The Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros have expressed interest in free agent shortstop Trevor Story, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman in his latest insider piece for Audacy’s “Big Time Baseball” podcast. Heyman reiterates that he’s also heard Seattle convey interest in the shortstop, as MLBTR covered prior to the lockout last week. As is the case with all player-team connections made in the lockout age, no talks can take place between either party until the lockout is lifted.
Interestingly, Boston was recently cited as a team who reached out to free agent shortstop Carlos Correa’s camp. The path to that connection being anything more than due diligence lies in moving All-Star Xander Bogaerts off the position, an option neither the player nor Boston front office have indicated is on the table. The takeaway from a potential Correa pursuit is in many ways identical to a hypothetical Story one— sign an All-Star shortstop to guard against a Bogaerts departure, improving infield defense in the interim.
Just like Boagaerts, Story has yet to give a firm indication that he’ll be anything but a shortstop heading into the 2022 season. As we saw with Boston’s recent reacquisition of Jackie Bradley Jr. however, the Red Sox clearly aren’t afraid of shuffling players around if it means upgrading their defense. Even on the heels of a modest-for-him campaign, metrics across the board agree that Story would be an improvement with the glove over the incumbent Bogaerts. Of course, with Seattle allegedly showing interest in Story as a third baseman it’s possible Boston can do the same, choosing instead to move Rafael Devers (a subpar defender in his own right) off his position for a presumed upgrade in Story.
The Houston connection, for what it’s worth, would require the least moving parts to bring Story aboard. With Correa out of the picture for now, the Astros have a clear opening at shortstop that Story could fill. As is the case with the Red Sox, a Story signing may push the team past the first luxury tax threshold if he signs somewhere in the vicinity of MLBTR’s predicted six-year, $126MM guarantee. This may be a bridge too far then for Houston, though they’ll likely have plenty of financial wiggle room as soon as 2023 (to say nothing of a CBA that may change entirely).
Financial complications aside, the Astros pursuit of Story may hinge on how ready they are to give top-ranked prospect Jeremy Peña a look. Peña dominated in a 30-game showing at Triple-A this year, swatting 10 home runs to go with a .287/.346/.598 slash line. The home run power is new, and certainly encouraging for Houston brass to consider, but still may not be enough to hand the starting shortstop job to a 24-year-old.
The Astros remain the top dogs in the AL West but should expect the overall competitiveness of their division to increase next year. The drop-off from a 7.2 bWAR Carlos Correa to whatever it is a rookie can produce may be less palatable than simply turning to a steady producer like Story. With Story locked in alongside Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve through 2024, the team would then have the benefit of shopping Peña around for talent beyond the infield, or can simply hold onto him as a very enviable depth piece.
Isn’t publicly expressing interest tantamount to negotiating?
these 2 teams would never cheat
When Altuve and Correa walk up to the plate on the road, the home team organist should play Ace of Base, “I’ve got the sign”!
I think that happened in LA
It depends if comments were made before or after the lockout started.
Not if the “leak” came from the agents, which it absolutely certainly did.
Does it matter in that no actual negotiations can take place until the next CBA is in place. This is really nothing especially when Bogaerts has already said if it improves the team, he’s ok with moving from SS.
“absolutely certainly?” You sound positively definitively confident.
Virtually all leaks about teams’ interest in players comes from the players’ side. There is zero interest for a team to say that.
I believe Correa asking for $300M+ is crazy. If any of you are in a fantasy baseball league, what # of SS do you think Correa would be taken? I think about 10th?
What nine shortstops are you taking ahead of him Dogbone?
No. I assume he means the 10th overall player chosen and there are not nine making more than what he’s looking for. Timing is important and what is it? Six or so? No big difference. No player is worth that kind of money unless there is no cap or budget. it will hurt you sooner or later.
Dewey, no. I meant that there arguably would be 9 or maybe even 10 SS taken ahead of Correa in a fantasy draft. Start with Tatis, Franco, Bichette, Turner, Seager, Semien, Lindor, Bogaerts, and some people may prefer T Anderson or Polanco or Story.
Before his playoff run this year, Correa wouldn’t be in consideration for the money he is trying to swindle.
The Oregonian
What nine shortstops are you taking ahead of him Dogbone?
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I thought that was crazy talk, but I was surprised by just how many SS’s were real close to Correa. I think Correa will be one of the top-2 SS’s taken, but if you look at the numbers, it is not so compelling.
Adding together HRs + SBs, Correa had only 26. That ranks ~ #14. RBIs + Runs and he is tied for 2nd, but the difference in the top-10 is not as much as the difference in HR + SB.
He has longevity going for him, but there were a lot of SS’s with his numbers or better.
Fantasy baseball value is not the same as real baseball value. For one thing, defense is not considered at all.
Also, six of those first eight shortstops mentioned already have nine figure contracts, and the other two haven’t yet gotten to free agency.
It’s not apples and oranges, but it’s more like Red Delicious vs. Granny Smith.
