Red Sox infielder Trevor Story has only played 94 games this season due to various injuries and doesn’t have much time left to add to that total. Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe reports that the earliest Story could come back from the IL is the club’s final series against the Rays, which begins October 3.
Story’s health won’t impact the 2022 season at this point as the club is eliminated from postseason contention, but it will be significant for the 2023 club. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts can opt out of his contract this offseason and is widely expected to do so. Boston will then have to decide on what their middle infield plan is for next year. Extension talks in the spring reportedly didn’t make any progress and Rob Bradford of WEEI relays word from Bogaerts that talks haven’t picked back up as of yet.
The club could theoretically move Story back to shortstop, where he played for years while with the Rockies, and then give second base to Christian Arroyo, Enrique Hernandez, Yu Chang or someone else. However, that plan will come with some uncertainty. Story dealt with shoulder issues in 2021, making 11 throwing errors that year. Some in the industry felt he was better suited to second base, which is where the Sox have had him this year. He seems to have taken well to the position change, racking up five Defensive Runs Saved and 10 Outs Above Average despite barely playing half a season. If the club decides that Story has found a good home at the keystone, they would then have to figure out who’s taking over at short.
Some other tidbits from the AL Beast…
- The Yankees could activate DJ LeMahieu from the IL tomorrow, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. “We’re about at that point of, let’s go give this thing a go,” manager Aaron Boone tells Hoch. LeMahieu has been out of action for more than three weeks due to a toe injury, which put a halt to another fine season at the plate for the 34-year-old. He’s hit .262/.358/.381 for a wRC+ of 117 while providing quality defense at first, second and third base. All told, he’s produced three wins above replacement in the eyes of FanGraphs, making this the eighth straight season of him getting to 1.9 fWAR or higher. The Yankees have already clinched a spot in the playoffs and are virtually guaranteed to finish atop the AL East and earn a bye past the first round. If LeMahieu is indeed able to rejoin the team tomorrow, he will have a week to get some at-bats and get back into game shape before the regular season concludes.
- Rays outfielder Roman Quinn has joined the Triple-A Durham Bulls to begin a rehab assignment, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Quinn played well in 21 games for the Rays, hitting .262/.340/.305 for a wRC+ of 121 before landing on the IL due to a knee contusion. He hasn’t hit for much in the majority of his time in the big leagues but has always been useful due to his speed and defense. The Rays are likely headed for the postseason as they currently hold the second AL Wild Card spot and could potentially find Quinn’s skillset to be useful off the bench.
- The Blue Jays fired Charlie Montoyo from his manager role earlier this year and gave John Schneider the position on an interim basis. The Jays have generally fared well since the move, going 41-25 since he was pushed up to the top job in the dugout. That might be enough for the club to simply remove the “interim” tag for next season, though a final decision is not being made public just yet. “He’s certainly a long-term fit,” general manager Ross Atkins tells Keegan Matheson of MLB.com, though also indicating they will make a formal decision at a later date. Matheson opines that Schneider will be sticking around, though it seems official proclamations will have to wait.
Xander will be wearing Dodger Blue next year.
I don’t think they can afford to keep him as a #2 to Trea can they?
Trea is coming back to the East. He is believed to dislike the West Coast. I think Trea and Dansby swap spots with Turner to Atlanta and Dansby to the Dodgers.
Haha I don’t see it. I think the Dodgers might even extend him before the playoffs.
@hiflew; I hear ya. Wouldn’t be surprised by this. Betcha Freddie has already vouched for Dansby.
Mmm I don’t think so…
More like Yankees pinstripes. Pretty sure they need a consistent shortstop. KF to second, Gleyber Torres can split time with either.
Yankees didn’t sit out last year just to sign a SS this year. Volpe is their guy.
Honestly they need more offense and they’re never short of signing brand name players. They did this with Ellsbury, Holliday, Ichiro, Donaldson. They’ll find a way to keep Volpe and sign Bogaerts. It’s the Yankees.
It ain’t the George Steinbrenne Yankees and they have to sign Judge as well as another starting pitcher.
I actually think they might miss out on Judge as ridiculous as that seems. I really hope they sign Judge because it will all but break the bank for them. If he gets Cole money then Yankees have money tied up for years and years. But Mets and Dodgers still have a lot of money now too…
Yankees are going to try to do everything to sign Judge but that’s only going to hurt their future with so much money tied up.
