Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story will be a free agent after the 2021 season.
Since he isn’t expected to re-sign with the Rockies, the most likely scenario is a trade before the July 30 deadline.
MLB trade deadline is July 30. Trevor Story @Tstory2 is well aware. I asked him how he handles all the rumors regarding interest in him from multiple teams. #MLB https://t.co/M0bVp2t3kI
— Linda Cohn (@lindacohn) July 9, 2021
The team that acquires Story should know that he is what is known in baseball as a “rental”: a player that will help the organization for this season only, with no future commitments.
Unless that hypothetical team, of course, signs Story to an extension.
Some players give hometown discounts to their teams, but those are becoming rare: Story should, and will, try to maximize his earnings in this market.
So what kind of contract will he sign this offseason?
Story signed a two-year pact before the 2020 campaign that covered his last two arbitration years, 2020 and 2021.
The contract was worth an annual average salary of $13,750,000.
Story is earning a base salary of $17,500,000, while carrying a total salary of $18,500,000 in the 2021 season.
We can’t expect Story to pursue a similar deal to the one Francisco Lindor signed with the New York Mets, which pays him $341 million for 10 years.
Lindor is a year younger than Story and has been better for longer.
That doesn’t mean, however, that Story won’t look for something in the neighborhood of $30 million per season.
Several Teams Need A Player Of His Caliber
Whether he gets that money is another ‘story’, but there are several shortstop-needy teams out there.
You could make a strong argument that the Cincinnati Reds and the Oakland Athletics are one elite shortstop away from being true World Series contenders in their respective leagues.
The New York Yankees have Gleyber Torres in the position, but they could potentially consider upgrading since Torres hasn’t really hit for two seasons now.
Except for the Yankees, the very best teams in MLB have their shortstop of the future and are content with them.
But the A’s, Reds, Yankees, and possibly the Minnesota Twins, plus others, will take a long look at Story if he reaches free agency and all of them, except for Minnesota and maybe adding the Chicago White Sox, should consider a trade this month.
Story has shown he can do a bit of everything in the field.
By The Numbers
For his career, he has a .274/.340/.525 line with 145 home runs and 97 stolen bases.
He averaged 36 home runs, 100 RBI, and 25 stolen bases in 2018 and 2019, his best years to date.
Trevor Story Smashes a Homer into the Trees in The Bottom Of the 9th To Walk It Off for the Rockies vs the Diamondbacks pic.twitter.com/bzTiNbMa2D
— MLB Walk Offs & Game Winning Plays (@MLBWalk_Offs) May 23, 2021
Story, in addition to being a plus-hitting shortstop, is very good defensively, comfortably above-average in that regard.
Teams may be worried about the bulk of his offensive production being aided by Coors Field.
Over the course of his career, he is a .243/.311/.436 hitter on the road and is hitting .305/.369/.612 at home.
Concerns could be legitimate, but Story is a talented hitter nonetheless and there will be several teams willing to negotiate with his camp.
All things considered, Story’s next contract should be around six or seven years and could be in the $200 million neighborhood.
He could fall short of the $30 million per season threshold, but he will be paid dearly either way.
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