Fernando Tatis and Trea Turner are clearly the top two. Semien is third even with some expected regression. Correa should fall in the top five, either just ahead or just behind Seager, two talented batters who rarely play close to 162 games. Way ahead of Story and Lindor as a batter. Franco needs more of a track record to be taken ahead of Correa, though I would take him ahead of Lindor and Story right now.
You’re right, gbs. And as someone who plays fantasy baseball, I’ll take Tim Anderson over Correa because Anderson has power & speed. Correa doesn’t run at all. As an example.
gbs42
Fantasy baseball value is not the same as real baseball
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1-Sure, but everyone already knows that.
2-When the subject of picking a SS for fantasy baseball, then just the opposite is true: real BB is not the same as fantasy BB.
3-Some people play in leagues with defensive points. I do, and I assume I am not alone.
JoeBrady – My point is, using fantasy rankings to argue for or against Correa’s potential contract value is not particularly informative or useful. And ignoring other shortstops’ current contract and/or service time situations doesn’t help the evaluation.
You’re an idiot. He’ll get what the top SS have gotten.
It’s just reporters gossiping off of hunches
Peacefully protesting
Thats good… they make the price go up wt Correa and Story for the f…k Yankees
The Yankees will have their choice of SS in two years when the Rangers decide to punt.
I am still shocked the Rangers went out and got Gray/Corey Seager/Semien before the lockout. Especially after trading Gallo at the deadline last year. I’m guessing the surprise signings threw some wrenches into other teams plans as well.
@FredMcGriff It looks like Texas was just tired of Gallo’s strikeouts…..Yankees are and he wasn’t there about a month
@bucsfan0004- 2 years? Try this season they may try to punt. The Yanks most likely would have an interest in Seager later this season if he was offered. Texas obviously isn’t ready to compete just yet.
Don’t count on it. Rangers have just made it very interesting for their fans.
Rangers signings will put butts in the seats and keep that attendance money rolling in.
You are wrong and right. Yes Texas is not ready to compete for post-season. But yes I expect them to keep Seager and Semien for multiple years.
The article linked to above said Heyman reported three teams having interest in Story: Seattle, Houston and Boston.
Nevermind. I see the author mentions Seattle.
Bloom is nothing but a tire kicker and Dumpster Dives and picks up the road kill other teams discard. Anyways interested and will underwhelm with an offer if he makes an offer.
They used to say that in Boston about Dan Duquette also.. Then amny-a sportswriters (hello shaugnesey) had to eat a smoking pile of u know what when he inked manny Ramirez to that 200m contract.
I wouldn’t put a deal with anyone in the rejected list if he feels it’s a good one. bloom just isn’t going to make a foolish Carl Crawford/pablo Sandoval one. He’s got more common sense.
Duquette was a dumpster diver. Signing one player does no take you off that list.
Here’s a quick list of some notable players other than Manny Ramirez who Duquette added as GM of the Red Sox:
-Pedro Martinez (made the highest paid player in baseball after trade)
-Mike Stanley
-Tom Gordon
-Bret Saberhagen
-Carl Everett
-Dante Bichette
-Jose Offerman
-Hideo Nomo
-David Cone
-Rod Beck
-John Burkett
-Ugueth Urbina
-Johnny Damon
Bear in mind that the Red Sox were being run by the trust of the previous owners after the second in the couple passed away in 1992. Duquette’s entire tenure coincided with this period, meaning he absolutely operated under tight budgets and could not really turn to ownership for much extra when opportunity presented itself. If he wanted to make a major signing, he had to find room.
Calling him primarily dumpster diver is shallow and just not accurate. Truth be told, the tool he used most was the trade market. While he absolutely had a knack for finding useful pieces from the scrap heap, that is how he rounded out Red Sox teams inside their budget, not his modus operandi.
Very shrewd with making trades redsoxu571. Lets not forget one of the finest examples of fleecing done:
Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe for Heathcliff Slocumb, who by that time of his career was about as useful as the comic strip titled by the same 1st name.
Duquette should have been a long term, large market GM with his eye for making very shrewd moves like you named and i also, nice picks and also the tendancy to fill outer orbit with castoffs who had use (lee tinsley coomes to mind right away) instead of having so much incorrect and negative press bombarded on him in boston by them because he wouldn’t stoop into the ghetto with them with their name calling and swipes every time they would take cheap shots.. it got worse and took him years, until non spending baltimore he got a job as GM and now another non spender in Pittsburgh, all because of the worthless NE media.
Can go over his moves and they were overall good. HE drafted Jon Lester, not epstein, tho many fans thought Epstein had and his drafts and acquisitions were not for the same open pocket book John henry ownership.
I rate him very high and for good reason of GM’s in Boston in my time as a fan.
johnsilver – Give one example of Bloom and the use of common sense!!!
The man’s an idiot. Mookie was a mistake. Price was a financial mistake. Benny was a mistake. Chavis was a mistake. Schwarber was a mistake. Wacha is a mistake. Renfroe for JBJ was a mistake. Paxton is a mistake. Leaving Devers at 3B is a mistake.
