Colorado Rockies: Three Possible Landing Spots for Trevor Story
A lot of All-Stars are on the trade market. One big name to watch is Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story.
There are a plethora of shortstops that are scheduled to become free agents after the 2021 season, if they do not sign an extension this offseason.
2020 Gold Glove recipient and Chicago Cubs’ two-time All-Star Javier Baez is set to hit the open market. A pair of World Series champions, Corey Seager and Carlos Correa, are supposed to become free agents following this season.
Two of the more intriguing upcoming free agent shortstops are Cleveland Indians’ four-time All-Star Francisco Lindor and Colorado Rockies’ two-time All-Star Trevor Story. This pair of Two-time Silver Sluggers have been rumored to get traded.
There is absolutely no chance the Indians can afford Lindor and his trade rumors have been muttering for years. However, Trevor Story being traded just recently became a hot topic.
The Rockies have been rumored to trade Nolan Arenado, mostly to unload his massive contract of $199 million over the next six seasons. Story is going to be paid a lot of money by somebody, but it most likely will not be Colorado unless they build around him. Rumors of trading Story as part of their rebuild are stirring and make a lot of sense.
Story, 28, stands out in this class of free agents, both offensively and defensively. Over the past two seasons, he has the fourth most runs saves, only behind Baez, Nick Ahmed, and Paul DeJong have been better by defensive metrics.
Since the beginning of the 2018 season, Story and Arenado are tied seventh for the most WAR with 14.2. Amongst them are MVP-caliber players like Mike Trout, Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich.
The Colorado Rockies very well could deal Trevor Story if they get the right trade package. Here are three teams that could trade for the shortstop.
The New York Mets
With their new owner Steven Cohen and his deep pockets, the New York Mets could be a trade partner with the Colorado Rockies to land Trevor Story and then extend him or re-sign him after the 2021 season.
The Mets have been rumored to trade for Lindor, so having interest in Story is realistic. He would cost a lot in both experienced players and prospects. The Mets would have to give up their top shortstop prospect Ronny Mauricio and multiple pitching prospects, most particularly Matthew Allan, at the very least. Despite having to give up a lot of young talented players with a lot of potential, the Mets would become legit contenders if they had talent like Story at shortstop. He would immediately bolster their lineup and improve their team defensively.
Story’s bat would be great bat in front of Pete Alonso and behind Michael Conforto. These three potential MVP candidates and new catcher James McCann and Jeff McNeil would round this lineup off nicely and make them a legit threat to win the National League East.
The Mets have been notorious for being weak defensively for multiple seasons. Adding Story would fix that problem and make the Mets a more well-rounded ball club.
The New York Yankees
The New York Yankees could be potential buyers for Trevor Story because they are in desperate need of a long-term answer at shortstop, and they seem to want to play Gleyber Torres at second base moving forward.
New York does have experienced players to trade, as well as a deep farm system to dip into if they wanted to deal prospects instead.
The Yankees are going to need to fill the big hole that DJ LeMehieu is going to leave if he does not re-sign with New York. Story would help fill that hole. He is great defensively and has a ton of power.
Story, a two-time Silver Slugger is one of the best power hitting shortstops in the majors. His numbers since his debut below will speak for themselves.
2016: 97 games, 27 home runs, 21 doubles, 8 stolen bases
2017: 145 games, 24 home runs, 32 doubles, 7 stolen bases
2018: 157 games, 37 home runs, 42 doubles, 27 stolen bases
2019: 145 games, 35 home runs, 38 doubles, 23 stolen bases
2020: 59 games, 11 home runs, 13 doubles, 15 stolen bases
Some might say that Story’s stats are skewed due to Coors Field, but his bat in Yankee Stadium would be explosive. He would fit well batting third in their lineup.
The Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are going to lose their All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto. Their long-term future Bryce Harper has exclaimed that he wants more talented players around him. This would be a blockbuster deal, but the Phillies would be able to make it happen.
Story and Harper would be a great combination of five-tool players. Story has a .877 OPS. through his first five seasons. He has a high slugging percentage. The only downsides about Story are that he strikes out often and does not get walked a lot. He led the league in strikeouts with 191 in 2017 and his most walks in a season is 58 in 145 games in 2019.
Story has the potential to be an MVP candidate and a possible Gold Glove recipient. He finished eighth in the 2018 NL MVP race.
His bat would be explosive in Citizen Bank Park.
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It would only make sense that the Colorado Rockies are going to trade Story, it is just a matter of when. He is a beyond talented player but is going to be too expensive to hold onto past the 2021 season. The Phillies would be able to hold onto him if they wanted to extend him before this season or re-sign him next offseason.