Custom Card of the Day: Longoria Edition

Five years ago, around this point, not too many people knew about Bryce Harper. Not too many people knew about Mike Trout, or Starlin Castro, or even David Price. Worst of all, not too many people knew about the Rays' up-and-coming third baseman Evan Longoria. Weird times, huh?

In the years since his knockout rookie year, in which he dominated the charts, helped his team get to the World Series, and gave rookie collectors a scare, Longoria has settled into his role as one of the many 'pretty good' third basemen of the AL. True, he's not the best third baseman out there, but he's probably going to land in the top ten third basemen in terms of fantasy rankings.

It's sad because, just as Tampa hasn't made an impact since 2008, neither has Longoria. Okay, maybe I exaggerate, as he's had some pretty nice seasons, but none that really made him headline news, or made him as big as he was in 2008. Still, in the last five years Evan has seen the whole team (Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, Matt Garza, Carlos Pena) all leave, and a new batch of rookies spring up.

Will 2013 be the year for the Rays? It's too early to tell. As of right now, the AL East is pretty open, as the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Rays all have gotten some nice wins in the last few games. That doesn't mean anything for the long run, but it means that the division's going to be a tight race. I have no idea who's going to win it; even my Yankees aren't a lock for the division champs. And that's scary.

Still, if it happens, the Rays will do well with it. And hopefully Longoria will make an impact as large as the one he made in 2008.

Coming Tomorrow- The Reds' closer- no wait, starter- no wait, he's the closer again. Thankfully.