Earlier I would have agreed with you on Judge. With him likely to break Maris’ record, I think they will do about whatever it takes. The only way I see him leaving is if SF makes a offer in line with the Yankees and he wants to go back to California.
He’s easily bound to regress next season as well. So hard to repeat what he did so they’re going to have to overpay for him.
It’ll definitely be an overpay. I hope they stick to a reasonable offer and let him walk if it gets out of hand.
pwndroia – I’d bet anything Judge returns to the Yanks. He is a rare situation where his team MUST keep him, just like they HAD to keep Mariano and Jeter.
It’s not just about performance, Judge is a legendary franchise icon who single-handedly rakes in a tremendous amount of revenue. Even if he underperforms for the last 3-5 years of his new contract, he will still generate revenue in excess of his salary. The backlash from allowing him to leave would be immense, even the signing of Ohtani wouldn’t be able to compensate for the loss of Judge. They will find a way to sign him.
Even if he regresses, he’ll still be among the best hitters in the game. He might not hitting 60 home runs, bat over .300, and have a wRX+ over 200, but he could easily go on to hit 40-50 homers, somewhere in the .270-.290 range, and have a 150 wRC+, which would still be elite level production.
mlb – Yes, and unlike other “superstars” nobody would question whether he is cheating. That makes him even more marketable.
@Fever Pitch Guy very valid points. I agree he will sign with the Yankees but I don’t think it’ll be that easy to just sign him.
Got it give Cashman credit again (much to my disdain). He made a good (or lucky?) non-signing with Story, who was the guy I believed was their top SS option in the offseason. He’s a great talent, but it looks like Cashman got that one right, at least for this season.
In the same boat with you, Clip.
Fever Pitch, this is spot on…100%…You saved me the anguish of typing up something similar. I think much of what you said can be applied to Shohei and the Halos as well.
Legendary? Lol, your funny. He is a good outfielder and fantastic hitter all for a couple years while getting hurt every year but the current one.
Clip and YBC,
Never wanted Story!!!! And yes Cashman got it right. Worst case scenario, we have IKF and Cabrera play short next year. Not bad at all for a fall back position. Best case scenario, Peraza is ready opening day and Volpe is ready shortly after. Makes at least 1 of Donaldson, LeMahieu, and Torres available as a trade chip if the best case scenario works out. And I realize Donaldson has little or no real trade value, but if they can swallowed some of his contract it frees up a position for one of the others previously mentioned.
@Mickey I think it largely depends if Rizzo opts-out which I think he does. I would be inclined to move JD to first but his defense is still good at 3B.
Why not? Don’t get me wrong, I have no reason to believe he’s doing anything and there is testing of course. That said, do we really know for sure? 100% sure? No we do not.
Where would Lemahiu go?
I was under the impression he was at third or first, that Donaldson would retire, and that they may move KF or Torres. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m used to seeing Red Sox players wear pinstripes.
Donaldson has $24MM coming to him next season in the last year of his contract. He’s not retiring.
How much payroll (yes I know they are the Yankees) will be left after they sign Judge to a monster contract after he wins the mvp and has a triple crown season?
Well that’s the thing, are they the favorites to sign Judge? Logic says yes but reality? Yankees are no longer the only team with the most money. I love that Judge is so successful this season because his price is skyrocketing.
I don’t follow the Yankees too closely but how do they let him walk? I get it, it takes 2 to tango as they say but take him away from their current lineup and what’s left? Sure they’ll sign other people if Judge walks, but they’re the big bad Yankees they need they bad@$$ thumper
He will probably stay but Yankees will have to overpay. The better Judge does this year, the more the Yankees overpay.
I can see Mets and Dodgers possibly offering more than the Yankees. As rich as the Yankees are, they’ve been more frugal the past few years.
Judge will only drive up Yankee’s payroll and it’s very doubtful he will put up this year’s numbers. Some on MLB Network have claimed that Yankees will have competition signing Judge, so we will see.
Thanks for the info. While I agree he won’t put up these kind of numbers again I can’t see him not being a yankee. He’s already up there in age one long contract and he retires a yankee. Of course you can’t count out the dodgers or Mets. Do the Phillies still have stupid money to throw around?
Judge has to stay. No way they let the guy who broke their mystical HR record leave. Yanks need someone on the team that’s going to get a statue outside the park. Although it would be poetic for Judge to go across town
Ultimately, I think Judge will sign with the Yankees but I wouldn’t call the other teams out. I don’t think it will be as easy as people think for the Yankees to sign him, especially since Judge declined their offer once already.
