Article: What Will The Red Sox Do With Trevor Story When He Returns?

[Alex Mayes]

From the moment he signed to reports that Chaim Bloom wasn’t comfortable with the deal after it was signed, Trevor Story has been a hot-button issue within Red Sox fandom.

There was some excitement when Trevor Story's deal was announced, even though the contract length looked maybe a year or two too long, and there were concerns about Story's numbers outside of Colorado. Writing about those feels like beating a dead horse, though. He’s here, and with how quickly news went from "we will see him with a full offseason to prepare for 2025" to "he could be here in September," it suddenly begs the question: how does he fit into a crowded infield for the remainder of this season and through the end of his contract in 2027, assuming his club option for 2028 is not picked up?

Story’s base stats since he signed with the Red Sox don’t offer a full overview of what type of player he is. In 2022, the first year of the deal, he suited up for 94 games and hit .238 while battling hand and foot injuries throughout the season. In 2023, Tommy John's surgery limited him to just 43 games, in which he hit .203. Finally, this year, Story was on the field for eight games before a diving play resulted in a fracture to the glenoid in his left shoulder that required surgery. The typical timeline for recovery from such an injury is around six months. Before his deal in Boston, he was considered a top shortstop in the game. 

Many middle infielders have stepped up in the wake of Story’s injury. Notably, David Hamilton is manning a middle infield spot while Ceddanne Rafaela has been shuttled between center and shortstop. Add Vaughn Grissom, who is hanging out in Worcester, and Romy Gonzalez. You suddenly find yourself with multiple options for two positions, not counting Marcelo Mayer or Kristian Campbell, who could be pushing for a roster spot in spring training next year. So where will this leave Trevor Story when he can return from his shoulder injury? If that is this season, you can’t put him at DH. His numbers from the last two seasons prove that Story’s best offering to this club is on the defensive side of the ball.

The easy answer is to play him at his natural position, shortstop, and allow Ceddanne to shift back to his platinum glove position in center. However, it’s not easy because of his poor offensive performance. As long as Tyler O’Neill stays healthy enough to trot out to right field most days of the week, keeping Ceddanne at shortstop through the end of the season makes the most sense. Given this, Trevor Story should be used in a second-base platoon split with David Hamilton. Traditionally, Story has hit left-handed pitchers better than right-handed pitchers, so allowing him to platoon with Hamilton would play to his strengths while allowing him to ease back into the grind of the rest of the major league season.

Beyond the end of this year, though, where Trevor Story fits on this roster is even cloudier. An aging shortstop who has noticeably lost offensive firepower and has questions surrounding his arm strength doesn’t fit with the emerging young core the Red Sox currently have. Designating him for assignment is out of the question, and his trade market during the offseason is currently non-existent. However, allowing him to platoon second and showcase that he still has some value in the trade market is, I think, the current plan here.

If Story can get back on the field this season and prove he’s still got something left in the tank, there will be suitors. Not a lot, but some. The Red Sox will have to eat a chunk of that salary, which they should be okay with doing, to move on from a player who no longer fits the team's timeline. Who would those interested teams be? It's hard to predict this early in the process, but someone somewhere should be willing to take on Trevor Story at a discounted rate. Should those phone calls start coming in, Craig Breslow would be crazy not to answer them. 

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[TheSplinteredSplendor]

They probably will just be getting ready to put him on the DL again after he injures himself putting his uniform on.

[Maxbialystock]

Shakespeare said it best:  much ado about nothing.  

My version:  a stupid article just to write something, anything.  

Reality:  when Story is ready, Cora will plug him in at SS or 2b, depending on the needs at the time.  I frankly like 2b because I like Rafaela at SS and Duran in CF, leaving LF and RF for Ref, Abreau, O'Neill, et al.  

We know Story is a plus middle infield defender because we've seen that right here in Boston, and there is no end to the rantings and ravings on talksox about the dire need for good defense--almost to the extent of ignoring hitting and pitching, but not quite. 

Also, as was the case with Yoshida earlier this season, why wouldn't Cora play someone being paid $22M/season, who is also a plus defender and, back in Colorado, a plus hitter?  

I thought, you thought, we all thought Mayer was going to shore up the middle infield next year, but he too is injury-prone.  All the more reason to take a look at Story this season.  

[Bellhorn04]

I do NOT think they should trade him.  It would be kind of like tempting the baseball gods one more time, after what happened with Sale. 

