The San Francisco Giants Trade for Longoria Confuses Things Even More

With the acquisition of third baseman Evan Longoria, the direction of the San Francisco Giants becomes even more confusing going forward.

First of all, I don’t want it to sound like I don’t like this trade. The Giants were able to move Denard Span — who had not part in the future of this club — and they got a really good veteran in Longoria.

However, Longoria will play the 2018 season at age 32. Just when I thought the Giants were content with moving aging players with large contracts to get younger, they make a move for an aging player that has a big contract.

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I’ve yet to see how much money the Tampa Bay Rays are sending over in the deal, but it’s safe to assume the Giants are on the hook for the majority of the $81 million left on his contract over the next five years.

I like the move because it gives the Giants a chance to compete in 2018, but this move is counter intuitive to the future of this team.

It seemed like the right direction was to unload bad contracts — like Longoria’s will be a few years — and setup for a big offseason after the 2018 season when they’ll have a lot of payroll flexibility.

Now they still have to go out and find an outfielder and a pitcher in order to contend in 2018. I don’t think the Giants are finished making big moves this offseason, but I don’t think I agree with that direction.

After a disastrous 2017 season, I think the right move would have been to completly overhaul this team and get younger.

Instead, it seems like the front office is content with continually patch working this lineup with veterans and bad contracts until it all falls apart.

Next: San Francisco Giants Trade for Evan Longoria

I hope I’m wrong, and there is a reason I’m not in a front office. But trading Longoria adds even more confusion for the direction of this team.