@MarkKnudson41
The late great Tom Petty once sang, “The waiting is the hardest part.” Very true.
Just ask Trevor Story. He’s living it.
When the waiting is finally over, and the Major League Baseball Owners’ lockout ends sometime after the first of the year (we hope) and the business side of baseball returns, it could turn out that the waiting was very well worth it for the free agent shortstop. Story could certainly land a mega contract like the ones that have already been signed by Cory Seager, Marcus Semien and Javy Baez. He could end up in a really great place.
Or not.
Nothing (including how much time will be left to make free agent signings before the start of spring training) is certain right now. Nothing about the lockout, the new Collective Bargaining agreement, and nothing about what teams may or may not be willing to spend is etched in stone. The rules under the new CBA might be different. There’s no telling what those new terms will look like. When the lockout is over, the owners may decide to lock up their checkbooks. Or…the free agent spending spree that was roaring along, only to be brought to a screeching halt when the current CBA expired, could resume. We. Just. Don’t. Know.
So Story – and everyone else who hasn’t signed – waits.
He’s not alone of course. Another superstar free agent shortstop, Carlos Correa, is still waiting too. While holding out for huge money, he saw his chance to rejoin his former Manager A. J. Hinch go by the boards when Detroit signed Baez instead. While MLB is on hold, it remains a mystery as to whether or not Correa might end up going back to his original team, the Houston Astros, as they try to defend their American League pennant.
Not so ironically, Houston has also been a rumored landing spot for Story…if Correa signs somewhere else.
If, if, if.
If Story gets the chance to sign with the Astros, he should jump on it and thank the big GM above for his good fortune. But he’ll have to wait for Correa to make his decision first.
So what if Correa does go back to Houston? What happens to Story then?
Story will sign somewhere after the dust settles of course. The question is, will he be forced to take a lesser offer or to go to a lesser team? On one hand, Story could end up a New York Yankee, playing alongside former teammate D J LeMahieu. Or maybe someplace like Anaheim, where the LA Angels already have Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani but may want to make some free agent noise, too? On the other hand, he might be forced to do what Semien did, and take a one year offer from a place like Oakland and wait for next season to try to strike it rich.
What about returning to the Colorado Rockies?
Absolutely no educated observer of the Rockies has ever believed for one moment that Story could or would end up coming back to Denver. Even when it was suggested by an outsider (guilty as charged) that he might be better off – given the uncertainly of the labor situation, the subpar and injury plagued season he’s coming off of, and the glut of star shortstops on the free agent market – staying with the Rockies (and hitting in Coors Field) for one more year (which he had the option to do when Colorado offered him a qualifying offer of more than $18 million for one season) was apparently never considered by Team Story. He wants out.
So be it. Now he’s stuck in free agent limbo with no sure place to land.
A number of close observers believe Correa will go back to Houston. If he does, he’ll be singing a different tune, one made famous by Stephen Stills. Story may want to listen.
“If you can’t be…with the one you love honey, love the one you’re with…”
Be sure to catch “The Park Adjusted Rockies Podcast” with Mark Knudson and Manny Randhawa available where you find all your favorite podcasts.