@Latino, they have the payroll room. Keep in mind Judge is making $19M this year. Let’s say he signs for an AAV of $39M just for easy math. They’d need to find another $20M. Both Chapman and Britton’s contracts are done, so that’s $30M freed up right there. They could sign Judge for an AAV $39M and they’ll still have $10M left over. It’s the latter years of the deal that will be the challenge, but not 2023.
@pwndroia Why would other teams be out? They should be driving Judge’s cost up which is what the Yankees frequently do in the free agent market. RS will put in an offer for Bogaerts with no real intentions of signing him.
Cohen openly admitted he’s going to be in on Judge. I believe SF (whose OF needs upgrading imho) will be strong contenders for Judge, particularly given their financial situation, coupled with the fact that Judge’s childhood dream team is SFG.
I could even see teams like Baltimore, with money to spend, making bids initially, simply to drive up costs, hoping to get lucky a la MN/Correa.
Yankee Clipper I think your right the Giants have a ton of payroll room available and could probably outbid anyone for his services and certainly need him. I guess Cohen could go crazy and sport a 350 million payroll but I like the Giants as the biggest competition for the Yankees signing Judge.
Agreed Bruin. And Judge’s affinity for SF makes it that much more likely. Honestly, Fink Ployd has been commenting for months that he believes Judge is headed to SF next year & I’m inclined to agree with him.
@YankeesBleacherCreature I never said other teams would be out on either Judge or Bogaerts… I just don’t think Bogaerts signs with the Red Sox and I think Yankees is a possibility. But I never said nor even implied other teams were out unless that was misunderstood
Nope
Cubs
lol
Boston we have a problem! Even Baltimore is better then us… old players, too many errors, no pitchin and no bullpen…. Don’t trust Bloom
life – The sad thing about the Red Sox is they aren’t even putting up a fight. When roles were reversed in the past, such as last season and 2011, the O’s damaged the playoff hopes of the Red Sox and other teams by beating them in September when the games mattered only to Baltimore’s opponent.
Now, the Red Sox aren’t even fired up enough to play spoilers against divisional rivals. That’s on Cora more than anyone, he’s an atrocious manager. No team with talent such as Xander and Devers should be rolling over every game.
BTW – Please stop blaming age. The Mets and Yankees have the oldest two teams in MLB, and the Dodgers and Braves have the 5th and 6th oldest teams. Experience helps.
statista.com/statistics/236223/major-league-baseba…
Cora is one of the best managers in the game IMO. Problem is, when you’re a diehard fan of a team you see all the warts. And all managers have them.
XB to Philly.
Nah, Yankees will sign him especially if they miss out on Judge.
just had 2 comments bounced….saying waiting for moderation…?
They may still show, but in short both said
phillies have stott at ss maton at 2b and they can use money for sp and rp
Has never happened to mebefore
Very good possibility with Dombrowski. He loves signing players to huge deals.
Yes.
Xander will not be with the Red Sox next year. It’s best for them to cut bait with an aging player like Xandy and hope that Story can return to elite form so they can ship him off for a good prospect haul.
Isn’t Story older than Bogaerts? Age isn’t logic in your argument, sorry.
Correction- same age but the point still stands. Age isn’t a factor.
How about the fact that Story plays SS and Bogaerts insists he plays SS. Bloom wants defense.
Same age, but Story signed a year earlier at 29. Story’s contract will end when he’s 34. Bogaerts will certainly sign for longer than that.
I just don’t understand Bloom. I still haven’t ruled him out but he leaves you scratching your head a lot. Obviously owners were probably involved in signing Story but it goes against the whole philosophy of Bloom’s building up of a successful farm system without overpaying for aging players.
I like Story but he’s too injured, aging, and while we didn’t overpay, we invested enough in him for years to come. It could end up being JD Martinez all over again in the end and Bloom was brought in to end deals like these.
We all know Bogaerts isn’t coming back, especially now that he’s been critical of Bloom and the team’s future.
I agree one hundred percent. I haven’t been a huge fan of Bloom, but I’m giving him one more offseason, especially with a relatively clean slate, before I get my pitchforks out.
Successful teams make those deals. You gotta take the good with the bad then pay half of it to get rid of them when it gets too bad hahahahaha
Say what you want but the reason Bloom is here is that those deals rarely worked out. Sure, we got titles in 2013 and 2018 and I’d do those deals any time to get those guys but in reality you want a sustainable winning team and both 2013 and 2018 were one-time wonders.