Yeah he sure shows lots of common sense!!! hahaha
He’s never contracted anyone for more than $12M . Is that common sense or a fatal flaw for Red Sox fans? The Red Sox with an anonymous team like TB? Let’s hope it’s not foreshadowing of how many rings are in the future for Boston because you and I have as many as TB!!
Common sense says fire Bloom and get a Large Market GM and toss all the $5M to $15M salaries so star players can be part of Boston again. A good roster has no middle class only stars and sub $5M players. The stars carry the team and the controlled players compliment the stars until they become the stars. It’s worked for a decade until Bloom showed up.
One example: Got a lousy team to the ALCS. That was magnificant.
A what a loser troull you are.
Ssshh, KD predicted we’d only win 65 games last year. He thought we picked up Robles entire salary last year, even though we got him at the trade deadline. He suggested Schwarber for both 3B and catcher.
dennyd – Insults. I’m shocked. Let me guess once again you disagree so all you can do is insult because you always lose when we exchange facts because you always come up short. Grow up and debate concepts rather than tossing insults.
Fact – Bloom didn’t play a single game. Fact – The Red Sox were led by their Big Three hitters (Bogaerts, JD and Devers) and their All-Star pitcher (Eovaldi) all of whom were part of the DD 2018 World Championship team and got significant contributions from Renfroe (who Bloom just traded away)! The players deserve the credit. The team won despite Bloom and Cora’s lack of expertise and ownership’s lack of financial support.
That was a huge accomplishment for the players and the fans. No further credit was earned by those who rode the players’ coattails to the playoffs..
Not sure why Houston thinks he’s going to be cheaper than Correa.
MLBTR thinks so.
It’s pretty simple. Correa is likely going to get 10 years and over $300M. Story will be lucky to get half of that. Therefore Story is going to be considerably cheaper than Correa
Yeah, What he said.
Who’s paying that for Correa?? Guys a cheating dumpster fire. LAD doesn’t want him he burned some bridges in NYY so where does he go? Philly is poor man’s NY Seattle has money but won’t take him.
10 years? Ummm no, that’d be a mistake for the team and Correa. If he was smart he’d take a 3 year/ 100 million deal and visit free agency one more time in his prime. Might be able to get 40MM a year by then.
Corey Seager just got a 10 year contract and he’s not going to stick at SS much longer. Correa on the other hand is an elite defensive SS who isn’t too far off offensively from Seager. Free agency doesn’t work the way you and a lot of other people on here think. Everyone in the business expects Correa to beat Seager’s contract. I don’t understand why so many people think otherwise
I think whoever signs Correa will play with the contract to make it seem like Correa has either a higher AAV (shorter years) or a higher total (by adding 2-3 years at $10M). But most people view the Seager contract as an overpay.
The biggest issue for Correa is, who is going to sign him? You need at least two teams for a bidding war. If the NYY are his only suitor, he might not even get $300M.
At the moment, it does not appear that even the NYY are one of his suitors. They seem to be looking at Simmons more.
I could see that Joe. I suggested on a Correa post last week that the Yankees offer a front loaded 8 year deal with an early opt out and a record AAV.
There also seems to be a lot of chatter about the Cubs pursuing Correa. They have hardly any money committed long term and probably don’t want to sit through a long rebuild. If they show him the money and convince him to sit through a short rebuild, I could see him going there.
There’s also the Dodgers who reportedly have interest in Correa. They don’t seem like a great fit though so we’ll see
Chicago Cubs. Will sign him. Even the Yankees aren’t that dumb.
Correa’s numbers are going up while Story’s numbers are trending in the wrong direction. Trevor story is two years older than Carlos Correa. There’s also the fact that Correa is coming off a gold/platinum glove campaign. Trevor Story had his career high in errors this past season.
Keep in mind Story had a hand injury, which affected him last year.
Also we all know about the Coors effect on stats. Minute Maid Park isn’t exactly a huge park. His splits were good last year. But how does that play out going forward. Just thinking out loud.
I’m also worried that he’s already had back problems. High torque swing. Scares me to give a guy a 10 year contract.
Story might be a bit behind Correras talent, but not sure 150 million more valuable? He’s also had a pretty good cast around him. Story not quite as deep. Just thoughts?
Story was always gonna be way cheaper than Correa. He’s older and not as good. There’s literally nobody who has ever said otherwise (except I’m assuming Trevor’s wife and mom).
Nobody has ever said otherwise…except for all of the people who thought Story was better before the 2021 season.
In the three years prior to 2021, Story was a lot better. But the two years older thing cannot be changed.
Don’t think they think cheaper but shorter term. Crane hasn’t given out a contract over 5 years since he took ownership and they are trying to bridge the gap until Pena is ready. Story can he had for a high AAV on a shorter term deal. They offered Correa 5/160 and he shot it down but that’s exactly half of what he was asking for. My opinion is he might not get much more due to health concerns. As much as I really do want him to stay, I’m pretty sure he’s gone. He’s a beast when healthy but he hasn’t been able to stay healthy all year until this year. (Contract year, go figure). His leadership on the field is going to be hard to replace though. I thought he should take the offer because I don’t see alot of options left for him to get that HUGE payday he’s expecting. Just my own opinion,but I think he ends up in Chicago.
