Evan Longoria's press conference,  carried live on WDAE Monday afternoon, revealed that his contract extension was in the works for a while.

"I found out before this morning," joked Andrew Friedman during the address, sharing what Longoria himself and team owner Stu Sternberg said. Even though news of the extension came as a surprise to media and fans Monday, the team had been working on it for several weeks.

Longoria said he understands that had he played out his original deal, he could have cashed in big in free agency. But that wasn't of interest to him.

"You realize how much you appreciate a community and how much you want to be there for the long haul," Longoria said. He repeatedly talked about wanting to "put roots down" in the area, something a deal through the year 2022 takes care of.

As far as the recent surgical procedure on the hamstring that kept him out for months during the 2012 season, Longoria sounded no cause for concern and said the hamstring will be "better than ever" coming back.