It’s impossible to rewrite history, but wondering what life would be like without the Evan Longoria trade does add some intrigue as the Rays walk into San Francisco’s Oracle Park this afternoon.
As this article is published, a franchise legend will be staring the Rays players in the face from across the field as the anthem plays, but was this moment necessary?
Occurring back in December 2017, the Evan Longoria trade returned Denard Span, Christian Arroyo, and two minor league arms to the Rays, along with some salary relief. In order to understand what the Rays would look like in 2019 without this trade, we need to start with 2018.