Will David Villar’s emergence with Giants push out Evan Longoria? Quite the opposite, perhaps

CHICAGO — It’s a baseball tale as old as time.

A rookie makes his major-league debut, proves he can carry his weight, entrenches himself in the team’s plans. Meanwhile, a veteran who plays that rookie’s position glowers from his corner locker, watching his replacement happen in real time.

David Villar is the rookie third baseman making a strong impression with the Giants. Evan Longoria is the veteran third baseman in the final guaranteed year of his contract, who will turn 37 in a few weeks and whose future depends on whether the Giants pick up his $13 million option or offer him their sincerest best wishes along with a $5 million buyout.

Except this is where the tale takes a twist. Villar’s emergence might not make Longoria expendable. In fact, Villar’s emergence could be one of several factors that make the Giants more likely to pick up Longoria’s option.

Begin with two observations: (1) Longoria continues to be a productive player when he stays on the field and (2) Longoria has had trouble staying on the field. The Giants wouldn’t reinvest a net $8 million in Longoria with the idea that he’d be an everyday player and lineup fixture who makes 120-plus starts. They’d reinvest that amount in a right-handed hitter who is still capable of taking over a game, as he did in Detroit on the previous trip, or coming through in the clutch, as he did in a loss Friday night, or being the ideal person to lead a pregame hitters’ meeting, as he did before a 4-2 victory over the Cubs on Sunday that clinched the Giants’ first road series win of at least three games since mid-June.

Giants win 4-2 at Wrigley. First road series win of at least three games in … uh, a long time. pic.twitter.com/16nQpx2SHx

— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) September 12, 2022

The Cubs started left-hander Wade Miley. Longoria had faced him 42 times. No major-league hitter had faced him more often.

“He gave us an idea of how to approach him,” said Wilmer Flores, whose two-run homer in the eighth came against the Cubs bullpen. “You always listen to someone who’s played the game a long time. They can tell you or teach you how to approach the game.”

Longoria’s approach hasn’t changed even as the Giants have fallen out of contention. He’s still giving teammates extra incentive to win a game (which is how his bleach blond mohawk came about). He’s still leading hitters’ meetings. He’s still an active and important conduit to the clubhouse for Giants manager Gabe Kapler, who once called a young Longoria his teammate with Tampa Bay.

Leadership and institutional knowledge are valuable. They might not be worth $8 million. But his production at the plate might be.

Forgive Longoria if he clears his throat when you mention that absolutely nothing went wrong for the Giants in last year’s 107-win season. When you collide with Brandon Crawford, dislocate your shoulder and miss two months of the season, that qualifies as something that went wrong. He ended up playing in 81 games, he hit 13 home runs, and he was one of the league’s most productive hitters against left-handed pitching (1.088 OPS). This season, he has played in 76 games, he has 12 home runs, and his production against lefties has remained solid if not otherworldly (.850 OPS).

He’s also dealt with the betrayal of one body part after another. He’ll play on a touch-and-go hamstring the rest of the season. But he’s still providing authoritative contact when the team needs it most.

“I’m really fascinated by the last couple of years with Longo,” Kapler said. “There was this elite-level performance, and then for a couple of years some of that went away and he wasn’t nearly as good as he was in Tampa. And then over the last couple of years, although the volume hasn’t been there, the performance when he’s been on the field has been really excellent as a defender and as an offensive performance.

“What he’s shown on this trip and what he’s shown over the last couple of years is that he’s still a very effective major leaguer when he’s on the field,” Kapler said. “So the trick is now to figure out how to keep him on the field as much as possible, not just this year but for whatever happens for him next year.”

That’s where Villar comes in. And Flores, if the Giants bring him back. And Casey Schmitt, whose trajectory could lead to a major-league debut next season and whose defense at third base has drawn comparisons to Matt Chapman. The Giants wouldn’t need Longoria to grind as an everyday player. But as a part-time third baseman, a right-handed DH and someone who brings a healthy dose of practical knowledge to balance out all the machine learning that gets filtered down to players? All of that makes him a potential fit.

And if the Giants can count on everyday production from Villar, who will make close to the league minimum, it’s a lot easier to justify an $8 million salary for a part-time player. No, a team like the Pirates or Royals wouldn’t allow that kind of extravagance. But the Giants will have loads and loads of payroll flexibility next season. Bringing back Longoria wouldn’t prevent them from making any other move or signing any other free agent.

But you might be asking yourself: How can the Giants commit to roster change if they bring back Joc Pederson and Mike Yastrzemski, as president Farhan Zaidi has indicated he would like to do, and re-sign Flores, who is an organizational favorite, and also pick up Longoria’s option? That doesn’t sound like getting younger and more athletic, does it? But it could work if the DH slot were freed up full time for Pederson, with Longoria and Flores rotating as the right-handed complement. (Needless to say, the Giants would have to cut Tommy La Stella and eat the $11.5 million owed to him next year.)

Kapler agreed with the suggestion that Longoria could be managed similar to how the club kept its commitment with Buster Posey last season, sticking to a two-on, one-off schedule with their catcher and franchise pillar.

“That takes discipline, and for Evan, whatever happens and wherever he lands, and if he decides to stay on this journey, it’s going to take a support system,” Kapler said. “Not just strategically but a team that supports him playing less regularly.”

It’s strange to think about it this way, but Longoria is still a bigger name nationally than he is in San Francisco. He was the first player that ESPN asked to wear a microphone and participate in the broadcast while playing in the field Sunday night. Between pitches, and sometimes while a pitch was being delivered, the broadcasters asked him about his future and about his teammates, and they passed along a fan-submitted question — from Buster Posey, so they claimed — about whether he dyed his hair because of his affinity for Justin Timberlake. And because ESPN asks the hard but essential questions, the broadcasters also inquired whether he eats macaroni and cheese with a fork or a spoon. (It’s a … spoon? Really?)

Thairo Estrada didn’t need a microphone to have a statement game. He singled in the Giants’ first run against Miley, he hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh, he stole a base, and he continued to look even more comfortable at shortstop than he did at second base.

“We’re really, really tight and we’re always talking baseball,” Flores said. “We’re always talking about the mental part of the game. When I was in the big leagues for the first day, I had nobody with me to tell me what to do or who was really close to me. So I think about that, and I think about the confidence that he has. I’m very proud of everything he’s done. He’s only going to get better.”

The Giants’ 5-2 victory Saturday night was a glimpse into the future: Logan Webb offered another of his typically sturdy starts, Villar doubled and homered, Joey Bart went deep while running a tight ship behind the plate, and Camilo Doval was dominant while recording the save. All four players are 25 or younger. All of them are homegrown. The Giants must make major investments in their roster this winter. But Saturday’s victory was a reminder that it doesn’t have to be a teardown project. Several important pieces of the next Giants playoff roster are already here.

Perhaps Longoria will be around to join them, with any hair color of his choosing, and give it one last shot.

(Photo of Evan Longoria from Aug. 22: Bruce Kluckhohn / USA Today)