Article: Trevor Story is Going to Opt-In, Which Might Actually Be Good for the Red Sox

[Alex Mayes]

Your No. 1 Trevor Story hater is back with another piece on the much-maligned shortstop, but this time we’re shifting gears. We’ve talked about this on the Talk Sox Podcast recently, but Trevor Story has an opt-out coming at the end of the season. Before the season began, it was a foregone conclusion that he would opt in and be another salary sinkhole for the club. Then, when he went through the worst cold stretch of his career, we were even more positive that he’d be getting paid to sit the bench for the remainder of his six-year contract that keeps him around through 2027. Technically, the team can void his opt outs by already picking up the 2028 club option, but that’s likely not going to happen. What will happen though, is Story is going to opt-in for the next two years, barring some miraculous postseason run in October.

And, truth, be told, that’s okay. Yes, he’s an aging shortstop and is frustratingly ice cold when he’s not on, but his presence on this team cannot be understated at this point, and it’s not just because he has finally stayed healthy for almost a full season.

During his incredibly long slump, I advocated for Story to be DFA’d simply to get him away from the young core of the team. He looked miserable sitting in the dugout and when he pulled Marcelo Mayer off to the side to speak with him after his first strikeout, I immediately started saying how they need to keep Mayer as far away from Story as possible. Taking a step back and with the benefit of hindsight, though, it’s obvious the leadership that Story actually brings to the team. If we remember back to his time on the injured list last season, Story was glued to Alex Cora’s side. He was perched on the water cooler at the top step of every dugout, watching and learning from Cora. We still see him there from time to time this season, but more often than not now, he’s on the rail with Mayer, Roman Anthony, Alex Bregman, and a mixture of starting pitchers. They are talking to him about what’s going on in the field, what he’s seeing when he’s on defense that can help the pitchers, and giving advice on offensive approaches. That doesn’t even address his offseason "Story Camp", where he spends time with young players building chemistry and working on baseball skills in a much more relaxed setting. While we may see Story Camp just through the lens of social media, it’s obvious that it has had an impact on the guys that attended it. Carrying that leadership in the clubhouse for the next couple of years will only help guys like Mayer, Anthony, and even Triston Casas grow.

On the field, Story passes the eye test more than the numbers would indicate on both sides of the ball. He’s slashing .254/.299/.418 with 73 RBIs, 18 home runs, and 19 stolen bases this season, easily his best all-around campaign in Boston thus far. Those 73 RBIs are good for seventh most in all of baseball, and his 19 stolen bases ranks him 10th in the AL.

Sure, he’s still flailing at low-and-away sliders and sweepers, contributing to his 138 strikeouts, good for fourth in the AL. He’s got a ton of swing and miss in his approach, but when he makes contact, it’s often solid. He’s barreled 10.4% of his batted balls and owns a 47.6% hard-hit rate. If he keeps that trend going, 2025 will be the year he has the highest hard-hit rate of his career. He’s never going to be an offensive juggernaut, and the numbers will likely decline over the final two years of the deal, but he’s a solid enough hitter to not be a net-negative moving forward.

Defensively, he’s played great at short. He’s made some mistakes, with nine errors on the season, but he has settled the left side of the infield along with Alex Bregman at third. The veteran leadership on that side of the diamond will only help the young core develop quicker.

All in all, it’s almost a guarantee that Trevor Story opts in for the remainder of his contract with the Boston Red Sox this offseason. While there is an argument to play Marcelo Mayer at his natural position sooner than later, having Story serve as the rookie's mentor is hardly a bad situation, at least while the former Rockie is hitting well. So, while it's true that Trevor Story is likely to be in Boston through the end of 2027, as long as he stays healthy, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

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[moonslav59]

If Mayer can stay healthy (yea, right) maybe we see Story at 2B, next year.

Of course, Bregman needs to return, so Mayer is not needed at 3B.

[TedYazPapiMookie]

Story is not going to opt out without further incentives from the Red Sox.  He's in his fourth season at $23.3 million and has produced a .242 average, .298 OBP, .406 SLG and .706 OPS when his non-Boston career numbers are .272/.340/.523/.863.  Story is thanking his lucky stars that Bloom was such an idiot.  He's going nowhere unless Breslow further incents him so Mayer can play SS next year (until he gets hurt again!). 

I don't see that happening and I don't see Story repeating his 2025 performance either.

Fans overreact when someone has a good year.  I'm guessing you were one of the fans that said Wong was our long-term answer at catcher after ONE good year since we got him in 2020.  Guess what, he's a back-up catcher at best and his career numbers prove it.  Taking temporary success and extrapolating it is not a way to project the future of a player.  Narvaez is in the same boat as is Gonzalez, Toro and Abreu. 

Abreu is a bit different in that he simply repeats hot streaks and cold streaks over and over while not facing LH pitchers for the most part.  That's not a long-term solution either but he swings for the fences and hits for power when he connects so he could be a late inning pinch hitter like Dalbec used to be.  Ironically, Dalbec hit .253 vs LH pitchers and .203 vs RH pitchers, a mirror image of Abreu (.268 vs RH pitchers and .213 vs LH pitchers!!!) 

Dalbec was not a platoon-player, so fans hated his overall performance because he sucked against RH pitchers.  Cora protects Abreu by platooning him.  If he is played full-time, it's highly likely fans would turn on Abreu like they did on Dalbec because he simply can't LH pitchers.  Also, Dalbec was a better fielder than Devers at his primary position and Rafaela is a far better fielder than Abreu at his primary position of RF.  Thus, Abreu, at best, should be part of a DH/4th outfield tandem with Refsnyder.  Or he can remain as one of the most over-rated below average hitting right fielders in the game if he ever gets full time status.

