Longoria Gets Chance, Rays Fans Rejoice

Rays top prospect, Evan Longoria, may be up to the majors sooner than expected. It was assumed that Tampa Bay would leave him in the minors for a month or two to delay his free agency, and possibly his arbitration clock. An injury to third baseman Willy Aybar has apparently caused the team to alter it's plans, as it was reported that Longoria is being called up to the big club. If he stays up for good, it would catapult him to the top of the expected Rookie of the Year lists. This may add as much as a win or two for the Rays, as Longoria is generally regarded to be behind only Jay Bruce among position prospects.

Edit: It seems that Evan was already left in the minors long enough to hold off free agency for an extra year. He is expected to go to arbitration at the regular time though (as Super-Two) - it appears the move was made by the Rays to keep him under team control for an extra year and not to save money. It's nice to see that from Tampa Bay.