Philadelphia Phillies: Could a trade for Trevor Story be on the horizon?
Could a big move for the Philadelphia Phillies be on the way? It sure feels possible. The Colorado Rockies stunned the baseball world late on Friday night when they traded franchise cornerstone Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals for what amounted to a bag of baseballs. Sure, left-hander Austin Gomber is a nice player, but he and a few low-level prospects being enough to land one of the best players in the game is pretty astonishing.
Throw in the fact that the Rockies are said to have included up to $50 million to help the Cardinals pay some of Arenado’s remaining salary, and the shock factor increases even further. Hats off to the Cardinals for striking such a deal, but it makes you think if something else could be on the way for the Rockies.
Trevor Story has become one of the better offensive talents in the National League since he made his debut back in 2016. In that time, he has appeared in 603 games, slashing .277/.343/.877 while smashing 134 long balls and driving in 375 runs. His 162 game averages are 36 home runs, 101 RBI’s, 39 doubles, six triples, and 21 steals. These are impressive numbers on their own, but then you consider this production has been done from the shortstop position, and they look even better. Throw in two All-Star appearances, two Silver Slugger awards, and three straight top 12 finishes in the NL MVP race, and you begin to see what makes Story such an intriguing player.
The Philadelphia Phillies find themselves in a bit of a conundrum currently at shortstop, with either Jean Segura or Scott Kingery set to play every day in this spot. This, of course, is less than ideal, as Segura has about as much range these days as I would playing up the middle, and Kingery projects much better at second base. Sure, there have been rumors of a potential Didi Gregorious return to Philadelphia, but the Phils’ seem hesitant to offer any sort of multi-year contract to the soon to be 31-year-old veteran.
A trade for Trevor Story could change the Philadelphia Phillies’ 2021 outlook.
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Set to hit the opening market after the upcoming season, and Colorado having just traded their best player, you would have to think Trevor Story is being made available on the trade market. Any team that has their sights on winning, including the Philadelphia Phillies, would be foolish not to pick up the phone and see what it would cost to land the star shortstop in a deal.
At 28 years old and seemingly just entering his prime, Story fits right in with the Phillies core of Bryce Harper, Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, J.T Realmuto, and Alec Bohm. All five of those players are currently between the age of 24 and 30. The window of opportunity for this ball club is realistically within the next three years when guys like Harper and Realmuto are at their peak.
Think about that for a minute. The lineup the Phillies would be able to trot out onto the diamond every night is pretty ridiculous.
- Trevor Story (Shortstop)
- Rhys Hoskins (First Base)
- Bryce Harper (Right Field)
- Alec Bohm (Third Base)
- J.T Realmuto (Catcher)
- Andrew McCutchen (Left Field)
- Scott Kingery (Center Field)
- Jean Segura (Second Base)
- Aaron Nola (Pitcher)
Yeah, that lineup could win a ton of ball games and could arguably challenge for the National League East crown, which would be a tough thing to say at the moment with the way the Phils’ are currently constructed. Trevor Story would make that much of a difference and could potentially push this team over the top.
The question, of course, lies with, what kind of package would it take to swing this kind of deal? Well, considering what it took to land Nolan Arenado, who is more valuable than Story, it probably will not cost as much as you would typically think. An argument could be made that this type of deal could be made without including top prospects such as Bryson Stott or Mick Abel. Maybe Stott would be the guy to go, as having Story on the roster wouldn’t exactly leave a spot for him to grow as the future shortstop in Philadelphia.
Could Stott and a lower level prospect get a deal done? I sure as heck think so. The only hang-up I would have with dealing a guy such as Stott would be the fact that the Phillies would need to secure a contract extension with Trevor Story. We do not want to go through another drug out scenario that we just went through with Realmuto. If an extension could be had at the time of the deal, I will drive Stott to the airport myself.
It sure is fun to think about adding a guy like Story, and considering the Phils just handed J.T. $115 million, a trade like this doesn’t seem as far-fetched as it would have even a week ago.
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If I am Dave Dombrowski, I am calling up the Colorado Rockies, and I am not hanging up the phone until a deal can be made. Get Trevor Story in red pinstripes, and the sky is the limit for this ball club.