The Rays lost the greatest player in franchise history a few days ago when Carl Crawford bolted for the rival Red Sox, but Evan Longoria is open to signing a contract extension that would keep him in Tampa for the rest of his career according to Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times.
"Tampa Bay is the place I want to be for the rest of my career if I can," said Longoria. "If there's an opportunity to do something like that, I would think long and hard about it."
Longoria, still just 25, famously agreed to what is considered the team-friendliest contract in baseball just six days into his major league career. He is signed through 2013 for just $13MM total, and team holds clubs options for 2014 ($7.5MM), 2015 ($11MM), and 2016 ($11.5MM). The obvious comparable here is Troy Tulowitzki, who was already signed through 2013 but landed a six-year extension that will keep him in Colorado through 2020.
A career .283/.361/.521 hitter, Longoria supplements his offense with top-of-the-line defense, leading all third baseman with +44.0 UZR since breaking in. It's unlikely that he'll take such a deep discount again, and team with Tampa's financial restraints might not be willing to assume so much risk.