Carl Crawford, Pablo Sandoval, among others have failed in these deals. Yankees are going to see the backlash of Cole in the coming years catching up with that big deal.
You hope it works out like JDM. He earned his money.
Sloppy reporting by Pete. Story went on the 10-day IL retroactive to Sept 19th, so he’s eligible to come off on Thursday the 29th.
If you read the linked tweet, it talks about when he is actually going to come back and play, which is later than when he is first eligible.
Sloppy reporting by Pete. Story went on the IL retroactive to September 19th so he’s eligible to come off on Thursday.
I will also mention Christian Arryo needs to either be a full time player or traded. He’s a capable hitter who’s not gotten his fair chance, despite us throwing in Dalbec and Cordero.
Arroyo was actually a guy that got on a good tear but was easily overlooked for worse options on the field. The guy deserves to play- start him every day or trade him to a team that will let him start every day.
he has to stay healthy
So does the whole Red Sox roster, Story included. Pretty sure Arroyo played more games than Story this year, though I may be wrong on that.
Charlie Blackmon to the Angels
I don’t see Xander in New York. Dodgers, Cubs, Braves, Phillies maybe, but Yanks held on to Volpe in lieu of acquiring Luis Castillo so i doubt there is a fit there
Rsox;
Believe it or not, I think that Kevin Newman of the Pirates would be a perfect fit for the Braves to play SS if they don’t resign Dansby Swanson. Very similar players. They can continue to win with Newman at SS. Would have to put a package together, but they wouldn’t have to give up a top prospect. Maybe a couple of decent pitchers.
John Schneider should be retained as Jays manager
They were falling apart a few weeks ago. It appeared the Orioles were going to pass them in the WC race. I watched him in a press conference. He looked a bit scared, but nevertheless held his ground as the media was peppering him about the Jays sloppy play – doing the “who do we blame this on” thing that has apparently moved north to Canada from America whenever things aren’t perfect. Multiple times Schneider said the players would pull it together and that the veterans would take charge. In the real MLB world that’s the way it has to work.
The Jays almost immediately stopped playing like the White Sox and started winning again. He did the right thing. showed guts as a manger in a critical situation. Can’t imagine the Jays not taking him on as manger for next year and beyond.
John is a Jays” lifer” been manager in waiting for a while. Brass loves him. Today Atkins all but confirmed he’s coming back.
Unfortunately he’s the scapegoat if the Jays get bounced by Tampa in the WC series.
He’ll get a fat contract if they get by Tampa and Houston.
He’ll be a Legend if they even just make it to a WS and Beat NY SEA or CLV in the ALCS.
Can the Jays simply retain Schneider? I don’t know what the terms of his contract as a bench coach were, but with the promotion to interim manager is that contract now void and Schneider free to seek out job opportunities elsewhere without the team’s permission? Just wondering what negotiating leverage Schneider and the team have. There are a few managerial openings and I think Schneider might have been on some shortlists. I wonder if this was even one of the calculations in the Montoyo decision.
Typo on Roman Quinn’s SLG (.405)
What a conundrum the Yankees are in. Giancarlo Stanton, Gerrit Cole and DJ LeMahieu are remaining NYY for a long time. Josh Donaldson and Aaron Hicks don’t help the team but their contracts are nearly untradeable. Aaron Judge will be 31 next season; he has a spotty history of health. He will get a guaranteed long term contract that will limit the team’s future decisions regardless if he lives up to the contract. I would respect the Yankees if they put the team first and not sign Judge. Let the Angels sign Aaron Judge.
Yeah, Judge is tricky. They have to sign him because he’s a lifelong Yankee, their next captain, and the face of the franchise. But, they can’t give him Gerrit Cole treatment. Imho, it would be far more prudent to overpay Judge on a front loaded contract for a shorter duration. But the Yankees have always given 2-3 extra years to keep the annual payments lower.
Both Stanton & DJL are great players in reasonable contracts given their performance. However, both signings were a mistake, imho. It was money they didn’t need to spend that should’ve been reallocated to other top-tier players in positions of need. In Stanton’s case, I’ve always said they should have acquired Harper and paid the extra. He’s worth it. DJ was redundancy we didn’t need. We needed a SS.
Cashman missed out and he should’ve unloaded for Turner/Scherzer when they were available for trade from the Nats. They could’ve then extended Turner who is a game-changer on offense, a passable SS and a good defender at 2B.
