The Boston Red Sox have finally made their big move of the offseason, agreeing to a six-year, $140 million deal with All-Star shortstop Trevor Story on Sunday morning, as first reported by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
It’s a huge signing for the AL East team, who needed to state its intention of wanting to keep up with the rest of a loaded division. While the Tampa Bay Rays are two-time defending division champions, the Yankees are still strong despite an underwhelming offseason and the Toronto Blue Jays have stocked up even more — specifically with the acquisition of star third baseman Matt Chapman last week.
This had largely been a disappointing offseason for the Red Sox, who had not done enough to keep pace with the rest of their divisional rivals; their largest acquisition coming in the return of center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr.
But Story throttles things up a notch in Boston, whose interest reportedly increased on Thursday after they lost out on the Freddie Freeman sweepstakes — the first baseman opting to sign with his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers after the Atlanta Braves pulled off a blockbuster for Matt Olson.
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The 29-year-old Story has been a consistent power hitter since arriving in the majors, recording 24 or more home runs in each of his five full MLB seasons (not including the 2020 COVID-shortened campaign), including seasons of 37 and 35 round-trippers in 2018 and 2019.
Over those six seasons, he’s slashed .272/.340/.523 (.863 OPS) while accruing two All-Star appearances and a pair of Silver Slugger awards.
While Story is a strong fielding shortstop with a career defensive runs saved (DRS) above average mark of 69 , the Red Sox already have a three-time All-Star and two-time World Series winner in Xander Bogaerts manning the spot. That means Story will be shifting to second base despite Boston not having the most efficient left side of the infield.
Here are the current MLB odds following the Story deal:
