Philadelphia Phillies in 7th place on list to land Trevor Story

If it’s not Kris Bryant the Philadelphia Phillies are bringing to town this winter, Trevor Story is the next best option. The star shortstop is coming off of a down year with the Colorado Rockies. However, that down season still included 24 home runs and 75 RBI from a really good fielding shortstop.

Story’s career with the Rockies has included 158 total home runs, 450 RBI, 100 stolen bases, and a .272/.340/.523 slash line. In part a product of Coors Field, signing with the Phillies shouldn’t hurt his overall numbers all that much. Citizen’s Bank Ballpark treats hitters pretty sweetly, too.

Unfortunately, if you believe everything you see on the internet, the Phillies may not have such a great chance at signing Story. On Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report’s list of landing spots for Story, the Phillies are seventh!

The Phillies have to have a better shot to sign Trevor Story than this, right?

The Houston Astros are a natural fit for Story with their likely loss of Carlos Correa to another team looking for a shortstop. I understand why they’re ranked so high.

It’s a few other teams between them and the Phillies which I think is a bit of a stretch. The New York Yankees certainly belong high on the list as should the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Yankees have been connected to every star shortstop free agent available while the Los Angeles Dodgers have already lost Corey Seager to the Texas Rangers.

The Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox are numbers two and three are a bit surprising. The Mariners have former Phillies shortstop J.P. Crawford at the position. While Story would be an upgrade in many regards, Crawford can at least give them Gold Glove-caliber defense and allow them to fill in other needs at different positions. The Red Sox already have Xander Bogaerts so I understand this connection even less.

The Los Angeles Angels could certainly pose a threat to steal Story. They don’t have a particularly great option on the team already and have already made several moves this offseason to improve the club.

At worst, this should put the Phillies at number five on the list. This doesn’t improve my faith all that much. Correa is the only other huge name left in free agency. He already seems unlikely to sign with one of the remaining clubs, leaving Story as the best solution the Astros have.

Thankfully, this list is just one person’s opinion. For all we know, the Phillies front office has a picture of Story in it with a big red circle around his face and a bunch of arrows pointing there, too.