Trevor Story Signs With Red Sox

Shortstop Trevor Story has reached an agreement with the Boston Red Sox, according to a report from USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale.

Ken Rosenthal reports the deal is for six years and $140 million–the same numbers Javier Báez got from the Tigers–and Joel Sherman says there is a player option for the remainder of the contract after the fourth year. However, Sherman says the Red Sox can negate the player option by picking up a seventh-year option on a deal that’d bring the total money to $160 million.

The 29-year-old Story spent the first six seasons of his career in Colorado as the successor to Troy Tulowitzki. Over those six seasons, he produced an .863 OPS and 112 wRC+ over 3,000-plus plate appearances, all while providing plus-defense at shortstop.

In our free agent profile of Story written by Nate Mendelson, Story’s home/road splits were highlighted, in that Story’s power dropped when he played outside of Coors Field. Nolan Arenado had similar splits, though, and helped disprove those theories with his season last year with the St. Louis Cardinals. He produced just fine, and Story will likely follow suit.

The Rockies declined to trade Story at the trade deadline in 2021, surprising many, especially as reports leaked that Story was going to leave in the offseason. It didn’t seem as if the Rockies were going to make a big effort to keep him, either, which was made all the more confusing after Colorado signed Kris Bryant to a $182 million deal.

The Athletic’s Jim Bowden reports that Story will play second base with Boston, leaving Xander Bogaerts at short and Rafael Devers at third base. Bogaerts and Devers are weak defenders on the left side, so it will remain to be seen if Story sticks at second for the full 2022 seasons. Bogaerts also has the option to opt out of his contract after this season, so this provides some insurance in case Bogaerts leaves.

Story is one of the final large pillars of the 2021-2022 offseason to fall after Carlos Correa and Nick Castellanos signed in recent days. Michael Conforto remains the biggest name left on the free agency market.