Major League Baseball front office executives are expecting more and more young players to be locked up for the long-term by their teams instead of riding out their arbitration years to free agency in the years to come. Last winter, we saw Ryan Zimmerman agree to a six-year/$100 million extension on top of his current deal, which had two years and $26 million left on it.

Now, the Tampa Bay has identified Evan Longoria as their franchise player by also agreeing to a six-year/$100 million extension, likely making him a Ray for life. On his current deal, Longo was entering his final guaranteed year in 2013 before the organization had to pick up his options for 2014-16. This extension will exercise those three options, then adding on six more years, putting him under team control until 2022, with an option for 2023.

The next question will be whether David Wright will agree to a similar extension to make him a Met for life. He’s voiced his desire to stay with the organization, and his agents, Sam and Seth Levinson, have been in negotiations with the Mets for most of the off-season. With Zimmerman’s deal from last winter and now Longoria’s to use as negotiating points, I expect for us to see clarity in whether a deal will get done or not soon.