I agree with what you said. Very logical.
Story had an elbow problem all year, which effected his throwing and hitting. Supposedly he’s healed.
Carrera and even Seagar, bith scare cause of past back problems. Those can become chronic. I saw it with David Wright. Knocked him down at 31/32. Same as Edgar Alfonzo.
Ever scarier is that there’re both Ss. Scary.
Story should jump on a 5/160 deal offered to Correra. Window will ve closing on Correa. Especially if Sox, Mets, Yanks, Story and LA passes? Where does he go? Angels??
Not really because they are not phisically calling the player and agent or meeting in person. Having interest is different than negotiating with the player and agent
Darn! And the guy who runs the Home Depot in Boston just tripled his order of trash can lids…..
Sometimes you just can’t catch a break….
And maybe one day bob might grow up and stop crying over something that happened 4 years ago
Bob – Keep the cheating fresh in the minds of the fans. We’ll never see just punishment (lifetime ban for the three amigos and player specific penalties) but keeping issues alive is a good thing and not to be forgotten.
Too bad the old timers committee that elects former stars to the HOF doesn’t have the authority to supersede the commissioner’s decision and ban Cora, Hinch and Beltran for life and reopen the investigations in both cities to punish the appropriate players with suspensions. Fair is fair. Yes, you can quote me on that one!!
I am thinking Trevor Story is going to sign with the Houston Astros, since he is from Texas.
It would be great, but as the Astros payroll stands now Trevor’s predicted annual salary would put the Astros above the current/past luxury tax threshold. The Verlander contract-in-limbo may have some bearing on how aggressive they will be pursuing Story.
Depending on how much money they’d need to clear to stay under the CBT after a potential Trevor Story signing, they might could accomplish it by trading Jake Odorizzi. With that salary structure he has, it shouldn’t be hard to find a taker for him. As a Blue Jays fan, I wouldn’t mind him replacing Matz in the rotation.
The Astros were willing to offer Correa a high AAV over 5 years. Story seems like a perfect guy for them in that case.
That was before handing out $8.5 mil to Nerris and $25 mil to JV.
The money to Verlander is 8 million less than he was paid last year. The money to Nerris is only 500K more than what was paid to Graveman. Astros have plenty of money to do what they want and stay under the tax.
No it won’t. Verlander “signed” for 8 million cheaper. Correa’s 15 million would go away as well as Grienke’s 35 million.
He’s from Dallas. You have any idea how far Houston is from Dallas?
Closer than Boston
Dude, it’s only 3.5 hrs
From Boston or Dallas?
It’s about a 45 minute flight
Literally like 3 hours….j/s
Unless you are moving Bogaerts off position, give me Jose Iglesias at 5-6 million on a one year deal before locking up someone who may be declining defensively and won’t be hitting at Coors anymore
Him being out of Coors could actually be a good thing, since his power numbers may have actually been suppressed by Coors Field. Check out his Statcast numbers, you’ll be quite surprised.
What you may be looking at are expected numbers based on exit velocity, launch angle, etc. The truth is though his Coors Field statistics are very different from his road numbers.
2021 stats
Trevor Story:
Home BA .296
Road BA .203
Home Slug .515
Road Slog .426
Home OPS .880
Road OPS .717
How about 2020?
Home BA .330
Road BA .246
Home Slug .573
Road Slug . 476
Home OPS .958
Road OPS .752
Not to beat a dead horse, but how about 2019? He Slugged an incredible .662 at Coors and “only” .445 on the road.
Much as I love and praise Statcast, it does not take into account air density.
The vast majority of players numbers are better at home. I just picked Aaron Judge at random. Still good numbers but a decent sized difference none the less.
Career stats
Aaron Judge:
Home BA .299
Road BA .255
Home Slug .602
Road Slog .509
Home OPS 1.013
Road OPS .870
Yeah there’s a difference, but Trevor Story’s are drastic even compared to Judge’s. Also consider that visiting players rake at Coors. Humidifying the balls only does so much apparently
The Coors’ effect punishes hitters since it takes a couple of days to adjust to the break of the ball once they go on the road. For example, barring no other difference, one would expect that the H/A splits for hitters would be similar to the H/A splits for pitchers. But the pitchers have much smaller splits.
Also consider that visiting players rake at Coors.
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Not as much as you probably think. The opposing hitters’ splits at Coors (league OPS/Coors OPS):
2018 .779/.722
2019 .885/.753
2020..866/.746
2021 .753/.725
That’s 85 points per year.
But compare that to how they hit elsewhere on the road. Coors field is a good place to hit. There’s nothing wrong with that, just the truth though
It’s a great place to hit. But my point in these discussions is that some posters think Coors tells the entire story, and that Story cannot hit outside of Coors. IMHO, he can. I am expecting an .825 OPS. Not as good as Correa, but not that far off.
