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Longoria: Baseball's most valuable asset?

By on March 11, 2010

Good find yesterday via Tampabay.com. Basically, all things entailed; Evan Longoria is the most valuable player to own on a roster in MLB right now. The case is made for him taking into consideration a variety of factors: age, marketability, contract, and skills.
And here is what is said about his ability (keep in mind we love scout talk):
I asked an assortment of scouts, executives and former players if they could trade Longoria straight up for any player in the big leagues would they make the deal. Some of them pondered. Some of them equivocated. But, in the end, all of them said essentially the same thing:
No. No freakin’ way.
It’s not any one thing that makes Longoria more valuable than the rest. It is the combination of everything positive and the complete lack of anything negative.
You want a hitter? I suggested Longoria was among the top dozen hitters in the game. One scout corrected me. Top half-dozen hitters, he said. Another suggested Longoria was probably among the top five.
You want a fielder? He won the Gold Glove award last season at age 23. And he probably deserved it when he was 22. One scout said Longoria’s appeal is he could go 0-for-4 and still change a game with his glove.
Not to give away any spoilers, but the article is good because Longoria is about to explode in this game. You think that last year was a big year? He’s really about to make himself known as a household name in our opinion.
He’s got the lineup around him to provide not only shelter and protection, but there’s going to be a lot of guys on base in Tampa Bay this season for Longoria to drive in. There’s been a few times when we saw it coming with a player on the cusp of absolute superstardom. This reminds us of Manny Ramirez before the 1999 season. It’s going to be one of those kind of years for Longoria.
And he’s a throwback, he dips snuff.
-Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria could certainly qualify as baseball’s most valuable asset. [Tampabay.com]
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