How Story’s deal stacks up
Contract the largest given out by Bloom
After Ben Cherington’s costly mistakes before his departure in 2015, and then Dave Dombrowski’s limitless spending during his brief tenure until he was fired in 2019, it was starting to look like the Red Sox were done handing out nine-figure contracts.
Often one of baseball’s top-three spenders, the Sox sank to eighth in 2020 and ‘21 as Chaim Bloom went to work on rebuilding the farm system and planning for the future.
But after the lockout ended and MLB extended the playoff pool from 10 to 12 teams, free agency mayhem ensued. The Red Sox couldn’t sit on the sidelines any longer.
Enter Trevor Story, the 29year-old native of Irving, Texas, who already has two Silver Sluggers at shortstop and three top-12 MVP finishes in his first six big league seasons.
The Colorado Rockies’ loss was the Red Sox’ gain as they swooped in to make Story the organization’s biggest free agent pickup since David Price in 2015.
Bloom had yet to give out a contract bigger than the $14 million he guaranteed to Kiké Hernandez over two years.
But with Story, Bloom opened John Henry’s purse and took out $140 million, making it the sixth-largest contract in Red Sox history.
With a career .272 average, .863 OPS and a pair of 20-20 seasons already on his resume, Story earned the right to a giant payday. He’ll join the Red Sox as a second baseman for now, but with Xander Bogearts likely to opt out after the season, Story could be back to his old position next year.
Because of the team’s needs and their desire to make one last push with Bogaerts, Nathan Eovaldi and J.D. Martinez likely in the final years of their contracts,
spending big on Story made a lot of sense.
But spending big hasn’t worked out well for the Sox in the past.
Here’s a look back at the organization’s biggest contracts and how they panned out:
1. David Price, LHP, $217 million from 2015 through 2022
Skinny: Sometimes organizations have to learn a lesson, and this was a big one for the Sox, who messed up their negotiations with ace Jon Lester and tried to redeem themselves by going big for Price. But the temperamental left-hander could never repeat his previous level of dominance. He had a 3.09 ERA and three top-2 Cy Young finishes
before coming to Boston and a 3.84 ERA without a single Cy Young vote over four years with the Sox. But hey, they won the World Series in 2018 and couldn’t have done it without him. They’re still paying him another $16 million in 2022, when he’ll pitch for the Dodgers.
2. Manny Ramirez, OF, $160 million from 2001 through 2008
Skinny: He was a perennial MVP candidate with the Indians until the Red Sox made him their highest-paid player ever, and he continued to be a perennial MVP candidate in Boston, where he had six top-10 finishes but never captured the award. But he won a pair of World Series in 2004 and 2007 and
helped put the Sox on the map as one of the best players in club history. If not for PED use, he’d probably be in the Hall of Fame.
3. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, $154 million from 2012 through 2018
Skinny: The Sox were desperate for improved offense in 2011 and sent out star prospect Anthony Rizzo to get their hands on Gonzalez, one of the best oppositefield hitters in the game. He tore up the Green Monster with his sweet lefty stroke and lived up to his reputation, but after two strong years with the Sox he was traded to the Dodgers in a salary dump.
4. Chris Sale, LHP, $145 million from 2020 through 2024
Skinny: Dombrowski will take a lot of heat for this signing if Sale never returns to form, but it was hard to fault the logic in locking up on the game’s premier starting pitchers to a deal paying him $30 million a year as 13 other star pitchers have signed deals paying them more money annually. But the Sox knew of Sale’s shoulder troubles before signing the contract, then watched him injure his elbow and now his rib cage. There’s still time to salvage this contract, and there’s a lot of pressure on Sale to do just that before his contract expires.
5. Carl Crawford, OF, $142 million from 2011 through 2017
Skinny: The Sox thought
they did all their research on Crawford, a speedy outfielder who could hit as well as anyone in Tampa. They thought he could handle the pressure of going from a small market team to a big one. They thought wrong. In perhaps one of the biggest flops in free agent history, Crawford played just 161 games with the Sox before he was shipped off with Gonzalez in the Dodgers trade. He hit .260 with 14 homers. And he made arguably one of the worst plays in franchise history on the last day of the season in 2011, when his tepid slide attempt came up short on a line drive to left field that cost the Red Sox a run, a win and a playoff spot.