Yankees Trade Rumors: Rockies Star Trevor Story Interests NY Ahead of Deadline
July 22, 2021
The New York Yankees reached out to the Colorado Rockies about star shortstop Trevor Story ahead of the July 30 MLB trade deadline, according to ESPN's Buster Olney.
Story has 11 home runs, 43 RBI and a .739 OPS through 82 games this season.
The 28-year-old is due to be a free agent in the offseason, and the Rockies already traded away one of the greatest players in franchise history, Nolan Arenado, who has the ability to opt out of his contract after this year and next.
Considering Colorado is 42-54 and fourth in the National League West, it seems inevitable that Story will be on a new team by the end of the month.
In June, ESPN's Jeff Passan surveyed the trade landscape and questioned whether the market for Story would be robust since the many of the contending teams don't need a shortstop. He referenced the Yankees in the piece but wondered whether New York take a big swing on a potential one-year rental when making the playoffs is looking like an uphill battle.
The Bronx Bombers have a a 43.9 percent chance of qualifying for the postseason on FanGraphs. They're also only 3.5 games out of the second wild-card spot in the American League. That provides some reason to think a major addition could tip the scales in their favor.
Gleyber Torres hasn't performed well—a .241/.328/.339 slash line—but Story would likely be replacing Rougned Odor. Torres has plenty of experience at second base and probably wouldn't have much trouble going back there.
Story's performance this year and his home and road splits—a .971 OPS at Coors Field and .747 OPS away from Denver—raise general concerns about the impact he'd have elsewhere in the second half.
But it's easy to understand why the Yankees might think a change of scenery and the opportunity to push for the playoffs again could result in a healthy bump to his production.