SAN FRANCISCO — Last December, two teams got together for a big trade that sent Evan Longoria to the other coast. One of them was supposed to be a contender, the other was supposed to be out of the race by September.
That is how it ended up turning out, but the Giants were not the side playing important games down the stretch. The Rays planned to rebuild, but after dealing their face of the franchise, they ended up stumbling upon a pretty good mix and winning 90 games.
Longoria, on the other hand, found himself once again playing out the string.