Filed under: AAA, International League, Prospects, The Z-Meter | Tags: Baseball America, Debuts, Durham Bulls, Evan Longoria, Jeff Niemann, Now Batting For..., Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays made a controversial decision at the end of spring training, sending top prospect Evan Longoria to AAA Durham despite an excellent performance in the Grapefruit League. As various blogs pointed out, the move was likely based not on Longoria’s playing ability, but for financial reasons: keeping him in the minors for even a couple weeks impacted the length of time before he would ultimately be eligible for arbitration, free agency, and all that good stuff.
Doesn’t matter now - the Rays called Longoria up on Saturday to replace infielder Manny Aybar, who heads to the disabled list with a hamstring strain.
Joining Longoria in Florida will be pitching prospect Jeff Niemann. The two were the 2nd and 99th ranked prospects, respectively, by Baseball America. Niemann was the fourth overall pick in the draft in 2004, Longoria went third overall in 2006.
Longoria is expected to make his major league debut tonight when the Rays host the first-place Orioles. Niemann will make the start on Sunday.
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Grrrrrr. I went to the Bulls game expecting to see some Longoria and spent half the time on my phone trying to find out why the hell he wasn’t playing. Bonus = keeper league owner though.
Comment by Brinson April 14, 2008 @ 2:22 amI hear you. I have considered going down to Norfolk when the Louisville Bats come to town, just to check out Jay Bruce, who I took a flyer on in my keeper league at work.
Comment by Extra P. April 14, 2008 @ 2:51 am[...] “Now Batting”: Evan Longoria (Rays); Jed Lowrie (Red Sox) Previous “Now Pitching”: Justin Masterson (Red Sox); Luke Hochevar [...]
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