Ex-Rays star makes feelings known on Manny Machado and Nolan Arenado's skill-set at third base

Former Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria considers San Diego Padres ringleader Manny Machado and St. Louis Cardinals superstar Nolan Arenado to be the best players in their position. Longoria feels both Machado and Arenado have excelled offensively and defensively, making perfect role models for young third basemen to improve their game.

Evan Longoria made his MLB debut with the Tampa Bay Rays and was named American League Rookie of the Year in 2008. He is a three-time All-Star and had three Gold Gloves and a Silver Slugger award during his 10-year stay with the team.

On Friday, Longoria was a guest on MLB Network Radio for SiriusXM. He explained why he believes Machado and Arenado are the two best third basemen in the major leagues, comparing their long-term consistency with NBA icon LeBron James.

"I love watching and competing against both of them," Longoria said. "Both of them are models of consistency. They do it with the bat. They do it with the glove.

"It's kind of like that 'LeBron effect,' where you do it every single year, but you get bumped down the list because one guy has a great year, and you probably could have won a Gold Glove. We talk about LeBron being MVP every year, but they just want to give it to someone different. I think those two guys are what every young third baseman should model their game after."

Longoria also played five seasons for the San Francisco Giants before winding down his career in 2023 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, helping them reach the World Series that year.

Evan Longoria holds high expectations from Rays top prospect Junior Caminero

Junior Caminero is the top prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays organization (Image Source: IMAGN)

During his interview with MLB Network, Evan Longoria also shared his thoughts on 21-year-old Tampa Bay Rays infielder Junior Caminero. A third baseman by trade, Caminero was rated as the best prospect of the Rays franchise by MLB Pipeline last season, and the best overall in his position.

"Defensively, I don't know where they feel he's at right now. I know, offensively, he can be right at the top of the list with [Jose] Ramirez, [Rafael] Devers, and [Manny] Machado," he said.

"Obviously, as a former Ray, I've spoken with [president of baseball operations] Erik Neander, not at length, about Junior Caminero, but I know they're really excited about the prospect of his bat."

Caminero grabbed the headlines after hitting a ninth-inning go-ahead home run to help Leones del Escogido beat the Tigres de Licey in Game 7 of the LIDOM Final Series in his native Dominican Republic last month.