Will Story jump ship?  He would be insane to do it without further incentives.

 

[Alex Mayes]

6 hours ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Story is not going to opt out without further incentives from the Red Sox.  He's in his fourth season at $23.3 million and has produced a .242 average, .298 OBP, .406 SLG and .706 OPS when his non-Boston career numbers are .272/.340/.523/.863.  Story is thanking his lucky stars that Bloom was such an idiot.  He's going nowhere unless Breslow further incents him so Mayer can play SS next year (until he gets hurt again!). 

I don't see that happening and I don't see Story repeating his 2025 performance either.

Fans overreact when someone has a good year.  I'm guessing you were one of the fans that said Wong was our long-term answer at catcher after ONE good year since we got him in 2020.  Guess what, he's a back-up catcher at best and his career numbers prove it.  Taking temporary success and extrapolating it is not a way to project the future of a player.  Narvaez is in the same boat as is Gonzalez, Toro and Abreu. 

Abreu is a bit different in that he simply repeats hot streaks and cold streaks over and over while not facing LH pitchers for the most part.  That's not a long-term solution either but he swings for the fences and hits for power when he connects so he could be a late inning pinch hitter like Dalbec used to be.  Ironically, Dalbec hit .253 vs LH pitchers and .203 vs RH pitchers, a mirror image of Abreu (.268 vs RH pitchers and .213 vs LH pitchers!!!) 

Dalbec was not a platoon-player, so fans hated his overall performance because he sucked against RH pitchers.  Cora protects Abreu by platooning him.  If he is played full-time, it's highly likely fans would turn on Abreu like they did on Dalbec because he simply can't LH pitchers.  Also, Dalbec was a better fielder than Devers at his primary position and Rafaela is a far better fielder than Abreu at his primary position of RF.  Thus, Abreu, at best, should be part of a DH/4th outfield tandem with Refsnyder.  Or he can remain as one of the most over-rated below average hitting right fielders in the game if he ever gets full time status.

Will Story jump ship?  He would be insane to do it without further incentives.

 

Feel free to point to my overreaction in this, or any article where I’ve talked about Story. 

[TedYazPapiMookie]

13 hours ago, Alex Mayes said:

Feel free to point to my overreaction in this, or any article where I’ve talked about Story. 

So you don't think it's an overreaction to think a guy who has performed so badly for four seasons while making $23.3 million a year is likely to opt out because he finally had one decent season that isn't over and could still end with him getting hurt again or falling off in Aug/Sep?

I think the season has to play out and we need to see if the guy who is keeping Mayer from playing shortstop will opt out when he has already been shown that he's going to get to play and his 33/34-year-old seasons at $23.3 Million are still on the horizon.  Who in their right mind would pay more than $23.3 Million for an injury prone old guy?  BOS is locked into paying him more than he is worth, nobody else would be as dumb as Bloom.  Maybe Breslow can trade him after the season so Mayer can play but it probably would need be a paydown situation.  Bloom paying him $23.3 Million with a 112 OPS+ in COL made absolutely no sense and now his BOS OPS+ is 94.  He a solid defender but 94 hardly qualifies him for $23.3 Million or more a year so the opt out seems incredibly unlikely.

[Alex Mayes]

2 hours ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

So you don't think it's an overreaction to think a guy who has performed so badly for four seasons while making $23.3 million a year is likely to opt out because he finally had one decent season that isn't over and could still end with him getting hurt again or falling off in Aug/Sep?

I think the season has to play out and we need to see if the guy who is keeping Mayer from playing shortstop will opt out when he has already been shown that he's going to get to play and his 33/34-year-old seasons at $23.3 Million are still on the horizon.  Who in their right mind would pay more than $23.3 Million for an injury prone old guy?  BOS is locked into paying him more than he is worth, nobody else would be as dumb as Bloom.  Maybe Breslow can trade him after the season so Mayer can play but it probably would need be a paydown situation.  Bloom paying him $23.3 Million with a 112 OPS+ in COL made absolutely no sense and now his BOS OPS+ is 94.  He a solid defender but 94 hardly qualifies him for $23.3 Million or more a year so the opt out seems incredibly unlikely.

This entire article is why he's going to opt-in. It's even in the title. 

[TedYazPapiMookie]

13 hours ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

So you don't think it's an overreaction to think a guy who has performed so badly for four seasons while making $23.3 million a year is likely to opt out because he finally had one decent season that isn't over and could still end with him getting hurt again or falling off in Aug/Sep?

I think the season has to play out and we need to see if the guy who is keeping Mayer from playing shortstop will opt out when he has already been shown that he's going to get to play and his 33/34-year-old seasons at $23.3 Million are still on the horizon.  Who in their right mind would pay more than $23.3 Million for an injury prone old guy?  BOS is locked into paying him more than he is worth, nobody else would be as dumb as Bloom.  Maybe Breslow can trade him after the season so Mayer can play but it probably would need be a paydown situation.  Bloom paying him $23.3 Million with a 112 OPS+ in COL made absolutely no sense and now his BOS OPS+ is 94.  He a solid defender but 94 hardly qualifies him for $23.3 Million or more a year so the opt out seems incredibly unlikely.

So you hate Story and chose to write a article on why he won't opt out while being one of the most overpaid players in baseball?  The concept was so obvious I thought you were trying to find a reason he would opt out because otherwise you are simply pulling a Tim McCarver and stating the obvious.  

So you weren't trying to find a way he would opt out!!  You simply chose to state the obvious.  My bad.  Clearly, I gave you too much credit.  I thought you might have an angle on why he would which is why I pointed out how ridiculous that would be. 

The only guy less likely to opt out in baseball is probably Devers.  Two of Bloom's finer contracts!!!