My first reaction to Trevor Story’s bad start in Boston was, “Be careful what you wish for.”
The Rockies, after all, wanted Story to stay in Colorado. I mean, really wanted him to stay and be their longtime shortstop.
They made multiple attempts to re-sign Story, despite his subpar 2021 season. The front office, manager Bud Black and Story’s former teammates marveled at his athleticism, respected his quiet leadership and were awed by his work ethic.
But Story, like his good friend Nolan Arenado before him, wanted out. He sought greener pastures, complete with the chance of annual postseason baseball. The Rockies never had much of a chance of keeping Story, who sought counsel from Arenado.
And it can’t be forgotten that Story signed a six-year, $140 million contract to hit baseballs over the Green Monster at Fenway Park. But even that big moment came with some drama. While Excel Sports Management negotiated his deal, Story’s since left that agency and is now represented by Wasserman Baseball, the group that represents Arenado.
And Story is off to an awful start in Beantown, entering Saturday’s play hitting .212 with no home runs and a .586 OPS.
He’s already being booed by rabid, expectant and disappointed Red Sox fans. Story’s had to explain himself to the voracious and critical Boston media that thought he was ducking it after he struck out four times in an 8-0 loss to the Angels on Thursday.
“I’ve always been a guy where if the media wants to talk, let’s talk,” “It was brought to my attention today that maybe you guys wanted to talk to me yesterday, but I had no idea.
“Sorry about the miscommunication there, but any time you guys want to talk, obviously it’s not going to be every single day, but I’m always open for that. But yeah, that was brought to my attention earlier this morning, I certainly wasn’t dodging you guys.”
I’m not going to pretend that I know what Story is feeling. But I can say this: he’s a standup guy and a true pro. When things went bad for the Rockies, it was Story who made himself available to us, day in and day out.
I always thought that St. Louis would have been the perfect place for Story. He could have teamed up with Arenado on the left side of the Cardinals’ infield. He could have played for a passionate, knowledgable fanbase, but without the harsh scrutiny of the East Coast media.
But, in the common parlance of today’s athletes, “it is what it is.”
Right now, it’s not ideal. Story is a natural shortstop forced to play second base because the Red Sox already had Xander Bogaerts at short.
“It was something that me, my family and my team had to talk about a lot,” Story said when he was “At the end of the day, I’ve been saying my whole career that itap about winning.
“I felt that this was a really good fit for me to play second this year on this team, on the Red Sox. That’s really what it came down to — seeing this team and seeing the trend they’re on and the players and the makeup of this team. That’s really what swayed me.”
But the Red Sox are off to a 10-17 start and are in last place in the American League East, trailing even the 10-16 Orioles.
There’s no way the Red Sox finish the season behind the Orioles, but they sure don’t look like a playoff team right now.
As for Story, he’s too good of an athlete and too strong a person to let a one-month slump drag him down. Time will tell if he made the right choice by signing with Boston.
I’ll close with this. When I first got into this business I was told, “Never root for the teams you cover, but it’s OK to root for the individuals you come to know.”
I’m rooting for Trevor Story.
