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Report: Blue Jays 'Main Contenders' For Trevor Story
The Blue Jays are reportedly in the rental market.
With rumors swirling ahead of this afternoon's MLB trade deadline, the Toronto Blue Jays have shown "continued interest in Trevor Story," per Mark Feinsand.
Joel Sherman also confirmed the Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays are "main contenders" for Story today.
A pending free agent, Story is one of the top rental bats on the market if the Colorado Rockies choose to trade him. Feinsand reported Story's current organization must weigh if trade offers are more valuable than potential compensatory picks the Rockies would receive for Story if he walks in free agency.
This season has been a down year for Story's offensive numbers, as the shortstop is hitting just .240/.312/.429 with 13 homers and a 91 OPS+. He entered 2021 in the final year of arbitration with the Rockies after receiving MVP votes in each of the last three seasons.
The biggest question surrounding a Blue Jays/Story trade is long- and short-term fit. As a pending free agent, does Toronto see the Rockies slugger as a pure rental, or would they make an extension offer? Story sits alongside Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, and others in a loaded shortstop free-agent class.
The short-term questions arise around defensive position, as Story has played all 682 of his career games in the field at shortstop. With Bo Bichette penciled in as Toronto's everyday shortstop, and Semien excelling in a second base role, would Story slide over to third? Could there be a stretch-run agreement to move Bichette off of short for the remainder of 2021?
Story isn't an easy fit in Toronto's defense or lineup (as another right-handed bat) but he's clearly one of the best players on the market this deadline and would be a massive get for a Blue Jays team returning home.