Cole was an overpay & we could’ve had him much earlier for Miggy & Frazier, but Cashman refused. Now they got Miggy for free & Frazier didn’t pan out at all. And, we are here again, prospect-hugging for the future. Peraza doesn’t even play in favor of the light hitting IKF and he’s supposed to be the untouchable future SS! What are they doing?
If you could promise me a healthy Arroyo&Story + Devers extension I could live with Xander walking. But I still believe they extend/re-sign him, probably for more than what he’s worth, and get a Devers deal done in the process..too bad there’s about 12 more holes to fill. But at least 2 positions will be taken care of!
Xander is as good as gone. No way he comes back to Boston.
Andujar went 2-4 with a double and an RBI in a win for the Buccos. Good man, Miggy.
Not looking forward to Cole taking the ball in the playoffs.
I know that of all the potential FA SS options, Dansby is having the best defensive season. But it seems to be an outlier. He’s good, but not as good as the metrics suggest IMO. Conversely, Correa’s D #s are down but I feel he is the top defender of the bunch. I feel Trea is the best overall hitter given his speed. Who does everyone here think is the best and why? I think about leadership & clubhouse chemistry too
From NJ.com:
‘MLB insider predicts Yankees’ biggest problem in the playoffs
‘. . . For the Yankees, Bowden pointed to the bullpen, “which has been inconsistent all year.”’
In the first half, the Yankee relievers were second in fWAR, second in ERA and first in FIP. Houston’s relief corps was the only one that yielded fewer runs, and no team’s relievers yielded fewer home runs than the Yankees, short porch and all.
“Inconsistent all year.” Jim Bowden. MLB insider.
The Yankees’ bullpen issues are a second-half problem. They were money in the first half.
The Yankees should do the following this off-season:
trade Gleyber Torres, pray that Rizzo opts out, trade Hicks and Donaldson. This would require the Yankees to eat a significant portions of their salaries. Despite the dead money, it’s more important to be rid of these two from the roster and you can still clear millions from the payroll. 2023 infield should look like this – Cabrera at 3rd, Volpe at SS, Peraza at 2B, and DJM at 1B. IKF will be the backup INF with Wade ready to be added to the 40-man in case of emergency. DJM should work out fine at 1B. When healthy, he’s better than Rizzo one offense and defense.
Despite the WAR ratings that overweight the impact of their respective defensive positions, Rizzo’s wRC+ is 20 points higher than LeMahieu’s and he’s driven in 29 more runs. Plus, Rizzo’s left-handed bat is critical to balancing the lineup. Anyone who’s been following this team sees the difference in the offense with and without Rizzo. I’d rank him the second-most-valuable hitter on the team, particularly in regard to his protection of Judge in the lineup. Stanton’s “protection” is pathetic. He hasn’t been able to catch up to a fastball since he came off the IL, and opposing pitchers and their managers know it.
Rizzo’s BABIP is a wretched .219, and that’s likely to change next year with the elimination of the shift. Yet, despite his low BA, he’s been much more valuable offensively than LeMahieu. Fangraphs gives him an Offense value (combined batting and baserunning) of 19.5 runs above average compared to LeMahieu’s 6.9. Rizzo has the second-highest WPA on the team, more than twice DJ’s WPA.
DJ’s saving grace has been his defense, and that goes for Donaldson too. Those are valuable contributions, and I don’t mean to diminish them. But the traditional relegation of first base to a far inferior position on the defensive spectrum has been questioned, and I think the analysis offered by Russell Carlton at Baseball Prospectus makes a lot of sense:
baseballprospectus.com/news/article/41948/baseball…
Comparing DJ to Gleyber involves some of the same considerations. Gleyber has been more productive offensively, but his middling defense (0 OAA, same as Altuve, but with a higher success rate) drags down his WAR. However, what you said — “DJM should work out fine at 1B. When healthy, he’s better than Rizzo one offense and defense” — gets at one big problem: i.e., DJ is increasingly beset with injuries and he’ll be 35 next July.
His long-term extension was another mistake by Cashman, IMO, buying high on an aging player after a career year. DJ’s versatility adds value, but his offensive value has plummeted. Maybe next year Volpe or Peraza will be manning second base; but otherwise I’d be very hesitant to move on from 25-year-old Gleyber. I think the odds are slim that Volpe is going to make the club out of spring training with only 99 plate appearances in Triple-A.
And, please, don’t even mention Tyler Wade.