End of Story: Red Sox sign Trevor for $140m

A bunch of Red Sox players reached out to recruit longtime Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story when he was considering whether to sign with Boston.

Even Xander Bogaerts, the man he might soon replace.

"Bogie's been amazing throughout this process of me coming here," Story said Wednesday after the Red Sox made it official that he had joined the team to play second base－for now.

"He reached out to me. We talked on the phone for a little bit. He didn't have to do that," Story said. "I think it just kind of shows his character and speaks to the kind of guy that he is. He wants to win. He wanted me to come here and that made me feel comfortable off the jump."

Boston made its biggest splash of the offseason when it agreed to terms with Story on a $140 million, six-year contract. He gets $20 million in each of the next two seasons, $22.5 million apiece in 2024 and 2025 and $25 million in both 2026 and '27. The deal includes a $25 million team option for 2028 with a $5 million buyout.

Story has the right to opt out after the 2025 season but if he does opt out, the Red Sox would have the right to exercise the club option then and make the deal worth $160 million over seven seasons.

The Red Sox were an unlikely suitor for the two-time All-Star, considering that they already have a four-time All-Star at shortstop.

But Story agreed to move to second base, providing stability at a position where Boston has lacked it since Dustin Pedroia was injured in 2017. And if Bogaerts chooses to opt out of his contract at the end of the season, Story gives the Red Sox a long-term solution at shortstop.

"Everybody here already knows how much Xander Bogaerts cares about winning, cares about this organization. And he showed it again in terms of this process," Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said at a news conference at the team's spring training facility. "You could feel it. He recognizes talent. You could feel how much he wanted to add to this group and how much he wants another ring."

Story batted .251 with 24 homers and 75 RBIs for the Rockies last season and is a lifetime .272 hitter with 158 homers and 450 RBIs. In five major-league seasons, he has never played any defensive position other than shortstop.

But Story, 29, said he played plenty of second base in the minor leagues and has some experience on that side of the infield playing in the shift. Because of the lockout-shortened spring training, he will have limited time to work on it.

"Playing second is something I'm comfortable with," he said.

Another adjustment: Moving from the thin air in Denver to Fenway Park. Story has batted.303 with 95 homers and 279 RBIs at Coors Field and .241 with 63 homers and 171 RBIs on the road.

"There's kind of that stigma around Coors Field, that the ball flies, which it certainly does," Story said. "I think baseball's baseball and it's played the same in every park."

Bloom said the team pored over the analytics on the Coors Field effect and came away convinced that Story's production would come with him to Boston.

"It's always a hot topic any time a really good player from the Rockies changes teams," Bloom said. "There's a lot of good examples of guys who leave Coors and do very, very well."

Although Story has played four games at Fenway Park, batting.222 with one homer and four RBIs, he was eager to take batting practice at the team's spring training ballpark and its replica of Fenway's Green Monster.

His takeaway: "Usually when I hit a ball off the wall, I'm going to second no matter what. From what I hear, I might need to walk that back a little bit."

$100m men

Story and Nick Castellanos are among the newest $100 million men during a Major League Baseball offseason full of big contracts.

There's been a robust market for the sport's star players, even with a 99-day lockout that froze negotiations from December until mid-March.

Story and Castellanos are among 15 players who have signed deals worth $100 million or more since November, a group that includes Corey Seager, Wander Franco, Kris Bryant, Marcus Semien, Matt Olson, Freddie Freeman, Javier Baez, Jose Berrios, Max Scherzer, Robbie Ray, Kevin Gausman, Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton.

The big contracts are certainly good news for the players receiving them, but it remains to be seen whether those deals boost the league's overall average salary, which has declined in recent years. During the lockout, one of the union's main goals was to increase salaries for the sport's middle-class and younger players.

The Phillies hope Castellanos can add to a souped-up offense and help the franchise snap an NL-worst, 10-year postseason drought.

Castellanos got a $100 million, five-year contract from the Phillies after a career season in Cincinnati. He batted .309 with 34 homers, 100 RBIs and a.939 OPS last year for the Reds, making his first All-Star team and winning a Silver Slugger Award. He is a .278 career hitter with 168 home runs, 594 RBIs and an .814 OPS in nine major-league seasons with the Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs and Reds.

The Phillies also added slugger Kyle Schwarber last week on a $79 million, four-year deal.

Castellanos and Schwarber join reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper in the middle of a Phillies lineup that also features All-Star catcher JT Realmuto, Rhys Hoskins, Jean Segura and Didi Gregorius.

Agencies Via Xinhua