Bigs and your club calls you ask wants to lock you up at 17.5 million guaranteed for your first big contract, and you're telling me this is a bad deal on both sides? I don't care if everyone thinks Longoria is the next David Wright. This might sound pessimistic, but hes proven nothing in the Bigs, and his club wants to offer him 17.5 million guaranteed, are you really going to tell them no?

If Longoria projects to be what everyone says he will be, he will get 2 monster contracts throughout his career after this deal is over. If he wants to nickle and dime his way to 20-30 more million throughout his arbitration and early FAs and deal with the stress, bs, fans, etc. be my guest.

Fact is, he just went from earning $330,000 to just under $3,000,000. Who is going to sit here with a straight face and tell me this is a bad deal.

[livestrong4ever]

This deal is getting absolutely smashed and ridiculed by the guys on ESPN and baseball tonight. It is downright disgusting and putrid. It goes the same with people trying to convince me that Miggy is underpaid on his current deal.

Some of these guys come from blue collar, middle class backgrounds. If you're a stud prospect, even if you're playing well on the Bigs and your club calls you ask wants to lock you up at 17.5 million guaranteed for your first big contract, and you're telling me this is a bad deal on both sides? I don't care if everyone thinks Longoria is the next David Wright. This might sound pessimistic, but hes proven nothing in the Bigs, and his club wants to offer him 17.5 million guaranteed, are you really going to tell them no?

If Longoria projects to be what everyone says he will be, he will get 2 monster contracts throughout his career after this deal is over. If he wants to nickle and dime his way to 20-30 more million throughout his arbitration and early FAs and deal with the stress, bs, fans, etc. be my guest.

Fact is, he just went from earning $330,000 to just under $3,000,000. Who is going to sit here with a straight face and tell me this is a bad deal.

it looks good now. but when his first abry year is up. or would have been up without this deal. and he sees other guys who are way less talented then him make around the same amount of money. then its not going to be such a good deal.

basically it comes down to when he wants his money. if he could have waited more years and is confident that he is going to be a star player then he should have waited.

[Chach]

You smoke rocks? This is a horrible deal FOR LONGORIA (I will explain later in my post why I emphasize strictly him). Longoria has the pedigree (top baseball program), he has the draft status and the signing bonus (#3 overall, $3 million bonus), he has the tools and scouting +1 and he has produced supremely well at every level of play. To sign a long term contract six games into his big league career is a short sighted move. It's not a matter of waiting until arbitration. Troy Tulowitzki signed a 6/30+ million deal this past off-season after having one of the best rookie seasons ever. Now maybe Longoria doesn't get THAT much but he would certainly get close to if not matching Tulo's deal had he waited until the off-season to sign after probably winning ROY. Is there a chance he doesn't play well this year and the team doesn't offer him $30 million? Sure, but he has all the positive signs pointing in his favor and you have to trust his talent will show him through. Even having said that, the $17 million doesn't bother me, it's the options that bother me. If he were simply forgoing arbitration then awesome, one less headache avoided out of the sake of sanity. But the option keep him signed for well below his market value and delay his testing FA, probably costing himself a third contract. If I remember correctly, he will be turning 29 when the actual contract ends (his birthday is in mid-October so he will just be turning 29 before the off-season starts). The options delay FA until he turns 32. He could have signed a mega rich 4 year deal and then signed another as he turned 33. Now he really only gets one shot at a mega deal and that is when he is in his early 30s. The length of the deal, because of the options, really makes this look like a horrible deal for Longoria.

That being said, this deal makes me happy for baseball. To see a "small market" team avoid the big market money game and sign a premier talent through his prime for a managable sum makes me happy. It makes me smile to see a front office roll the dice because they incomporate ALL aspects of player development (scouting, performance, performance evaluation and projecting). And I think it sends a great message to the fans of Tampa that the Rays are for real and they are committing to winning and they are going to built a championship caliber team through their farm system, from the ground up. So basically, I think this deal sucks from Longoria's point of view but is a great success for baseball. mahalo
~Chach~

[craig01]

That being said, this deal makes me happy for baseball. To see a "small market" team avoid the big market money game and sign a premier talent through his prime for a managable sum makes me happy. It makes me smile to see a front office roll the dice because they incomporate ALL aspects of player development (scouting, performance, performance evaluation and projecting). And I think it sends a great message to the fans of Tampa that the Rays are for real and they are committing to winning and they are going to built a championship caliber team through their farm system, from the ground up. So basically, I think this deal sucks from Longoria's point of view but is a great success for baseball. mahalo
~Chach~

Bingo.

The risks are that Longoria may not pan out.....but 17 million is manageable in baseball terms, or that Longoria's production exceeds the value of the contract.....in which he loses $$$$.

However, your point about the commitment by both Longoria and the Rays is the real key here.

The Baseball culture for the Rays is finally reaching a Major League level. This is huge.......

[Schad]

I'm with you, Chach. I like that these deals are becoming more common among the smaller market clubs, because it should prevent talent flight, and to a degree limit salary inflation.

I don't mind it for Longoria, either. Sure, he's not going to be a $200m man, but he's now a 22 year old guaranteed to earn $20m over the course of his career who will likely see upwards of $100m when all is said and down. In a sport where players flame out at a ridiculous rate, that's not a bad starting point.

[Chach]

I am all for guys getting guaranteed money where they can get it. I loved the Grady Sizemore deal a few years back, I loved the Tulo deal. I love young guys sticking with teams because even as a Red Sox fan, I really hate free agency. But the reason I hate this deal from Longoria's point of view is the options considerably delay his earning potential and don't really off-set that sacrifice with a considerable amount of money. Those three years are HUGE but he really has one shot at a multi-year deal after that because if he signs a 4 year deal, he will be 36 when it ends and he isn't getting a huge deal after that. And depending on luck, how he ages, and if his defense regresses to the point where he has to move down the defensive spectrum all will determine how much he makes on that deal. Had he signed this off-season and gotten a raise in the 6 year deal and hit FA at age 30 rather than 32, he would have made more guaranteed money and set himself up to land a longer, richer long term deal. By signing this deal now cost him probably around $50 million had he just waited another 9 months to sign. He probably cost himself well over $100 by avoiding arbitration. But that's the point of signing long term, you give up some long term money for short term security. I just feel like he made his move too quickly and gave up way too much money for some short term security he really didn't need. mahalo
~Chach~