@Mute button
How many years has Coors field been around? Are you just now learning that ALL Rockies players have significant splits? It means nothing when the player leaves the team.
MuteButton – Lets break down your stats and show they don’t support your argument except with respect to batting average.
You started with the 2021 BA and a 93 point difference between home and road. Then you listed Slugging which includes batting average and it was 99 points different which means Isolated Power was ONLY 6 points different which shows his power numbers were nearly equal at home and on the road
Then you showed OPS which includes batting average twice!!! That by itself makes the difference double so rather than 93 points higher its 186 points higher due to the batting average. The OPS difference was 163.
Breaking down that number into it’s component parts you see that
BA is +186(93X2), Isolated Power (IP) is +6 and OPS is only +163 so the EBP must be 29 points higher on the road so -29. Add the three parts of OPS and you see the only significant difference is batting average and all the other numbers are derivative of the big difference so you basically said BA was the difference 3 times!!!
In 2020 you did the same thing. So basically your only point is the batting average is higher in Coors. His power is comparable as is walk rate.
Now think about the design of Colorado. Bigger ball park making it easier to hit for average. It makes perfect sense that he hits higher there when you couple the vastness of the field. ALSO, there is an adjustment Colorado players have to make when they leave home and play on the road. That is probably the main contributor to the large differential in hitting, the negative impact of switching from a radically different environment to all the other parks. Given a NORMAL park Story will see similar conditions in all games except in Colorado and consequently his numbers should smooth between home and road games and ONLY his batting average might be somewhere in between his Colorado and non Colorado numbers.
Story is a great player wherever he plays Same as Arenado. Same as Larry Walker. Your argument doesn’t hold water. Also, your stats are redundant if you use BA and other derivatives like SLG, OBP or OPS.
There is a huge problem with OPS as a stat and it comes out clearer when you do a comparison like this one. OPS is supposed to be a comprehensive stat but it’s not it’s batting average biased.
Break in down –
OPS
= SLG + OBP
= (BA + IP) = (BA + EBP) OR ((2 x BA) + (IP+EBP))
IP – Isolated Power (TB-H)/AB
EBP – Extra base percentage (walks+sfs+hbp) (OBP-BA)
Thus a guy with a higher batting average than another player gets double the difference reflected in his OPS making it a biased statistic used by many, many poorly informed baseball people.
The single best stat to evaluate a season for a player is
BA + IP + EBP because it incorporates hits, power and walk rate (HBP/SF too)
Did you watch the breakdown of this year? Story hit 24. The analysis of his balls hit to RF, Story would have hit 48 hrs, instead of 24.
Same analysis of Cirrera he’d be up to 37 hrs.
May not factor into your thought process, but this isn’t baked into the numbers. Story has good power the other way. Just saying
KD17
His power is comparable as is walk rate.
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While I agree that the Coors effect is overrated on hitters, it is impossible that power is comparable. He has 95 HRs at home and 63 on the road.
As a follow up – Whatever happened to the baseballs in Colorado after the 2019 season radically changed the splits for Story. As I stated the original comment from MuteButton mentioned 2020 and 2021 so the analysis was done on those years. If you go back farther the splits are much larger. Have they changed the ball by changing the storage of the balls from a humidity and air pressure perspective? I don’t know. All I can say is the data for 2020 and 2021 showed a far smaller differential between home and road power numbers.
Going back and looking at his career the Story (no pun intended!) is entirely different. His home power numbers are 100 points higher than his road numbers.
Determining why they went from 100 as late as 2019 to 6 in 2020 and 2021 is a mystery as of today. I need to do some digging to figure out what happened to the baseballs in Colorado the last two years.
When we are having to comment on Jon Heyman reports….
Except Story’s not a Boras guy.
Red Sox are not signing Story.
@Butch779988- Probably just driving up the price for the Yankees.
I really hope Cashman proves me wrong and signs Story. I really like Story and I think anywhere in the neighborhood of $160/5 is tenable. If Yanks sign Story and he’s a flop, I’ll own it, but I still think he’s a good signing for the Yankees [in that range or lower]. He goes 7-8 years and north of $200M – no, thank you.
I agree. The number is a bit high, but it still works if the duration is short. Five years gives you plenty of time to develop your future SS. If they are ready in three years, moving Story to 2nd is no big loss.
Every day a story on who the Red Sox are interested in. .What’s next, who they aren’t interested in?
Writers need something to write about. And some of this might be fed by the FO to give the illusion of competition to the NYY.
But the writers connect us to players that are not even remotely close.
Gotta post something in between begging for subscribers, they never said the info is correct
I can’t imagine that everybody everywhere is following the rules about not communicating with players. If any of them get caught, what might the penalties be?
Punishments for communicating with players before the new CBA will be negotiated in the new CBA.
I see the Mariners getting him a lot more likely than them getting Bryant. If you look at the flyball distribution, Story would have had an absolute field day hitting in Safeco last season, so if I were the M’s FO, I’d be looking long and hard at getting him signing, and figuring out where he’d play later.
You will keep reading the same stories until the CBA gets done. Get used to it.
