Giants third baseman Evan Longoria is expected to miss at least six weeks following this week’s surgery to repair a damaged ligament in his right index finger, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters this morning (Twitter link via Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com). Utilityman Wilmer Flores is expected to man third base for the Giants on Opening Day in place of Longoria.
It’s a tough blow for the Giants, as the 36-year-old Longoria enjoyed a resurgent 2021 campaign at the plate when he batted .261/.351/.482 with 13 homers and 17 doubles in 291 plate appearances. A shoulder sprain kept the former Rookie of the Year and three-time All-Star out of action for two months over the summer, however, and Longoria will now endure another absence of note thanks to this latest injury. He’ll likely be sidelined into mid-May.
Flores, 30, is no stranger to third base, having played more than 1500 innings there in his career — including 430 frames last year while Longoria was on the shelf. Depending on the health of fellow infielder Tommy La Stella, Flores could be used in either a regular role or in a platoon setting at the hot corner. While Flores’ career .263/.311/.413 slash against righties is plenty respectable, it’s not as strong as his .278/.321/.502 line against lefties. The Giants have a pair of left-handed-hitting options who could see time at third base, Tommy La Stella and Jason Vosler, but La Stella figures to receive a good bit of playing time at second base as well. Versatile infielder Thairo Estrada, another righty bat, also figures to see an uptick in playing time with Longoria out. Likewise, infielder/outfielder Mauricio Dubon has experience at both second base and third base.
Suffice it to say, Kapler will have plenty of options to mix-and-match his infield alignment depending on the day’s matchup. The loss of Longoria nevertheless subtracts a source of right-handed pop from a lineup that’s also going to be without lefty-hitting LaMonte Wade Jr. for at least the season’s first week, if not a bit longer.
Longoria is in the final guaranteed season of a six-year, $100MM contract extension he signed while still playing with his original organization, the Rays, who selected him with the No. 3 overall pick back in 2006. The Giants hold a $13MM option for the 2023 season, though their decision on Longoria will actually be a net $8MM, as he’s owed a $5MM buyout even if the option is declined.
Go get JRam!! Perfect fit.
Give up a lot if you need to.
Zaidi needs to do whatever it takes to trade for Rameriz. Between Longoria and Belt they are always hurt and never play a full season.
“…always hurt and never play a full season.”
Exaggerate much?
Belt has been in the league for 11 seasons, only played over 140 games 5 times. Longoria hasn’t played over 129 games since 2017. I’d say there wasn’t a lot of exaggeration in his comment.
Cisco206:
You’re counting his first partial season, when he also played 49 games in Fresno.
Very little guys play 140 games a year in this MLB that’s pretty durable in my eyes. 103 of the 1508 guys to play in the MLB last year played over 140 games, or roughly 7% of players…… Lol not durable
Coach TTT:
It’s easy to say give up a lot, but I’m not sure you’d be happy when you see what it would take to get Ramirez. The Guardians are talking extension. They’re not trading him for anything except excess value.
We’re talking 2 top tens anchored by Luciano. The Guards wouldn’t take anyone less. Him and Matos would get it done. If not Matos, then Bailey, and Ramos. The price is one I wouldn’t pay.
yeah it is going to take way too much especially for the giants who have a lot of very highly touted prospects in the lower levels, meaning that the value you are trading on is way less than if you continue to develop them and if you decide to trade them – do it later when they have a higher value. If the ranked guys were in AA or above you could think about it and I still wouldn’t do it but it is far worse of an idea right now
Yes Giants have many good prospects. But if you aren’t giving them the opportunity to contribute at Major League level then that’s all they are “prospects.” Prospects who are being blocked by players who have become middle tier players.
If they’re not major league ready, then they’re not being blocked.
Candelario…. But where is Candlestick?
This will never happen. They’re trying to get the perpetual motion machine of developing and churning out prospect capital going first.
Doesn’t effect this team…may find that the platoon system does better than Longoria could.
agree – there are a lot of guys to move around and there will be an expanded roster to get an extra utility guy like williams that they just traded for along with dubon and estrada to cover the infield
Wow great time to have surgery, right before start of regular season. It’s a shame you didn’t have 6 months sitting around doing nothing to take care of this…
Freaking unbelievable dude
Longoria said this was lingering injury from last season. Surgery should have been done during off season. Longoria still getting paid.
Que impresionante esos gigantes
Only in the era of crappy creative math can you call his season a resurgence.
No, he was legitimately good last year, until the crash with Crawford. I’ve been down on Longo for a while, but he was fine last year.
They said it was a resurgence, they didn’t call it great. It’s a resurgence, because it was his best season in the last 4. The 124 OPS+ was a significant resurgence over his 3 previous seasons with the Giants when he posted a 96 OPS+. It’s relative.
The Giants. LOL
the Padres LOL
Imagine if this guy could have stayed healthy throughout his career. Love Longo, his attitude, his hard play, his ability…luck is missing though.
No doubt! He’s had a fantastic career. Hope he gets well and rebounds asap
This was such an obvious potential problem in the off season, not only for his defense and power, but for his right-handed bat. It appears to be Zaidi and Harris’ first major mistake.
