News Flash: Longoria called up

The answer to the trivia question: A Willy Aybar pulled hamstring.

That's what led to the Tampa Bay Rays calling up Evan Longoria Friday night from AAA Durham, first reported on the Durham Bulls radio broadcast.

The race is offiically on. If you need any help at all at 3B, go grab him now. In fact, I give you permission to stop reading this blog entry.

Aybar tweaked the hammy Wednesday, reaggravating a spring training injury, and the Rays put him through tests the past two days to see how it would respond before placing him on the DL.

That leads us to Longoria, the third pick in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, whose stock went from high to higher after he smacked 21 HR and batted .307 in 105 games with AA Montgomery last year.

Longoria had a good but not great spring training, batting .262 with 3 HR and 10 RBI in 42 at-bats. The Rays, trying to save some money by delaying his arbitration clock, sent him to Durham, where the plan was to keep him there until the end of May (approximately May 26). But by calling Longoria up now, the Rays will lose him to free agency after the 2013 season, instead of 2014.

So, what kind of numbers can you expect from Longoria? It's really hard to predict with such a little sample size. Longoria did combine for 26 HR in under 500 at-bats, so 20+ the rest of this year should be reasonable. The average probably won't hit .300 but should be better than .280. Limited speed, but with the Rays, you could see a half dozen swipes.

In every AL-only format, he's a no-brainer. In any league with a bench, Longoria definitely makes sense to add, with such a high ceiling. Only deeper mixed-league formats without bench spots would I pause to hit the button, as the Rays may bat Longoria toward the bottom of the lineup to take the pressure off, which could hurt his RBI/run production.

But his arbitration clock has officially started, so unless he comes up and bombs, the Longoria Era is likely here to stay.

Don't worry, if you missed out. The Colby Rasmus/Jay Bruce jackpots are on the horizon. But don't get your hopes up until at least Memorial Day.