The Yankees should be all over Story. I can’t stand Correa. Hopefully he signs somewhere else instead of the Yankees. Story is definitely worth a 5 year contract worth $120 million. That definitely seems fair. If the Yankees pass on him they will regret it. Kyle Schwarbar should be offered 3 years, $55 million. Thinking Rizzo can secure a 2 year deal worth $33 million. I think one player signs with the Red Sox and one signs with the Yankees.
I agree, man. I don’t think they will get him for $120M now, but I hope you’re right. I see him hovering around $150M, which is still doable. I think Story is a great signing.
What about the Twins… surely they need short stop, 3 top line starting pitchers, a new owner… and a whole new front office… ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Not that the Red Sox need advice from a Yankee fan, but they’d be better off shifting Story to 2B and not Bogaerts. Story’s range is stronger, but he’s developed a throwing issue dating back to 2020. Not the yips, but arm strength/accuracy. I believe any Rockies fans here can speak to it better.
SS for 2 years, moves to 2nd, to make room for Mayer. Still would be a defensive improvement over Bogaerts at SS.
2022 Story @ 2B, Bogaerts @ SS, Devers at 3rd
2023 Story @ SS, Bogaerts @ 3B, Devers @ DH
2024 Story @ SS, Yorke @ 2B, Bogaerts @ 3rd
2025 Story @ 2B, Mayer @ SS, Bogaerts @ 3rd, Yorke @ ???
We made it to the ALCS last year. Yes defense can be improved but do we need a big contract in the IF? I’m ok with trading Dalbec if they think Casas comes north out of spring training. If not I see him at first and if he carries his second half forward sharing time at both 1B and 3B. If he can retain what he does and Bogaerts doesn’t opt out, we have Casas, Dalbec, Bogaerts, Devers, with Mayer, Downs, Yorke approaching, hopefully quickly. I don’t see the sense of a big contract here, save that money to pay Devers and maintain this core.
@joebrady
Looks good but what team will Bogaerts be playing for?
I don’t know. I like Bogaerts, and I hope we extend him. But no small part of me says it is not the best l/t plan. We have Casas, Devers, Dalbec, Downs, and Yorke, plus Bogaerts. If Bogaerts is going to cost, even $25M, is that the best use of funds?
Astros 1 year $22MM. Signing this guy long term without seeing how he’d produce in a season away from Colorado seems like a baaaad move
Makes a lot of sense.
So your expectation is that Story will sign for $22M with Houston, rather than maybe $145M/6 elsewhere?
Maybe I am greedy, but I think I’d prefer the $145M.
Sounds like solid team building. First sign Story for $22m. Then trade a middle reliever for Ohtani. I mean since we’re in fantasy land in this thread.
Crickets out of the Sox side of Chicago. Gonna be crickets for a LONG time if they don’t improve the roster this offseason. It would not surprise me if they miss the playoffs next year.
Signing Story won’t push Houston over the luxury tax. With signing Verlander at 8 million less than he “earned” in 2021 and with Grienke most likely leaving with his 35 million off the books–not to mention Correa’s 15 million, the Astros will be well under the tax threshold even with Story on the roster.
Spotrac has the Stros luxury tax payroll at $186M with Verlander and Neris signing. If luxury tax stays at $210M, they’ll need to jettison $8M to sign Correa at $32M AAV. Which means Odorizzi will need to go. He’s their 6th or 7th starter so probably the likely candidate. If Correa wants more and they sign him then others will need to go. Or luxury tax level will need to increase with new CBA. I hope they don’t re-sign Correa as much as I am a fan of his. They can use that money to add to the bullpen, and outfield depth. If they can sign Story for $20M AAV on a short deal, then worth the risk as they would still have money left over.
I’m for passing on both Correa and Story. No player is worth a 10 year contract- none of them have ever worked out. If Stros can do a 5 year deal on Story, with a mutual opt out after 2 years, might be worth it. I for one hope the Stros give Jeremy Peña a chance. He looked great in spring training, led the team in HRs, got sent down to AAA, broke his hand and came back for the last 30 games of the AAA season and tore it up, continuing his power stroke. And Peña is a really good defensive player.
Time for a pipe-dream scenario as a red sox fan-
1st base- devers, hes awful at 3rd and makes ALOT of errors
2nd base- trevor story( yes i know thats not his position, but we need to get over the fact that pedroia retired and isnt coming back, he wasnt that good to begin with.
SS- correa,
3rd base, Xander, the sox have already said publicly they see him eventually changing positions, Also boston has no 2nd basemen ready to be promoted from AAA or anything. Now thats a lineup, probaly wont happen since bloom is being told not to give any player a long term 100+ deal, but it would be a great lineup, having JD as the DH, maybe too it will atleast make loosing betts a lil easier to swallow since his offense and everything else wasnt yet replaced, i love verdugo, but hes not a power hitter. But also with my thinking, basically will block Jeter downs from being on the team at this point.
