“This young man is special and he’s going to be special here for many years to come. So for us it’s a difficult moment, but we had to do what we perceived to be the right thing to do right now and not what anybody outside this organization thinks is the right thing to do.” - Joe Maddon
Well, I’ve had some time - and some sleep - to think it over. I still don’t REALLY know if I feel like this is for the best. but I can at least try to put it into words.
I was never shy about my desire to see Evan Longoria begin the year as the Rays third baseman. I feel like he’s the best option in the system - “ready” or not - and in the effort to put the best possible team on the field, he should be playing at third base on Opening Day.
I can’t help but feel we were lied to by the Rays. Though they said prior to Spring Training that he would get a chance to compete for the job, I don’t really feel like that’s what he was allowed to do. By all accounts - as in, every single one I’ve read - he is the superior player to Willy Aybar. Not only did he play better than Aybar this spring, but his skill-set is clearly superior. All people around the team have indicated that he has the skills needed to succeed at the big league level, and all of his teammates interviewed indicated that the Rays would be a better team with him than without him.
And yet that wasn’t enough.
We’ve heard everyone rave about him - for the local media to the national. Most assumed that he would be the American League Rookie of the Year. Despite that, he worked just as hard as anyone else in camp.
And yet that wasn’t enough.
I suppose what I’m REALLY trying to figure out is what he would’ve needed to do in order to win the job. Maybe it’s nothing. And I go back to my original point. It’s hard not to feel like we were lied to by the Rays; as if they never had any intention of allowing him to begin the year in the big leagues. It’s as if they went out of their way to tease those of us who actually follow the team, only to dangle that carrot and yank it away in one deft motion. Don’t get me wrong - I LOVE most of what FriedCo. has done since taking over. The team is definitely in better shape - and better prepared for the future - than it was 3 years ago. But why’d they have to go and be dishonest? I would’ve much preferred to hear prior to Spring Training, “Look, we’d like to keep Evan in the minors for a couple of months just to be sure. Not only will that keep his salary clock from ticking, it will also give us a few more months just to make sure that he’s really, truly ready.” But they never did. We were told he would be given a fair chance to compete for the third base job - which it’s hard to believe he really got at this point.
With all of that said - I absolutely understand the decision. Whether or not its best for the long-term success of the franchise is debatable, since I believe that he’ll sign a contract long before he gets to that last arbitration year. But why take the chance? He’s probably ready to take on big league pitching, but he might not be so why take the chance? It all makes perfect sense to me.
FriedCo. had better hope that the Rays win some ballgames to start this season, though. You can bet that if the team starts in a funk, people are going to be calling for Longoria sooner rather than later. Fans are DESPERATE for a winning team, and putting anything less than the best team possible on the field at this point is unacceptable. If Willy Aybar stumbles and the team doesn’t do well, you can bet there will be plenty of backlash - and plenty of calls to bring up Longoria earlier than the end of May, which would end up making this entire thing fruitless and even more damaging.
But it goes back to being able to put the best team possible on the field. That’s what we’ve heard - essentially - from the front office all off-season. Who among us really believes that Willy Aybar rather than Evan Longoria is the third baseman on the best possible team? And that, again, goes back to the feeling that we were lied to - at least a little bit. 2008 ISN’T the year in which “one day” becomes “now.” 2008 is just another building year to some season in the future. And FriedCo. is going to have to deal with the backlash that comes from that.
Tags: Evan Longoria
March 25th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
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