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

4 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I do NOT think they should trade him.  It would be kind of like tempting the baseball gods one more time, after what happened with Sale. 

That all depends if they are going to invest in the pitching that is desperately needed.

If they aren't, then you trade him. Who cares at that point what he does for another team.

[mvp 78]

29 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I do NOT think they should trade him.  It would be kind of like tempting the baseball gods one more time, after what happened with Sale. 

How much salary do they have to eat? If none, then who cares? 

I just don't see there being many suitors for him at this point. Not only is he injury prone, but his offense ain't what it used to be. 

There are lots of questions up the middle and two of the potential answers have a track record of injuries. Hard to rely on either one of them right now. Most likely, Story will be here in 2025. 

[Bellhorn04]

11 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

How much salary do they have to eat? If none, then who cares? 

I just don't see there being many suitors for him at this point. Not only is he injury prone, but his offense ain't what it used to be. 

There are lots of questions up the middle and two of the potential answers have a track record of injuries. Hard to rely on either one of them right now. Most likely, Story will be here in 2025. 

I'm assuming it would be a Sale-like trade where they would have to eat a chunk.

[Bellhorn04]

Maybe I'm a Pollyanna for injured guys, but I think Story can rebound, and he's absolutely a fit for this team's needs.  He's a superior defender, especially compared to our other infielders (LOL).  And he's a right-handed bat with power.  As to the injuries, that's a whole other can of worms.  But it seems to me he's had some s***** luck. 

[notin]

30 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I'm assuming it would be a Sale-like trade where they would have to eat a chunk.

Trade Story (3 yes $80mill) for Kris Bryant (4 yrs $108mill) and you get your RHH power bat.

 

Figure out later where he plsys

[mvp 78]

53 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I'm assuming it would be a Sale-like trade where they would have to eat a chunk.

If that's the case, I'd rather hold onto him. Good glove, RHB. More upside to keeping him. I don't see much trade value. 

[Bellhorn04]

22 minutes ago, notin said:

Trade Story (3 yes $80mill) for Kris Bryant (4 yrs $108mill) and you get your RHH power bat.

 

Figure out later where he plsys

To paraphrase Robert Plant, "does anybody remember defense?" 

 

 

[mvp 78]

28 minutes ago, notin said:

Trade Story (3 yes $80mill) for Kris Bryant (4 yrs $108mill) and you get your RHH power bat.

 

Figure out later where he plsys

Trevor Story has more HR in less games in the past 3 seasons than Kris Bryant.

[notin]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Maybe I'm a Pollyanna for injured guys, but I think Story can rebound, and he's absolutely a fit for this team's needs.  He's a superior defender, especially compared to our other infielders (LOL).  And he's a right-handed bat with power.  As to the injuries, that's a whole other can of worms.  But it seems to me he's had some s***** luck. 

 

29 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Trevor Story has more HR in less games in the past 3 seasons than Kris Bryant.

It’s pretty much the best the Sox can get in a Story trade.  Best move is, if Mayer is ready, move Story to 2b.  And move in Grissom when he gets hurt.

[bkzwhitestrican]

Is anyone sure that Story is still a good player? In his 3 years with Boston he has a combined .681 OPS (.227/.287/.394) and he'll be 32 next season. If the opportunity presents itself I'd offload him for whatever you can get. 

[notin]

3 minutes ago, bkzwhitestrican said:

Is anyone sure that Story is still a good player? In his 3 years with Boston he has a combined .681 OPS (.227/.287/.394) and he'll be 32 next season. If the opportunity presents itself I'd offload him for whatever you can get. 

Was Sale a good pitcher? 
 

His last 5 years with Boston, he was 17-18 with a 4.16ERA and turned 35 this year.  

[Maxbialystock]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

If that's the case, I'd rather hold onto him. Good glove, RHB. More upside to keeping him. I don't see much trade value. 

Exactly.  It's possible that at some point the Sox will decide he must go, but we are nowhere near that yet.  

And let's not forget that Mayer is no model of fitness/wellness.  

Let's also not forget that there are two middle infield positions to fill next year.  I've beat up on Grissom endlessly, but he too should be a candidate/option.  

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

When Story was lost for another season, he was no longer a future core player, but the regular version of Sale (in Boston). Mayer would take over at short in 2025 and the sustained contending would commence... except now, MM looks just as injury-prone. 