Probably wont happen because it is unrealistic. What team with an all star SS and all star 3rd baseman is signing Story and Correa? This is where Boston fans are trying to become Yankee fans and expect every teally good fee agent to be signed every year. Boston has more of a plan than just signing big free agents. Kike should cover a lot of 2B if the OF picture stays the same and we value defense. Arroyo is good for the other games. Devers and Dalbec could switch corners and Devers could be an slmost exclusive DH in 2023 with Casas up this year and full time next year. Downs should be close at 2B unless we trade him which I think they should.
I’ve noticed that Heyman has dropped below the Mendoza line with respect to the accuracy of his potential trades and who is in on discussions. Maybe Bloom is giving him insider information so he doesn’t get blasted on air for his incredibly stupid moves. Thinking back the MLB channel blasted Bloom for Mookie, Schwarber and not getting a starting pitcher at the deadline. Clearly Bloom understands the concept that it’s who you know is important but not the concept of what you know is important because he’s come up short on the what you know far too often!!
This story is ridiculous. $5M available under the cap and the Red Sox are in on Story? Not a chance. He would be an outstanding addition who could play 3B to save 24 to 48 misplayed balls a year but no way Bloom actually signs someone making more than $12M a year. All his years in baseball and it hasn’t happened so no reason to think it might this off season. That’s kind of like thinking Devers will learn how to field or Cora will be honest. If it hasn’t happened after that many years, it’s not going to happen!!!
Now, if you remove the Wacha mistake and the JBJ/Renfroe mistake, the resigning of Barnes mistake and the Paxton mistake he would have $30.6M available to get Story. Unfortunately, even with that much available Bloom still has no ability to land a quality player over $12M.
Did you notice how much the mistakes added up to? Now can you see why after having $73M drop off the books since he arrived the team only has $5M to spend in December prior to the next season? Money management. People say he’s good at it but the empirical evidence shows the contrary. Maybe the worst money manager of any of the GMs since before Theo. Money spent needs to add talent and rings. Neither is in Bloom’s future. Fire the guy before the damage to the Red Sox takes a decade to fix!!
Its hilarious how you constantly throw around what you think are statistics buzz words in an attempt to make is seem like your horribly biased positions/opinions are actually justified
He’s been like this for two years. It started when he predicted 65 wins last year. And, believe it or not, it’s gotten worse than that.
very believable and the argument never really changes in spite of the mounting evidence the contrary
acell10 – Try to speak intelligently despite being 12 years old. Do everyone a favor and skip my writings and just voice your opinions about baseball not other writers. It will show maturity.
Says the person that ends almost every sentence with an exclamation point.
Justanotherstrosfan – Another non articulate contributor!! great!!
Had the education system not failed so miserably in recent years you’d actually understand things like exclamation points! Also, what kind of person chooses to bully others on a website like this and forgoes talking baseball. I’m guessing we have another 12 year old commenting. Buds with acell10 are you? hahaha
Talk baseball or go back to twitter.
he wasn’t criticizing your sentence structure just pointing out your overuse of exclamation points for emphasis. Also playing the victim when you’re engaging in bullying yourself is a bad look. You make it impossible to talk about baseball or have a rational conversation because your overly biased opinion does not allow you to consider the counterpoints people are making.
acell10 – When a bully hits you and then you respond by kicking the crap out of them, is that bullying or defending yourself?
Do you realize what your point was this time? You can’t talk baseball with me because you don’t agree with my opinion!!! Seriously, do you not realize discussions don’t have to be two people agreeing? Debate and counter points are part of discussions on sites like this. You may want to go back to Over The Wall where everyone has to agree.
Last point, EVERY intelligent argument is considered. It’s the ones that are pure opinion with no explanation as to why they believe what they believe that are the ones that deserve no response because there is no basis for discussion. It’s simply one person saying it must be so because they say so. Those people usually have a hard time discussing things with me because I don’t believe ANYTHING because someone says so I believe in facts. Even if I don’t agree, a well thought out argument is a joy to read and discuss with another person posting.
Exclamation points and capitalization have no set limits. It’s part of the artistry of writing. One is not too few and ten is not too many without context to what is being said and even then it’s up to the author to decide what they emphasize not the reader..
Story is better then Correa IMO.Story is a legit 5 tool player and he’s 1 of the fastest men in baseball.I would take Story over the lil drummer boy.
You’re pretty much all alone in that one. But it’s good to be an individual with individual opinions
L&L is right, you’re wrong.
Compelling argument, lol
“I think something is wrong with his medulla oblongata!”
He’ll be a better fit in Houston ! And for the cheaters comments. I blame Altuve for the whole thing, no one else ! Back to baseball.
1.Altuve 2B
2.Tucker RF
3.Bregman 3B
4.Story SS
5.Alvarez DH
6.Gurriel 1B
7.Brantley LF
8.Myer CF
9.Maldonado C
Now, learn you always got to put your cheater hitting 1st, because he’ll always get on base 😛
“He’ll be a better fit” —- Your reason is ‘batting order’. Huh?
