The similarity of his name with Actress Eva Longoria's has brought about playful comparisons between the two. Although both are Americans of Mexican descent, they are not related. When asked as a college baseball player in 2005 about the name similarity, he admitted that he got "ragged on it a lot, but I don't mind. My friends and I think she's hot." However, when asked about it again in 2008, Evan said that he was "done talking about that. I did it all through the minor leagues. That's all I had to hear was her name associated with mine. I think we're kind of past that. That's all." After he was named to the 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Eva sent Evan a bottle of champagne and a note thanking him for "doing the Longoria name proud". In return, Evan sent Eva three signed jerseys. The name similarity between Evan and Eva has led to some heckling by opposing fans against him.

Longoria was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays as the third overall pick in the 2006 Major League Baseball draft. Longoria was called the "best pure hitter" among college players in the 2006 draft class by Baseball America. He was the highest draft selection in school history. Tampa Bay gave him a $3 million signing bonus.

In October 2007, sportswriter Ken Rosenthal opined that Longoria "might be next season's Ryan Braun, making a rapid ascent to the majors." Some scouts have in particular said that the way that the ball "explodes off his bat" reminds them of Braun. He was expected to start at third for Tampa Bay in 2008 with the move of Akinori Iwamura to second base, but ultimately failed to make the opening day roster and was optioned to Triple-A Durham. According to reports, the Rays elected to send him down to complete his development, citing his short 31 game stint in Durham and drawing comparisons to the seasons of two other highly heralded 3rd base prospects.

After the 2008 season, Longoria was honored with Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award for the American League, as well as the American League Rookie of the Year Award. He became the fourth third baseman to win the award. He also became the sixth player and the first since Nomar Garciaparra in 1997 to win a Rookie of the Year Award unanimously. He was also named the third baseman on the Topps Rookie All-Star Team.

Longoria was called upon on March 19, 2009, to replace Chipper Jones in the World Baseball Classic.

He was featured in a TV commercial for Gillette. Longoria has also appeared in a commercial for New Era hats that was aired during the 2010 season.

On March 28, 2011, Longoria, David Price and Reid Brignac's rental property in Port Charlotte, Florida, was broken into, while they were away at the nearby Charlotte Sports Park stadium for a game. According to the St. Petersburg Times, police estimated $56,000 in lost property from the burglary. Among the loot was Longoria's AK-47 rifle.

On November 26, 2012, Longoria was signed to a 6-year, $100 million contract extension that could keep him in Tampa Bay through 2023.

Longoria owns a restaurant in South Tampa called "Ducky's" which opened in December 2013.

During a 14-game stretch after his first home run, Evan had no home runs, until April 19, 2014, Longoria hit his career homer No. 164, shattering the all-time Rays record for home runs, passing Carlos Peña.

For the second consecutive year, Longoria appeared in all but two of the Rays regular season games. He would finish 2016 hitting .273 with a career high 36 home runs and 98 RBI's over 685 plate appearances.

On December 20, 2017, the Rays traded Longoria and cash considerations to the San Francisco Giants for Christian Arroyo, Denard Span, Matt Krook, and Stephen Woods.