And still, we don’t know if Brandon Belt is going to make opening day.
The Giants had the money for an everyday RH bat, and they went cheap.
I know Freeman is left-handed but I honestly would have rather seen him go to the Giants than the Dodgers if he absolutely had to leave Atlanta.
48-team MLB — Agreed, but with Belt the Giants thought Freeman was redundant. I didn’t agree. Freeman’s bat is extraordinary.
I would agree with you. There were moves to make and they whiffed on every one.
They rebuilt the rotation out of nothing.
The Gigantes ownership group are el cheapos….
they were in on everyone, what makes you think that it was somehow a mistake? sometimes guys just want to sign elsewhere, case in point the giants went hard on suzuki but his decision was based on his conversations with darvish about his favorite organizations
Yeah, what you say is true. But I can’t believe that Suzuki—for instance—couldn’t be had if the Giants had been willing to go higher. Same with the other solid RH hitters who were available.
Let’s cross our fingers.
Season hasn’t even started and people are doubting Z and Harris yet again… just setting themselves up all over again when a random guy like Alex Blandino or Luke Williams begins to outperform Longoria
Last year EVERYTHING fell right for them to have an amazing season. This year will be very different, especially without Posey. I predict a significant regression in the win column.
Their best hitter Brandon Belt was limited to 90 games while their best players from 2020, Alex Dickerson, Donovan Solano, and Mike Yastrzemski, all regressed heavily. Yet with an excellent FO and coaching they managed to play amazing baseball. For the next few years until the league catches on, the Giants, Dodgers, Brewers, and Rays will continue to be ahead of the curve when it comes to waiver claims, trades, and player development.
Belt had a career high 29 HR’s in 97 games, that numbers and outlier and probably won’t happen again. Dickerson is now 32 and he’s sho he is, a .260 hitter who’s never had more than 312 PA in a season. Solano, a good hitter, turning 34 and also never more than 307 PA and Yaz, we’ll the league figured him out last year. I wouldn’t say they regressed, I’d say they played to their averages. I’m guessing the Giants hover around .500 this year and win roughly 87 games.
sdbaseballguy:
Belt’s uptick in power is due probably more to the physical changes to the park, than simply an outlier. Dickerson and Solano are no longer with the Giants. They’ve been replaced with solid, if not star players, with positional flexibility, that will provide depth, and whom the Giants will get the most from, with the largest coaching staff in MLB, and the platoon advantage. No way they are only a .500 team.
Even if the Giants regress they could lose 17 more games than last and still finish with 90 wins
They got lightning in a bottle last year. It was a lot of fun but they were punching well above their weight class. That success is on the players and Kepler, not of Farhad getting lucky.
Kepler is an outfielder with the Twins.
Lightning in a bottle? So it was all just luck? The pitching staff lucked in to a combined 127 ERA+? They were tied for the highest combined OPS+ in the NL, despite key injuries (Belt, Longoria), and regression from others (Yastrzemski, Solano, Dickerson, Slater, La Stella, Casalli).
I think you might be whistling past the graveyard. You should be worried that maybe the Giants have found a way, through depth, positional flexibility, and the platoon advantage, to find a way to win without big stars.
T.T.P.,
Yeah, Luke Williams hit a walk-off homer in his first MLB at bat, so he’s definitely going to be good. And FZ traded for him, so he’s definitely going to be good.
Oh dear. So many tears, so little faith.
They coped without him last year and they will cope again this year.
Dude needs to hang it up.
My guy clearly didn’t really wanna play this year while still getting paid lol. Waited til the last possible second to get a surgery he knew he needed last year lmfao. I’m waiting for Tatis to do the same thing with his shoulder.
And who knows if Belt will be ready for the season. Knee problems . . . again!
Well ladi freakin da.
Amazing parallels to Scott Rolen’s career. Longoria would have to pick up about 13 more fWAR to equal Rolen’s but that’s not impossible.
Both were ROY’s at age 22. Both multi Gold Glovers. Rolen hit 316 home runs, Longo has 317. Both won one Silver Slugger. Both have lifetime wRC+ and OPS+ numbers that are very similar.
Rolen will make the Hall of Fame. Longoria would have to have 2 or 3 more really good years to have a chance but he has to be thinking about it. The dude is ripped. He probably needs to focus more on flexibility rather than weights. I hope he has a very solid year and the Giants pick up his 8mil net option for next year.
Interesting post. I like Longo, but I think it will serve the Giants better if they move from him next season.
KJ,
You realize Evan Longoria is 36 years old with a rapidly descending career glide path. It’s great you’re a fan, but probability points toward more of the same.
I wouldn’t be making this point if Longoria wasn’t starting his age 36 season with a 6-week stint on the IL.
Is anyone’s HOF bar so low that Longoria is considered an HOFer?
Since this is likely the last year Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt play for SFG, I doubt they are being counted on for even 100 games. They are role players now. I would like to see 3B/1B David Villar this year. .