I’d rather just get a bigger bat and play Kike at 2B. Arroyo is at worst a good platoon player with a good glove, in case Kike is needed in the outfield. They should bring in another player as a middle infield option, but they need a starting corner outfielder more than they need a starting middle infielder. There are several on the market. Schwarber or Suzuki+reliever is where I’d spend 20m, not here.
People say that Houston’s offer to Correa was a low ball offer…I honestly think it’s more than fair. I’d like for him to stay with the Astros, but I wouldn’t be comfortable signing him for 10 years given his injury history. I think the only way he stays with Houston is a 2-3 year deal with a high AAV. That being said, he’d probably turn that down. Story makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons. I think he’d fit in just fine.
I still have hope that the Astros resign him, but I would be surprised.
His value is determined by what similar players get and what team decides to pay him.
Corey Seager is the closest comp to him. Both are big young ss who have had injury issues but excelled both in regular season and playoffs. Seager is slightly better hitter, Correa is massively better fielder.
The Rangers blew everything up by overpaying for Seager. Of course the only way they get him is by over paying.
But mow Correa is even more confident of expecting 10 yr $300+ mil.
But there are still teams out there who have money. There is 0 chance Correa does not play in 2022 unless there is no CBA
Somebody will pay him. Eventually.
Chaim Bloom won’t pay this guy. Hasn’t paid anyone that we’ve been interested in.
Well, sure. He will only pay for players he is interested in. I’d like to add Suzuki or Story, but Bloom has his own plan.
I would be happy if they sign Suzuki and couple of relievers at this point that would be a pretty solid offseason. Plan B should be to bring back Schwarber and a couple of relievers. I don’t think they are going to sign any of the big free agents but from all accounts Suzuki could be a solid signing and is a need for Boston so is at least a couple of more relievers.
Bruin1012 – With $5M left under the cap do you think Bloom can pull the trigger on a Suzuki or Schwarber and exceed the cap? Looking at the team below is an outfielder and reliever the only things needed?
26 man roster split 13 hitters and 13 pitchers
13 hitters
C – Vazquez and Plawecki
1B – Dalbec
2B – Hernandez and Arroyo
SS – Bogaerts
3B – Devers (unfortunately not at DH due to JD)
LF – Verdugo
CF – JBJ
RF – TBD
DH – JD
Bench – Arauz and Duran (probably should start in minors) so TBD
13 pitchers
SP1 – Sale
SP2 = Eovaldi
SP3 – Houck
SP4 – Pivetta
SP5 – Wacha, Hill, Paxton (IL)
CL – Barnes
Stress Inning – Whitlock
Set-up – Hernandez, Taylor, Brasier, Davis, Sawamura, Valdez (14th?)
That’s 15 but Paxton will be on the IL so one of Set-up pitchers won’t make the 26 man roster.
That’s your 2022 Roster as of today costing just under the cap.
Who is the player you would drop when you add a reliever?
With $73M freed up by Mookie and Price being shipped out and Panda and Pedroia rolling off the books, this team seems to have eaten up all the newly available payroll under the cap on guys who are simply expensive filler players.
The Bloom adds to the roster above are:
C – Plawecki $2.25M
2B – Hernandez and Arroyo $8M ($7M and $1M)
OF – Verdugo, JBJ and TBD $15M ($3M, $12M and TBD)
SP4 – Pivetta $3M
SP5 – Wacha, Hill, Paxton $22M ($7M, $5M and $10M)
CL – Barnes $9.375M
Stress Inning – Whitlock $0.575M
Set-Up Sawamura, Davis $1.775M ($1.2M and $0.575M)
This group from Bloom cost $61.975M roughly 1/3 of the payroll.
That’s why Schwarber and Suzuki can’t be added to the roster!!
Are there some well priced players in the group? Yes.
Whitlock, Sawamura, Davis, Pivetta, Verdugo, Plawecki and Arroyo
Are there many over priced players in the group? Yes
Hernandez, JBJ, Wacha, Paxton, Barnes they total $45.375M
Bloom saved $27M on Mookie and $16M on Price totaling $43M
Now you know where the money for the two star players got redistributed.
Boston got a .250 hitting 2B and three bad pitchers.
Suzuki and Schwarber seem like a stretch based on the current situation plus they don’t fit with Bloom’s spending pattern. He got Schwarber because it was only for a partial year. JBJ’s $12M is the highest paid player Bloom has brought to Boston and Schwarber turned down an $11M option for 2022. He’s expecting more than the highest amount Bloom has ever paid. Suzuki is in a similar situation.
Just a thought- the sox are checking up on Correa and story and were rumored to be in on semian in order to Guage the elite shortstop market to try to extend bogaerts
123redsox – Rumored is the key word. It’s not likely because they have no money under the cap that existed before the lockout. If the cap radically changes they might have available money to compete for insurance in case Bogey walks but it seems likely Bloom will discuss a bump to Bogey to drop the opt out that exists in his current contract.
Also, based on landing Mayer, I think SS will be Bogey with a payroll bump until Mayer arrives. They can move some of the later money forward for Bogey and put it in 2023 when lots of payroll drops off.