Story stays, and plays -- and as a good guy and respected vet -- helps middle infield prospects like Mayer and Campbell transition into mainstays. Breslow and Cora might value his leadership enough to keep him around for those overall contributions (notice how Trevor sits right next to Alex in the dugout at all the games).

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

When Story was lost for another season, he was no longer a future core player, but the regular version of Sale (in Boston). Mayer would take over at short in 2025 and the sustained contending would commence... except now, MM looks just as injury-prone. 

Story stays, and plays -- and as a good guy and respected vet -- helps middle infield prospects like Mayer and Campbell transition into mainstays. Breslow and Cora might value his leadership enough to keep him around for those overall contributions (notice how Trevor sits right next to Alex in the dugout at all the games).

Maybe, our best hope id they alternate time on the IL, and never are hurt, at the same time.

[Bellhorn04]

Am I the only one who thinks a lot of injuries are just crap luck?  Hell, even Mookie has had multiple injuries with the Dodgers.  

Obviously, some players have the dreaded "recurring" injury to the same body part. 

Vaughn Grissom had a recurring hamstring injury this year.  Should we write him off? 

Maybe we could have a thread on the whole concept of "injury-prone".  

 

[mvp 78]

18 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Am I the only one who thinks a lot of injuries are just crap luck?  Hell, even Mookie has had multiple injuries with the Dodgers.  

Obviously, some players have the dreaded "recurring" injury to the same body part. 

Vaughn Grissom had a recurring hamstring injury this year.  Should we write him off? 

Maybe we could have a thread on the whole concept of "injury-prone".  

 

Jacoby "made of glass" Ellsbury circa 2010. We love these discussions.

[Old Red]

As I have said many times that these kind of things tend to work themselves out. It would be good to see Story Land stay open all year, and not down for maintenance, but even then no one knows what he has left anymore. His glove will still work, but his bat will be 4 years older now since we signed him come next year.

[Maxbialystock]

On 8/30/2024 at 9:03 AM, Bellhorn04 said:

Am I the only one who thinks a lot of injuries are just crap luck?  Hell, even Mookie has had multiple injuries with the Dodgers.  

Obviously, some players have the dreaded "recurring" injury to the same body part. 

Vaughn Grissom had a recurring hamstring injury this year.  Should we write him off? 

Maybe we could have a thread on the whole concept of "injury-prone".  

 

You are dead right, of course.  That also shoots big holes in all my ranting and raving about Breslow dumping Sale and signing Giolito.  Sale was injured, first with the elbow in 2019 and subsequent tommy john, then by a vicious bicycle.  Plus one other injury.  But then, guess what?  He freaking recovered.  And, because of the tommy john, his arm was younger than the 35 years of the rest of him.  His last 3 starts in 2023 were pretty good.  

I think Mookie is prototypical of the kind of player who can avoid injuries, but that pitch nailed him and that was it.  Story, on the other hand, was just diving for a grounder.  And Casas was just swinging at a pitch.  But now Casas is swinging again and swinging pretty well.  Story is a story worth following--this season.  

[moonslav59]

Many injuries seem like bad luck, although some players just seem to be injury prone- maybe due to some physical weakness, poor conditioning, genetics or recklessness. It's hard to know which is which, sometimes.

Many predicted injury to Sale, but then some of his seemed fluky. Suddenly, he's Mr. Reliable.

A guy like Gio looked pretty durable and dependable, then poof.

I will say, I do not think the Sox have had any more "unexpected" injuries than the norm. We've signed guys like Richards, Kluber, Wacha, Hill, Paxton and Hill. We extended Sale, knowing he had something going on. We kept Whitlock starting, while many of us saw the warning signs. 

One could argue, we got what we paid for and got what was expected, except for maybe Gio.

When you look at a team like the Astros, who had 5 homegrown SP'ers, at one point last year, and have seen 4-5 of their top 6 SP'ers out injured all or most of 2024, we can see that we have been woefully outmatched in building reliable and competent pitching staffs, since 2018.

To me, it started in 2019, when we failed to replace the departing Kimbrell and Kelly. Teh, we lost Porcello. We lost Sale to injury, almost every year and for almost the whole season. We lost ERod to Covid, Nate to several injuries and never replace Price, either. We got what was expected, IMO.