longoria signed to an extension

[WyldStallyn]

per rotoworld

The St. Petersburg Times reports that the Rays have signed Evan Longoria to a long-term deal.

It only took six games and 20 at-bats. The team is expected to announce the signing at a 1 p.m. press conference. Longoria wasn't eligible for free agency until 2014, and the contract likely takes him through then with a club option on his first year or two of free agency. He projects to be one of the league's better third basemen, and the deal should protect the Rays against rapidly inflating salaries come arbitration time.

now i dont think i can bring myself to trade him in my 5 player keeper league if he is thought of this highly by the rays

[Field]

Geez. I don't understand this at all from the Rays perspective. Even if he turns out to be a great player, he still wouldn't have been eligible for free agency until 2014.

I know that Papelbon is probably even more upset with his current deal now.

[mikekim21]

Can anyone in the Tampa Bay/St Pete area confirm that the press conference was indeed about longoria?

[deerayfan072]

Can anyone in the Tampa Bay/St Pete area confirm that the press conference was indeed about longoria?

Yes, the deal is for 44 Million over the next 9 years.

This was a great move by the Rays. This is very similar to the deal they gave CC and Rocco. CC is worth a lot more money than his deal and he would have gotten it too had they not had this contract. You don't worry about Arbitration or FA years by doing this

[hoya1982]

Yeah, I think this is a great deal by the Rays. If he produces the way everyone expects, he would have been looking at an average of around $10 mill a year by the time he became eligible for arbitration and they bought out some free agent years too. Also, not even half of the $44 mill is guaranteed in case he gets injured/falls apart.... Looks like a bad deal for Longoria to me but if you can put almost $20 mill in the bank before you've done anything then you'd be retarded not to do so.