Shortstop Trevor Story Has His Own Triple Option -- Which Way Will He Turn?

In the final days of the regular season, the focus with the Rockies was not on wins and losses, but rather the assumption that Trevor Story’s tenure in the home clubhouse at Coors Field was about to end.

But is it?

Yes, he is about to embark on free agency, but does that mean there are no more tomorrows wearing the purple pinstripes for one of the most popular players in franchise history?

Not necessarily.

Three options are on the table for Story.

— He can sign a multi-year deal with a new team.

— He can re-sign with the Rockies and sign a multi-year deal.

— He can stay with the Rockies for one year.

One More Year

Story is eligible for a qualifying offer — which has been set at $18.4 million this off-season. If he declines the offer, the Rockies will receive a compensation draft pick after the first round in next summer’s first-year player draft. A touch of irony is the Rockies used a compensation pick — for the loss of Octavio Dotel — to select Story 45th overall in the 2011 draft.

There’s no doubt the Rockies will make that offer. What do they have to lose?

They would like to retain Story, so if he says yes, at least they are covered for 2022.

And for Story, it could be the safest route to take. Scouts who watched the Rockies during the season questioned whether Story had fully recovered from an elbow ailment that led to 10 days on the injured list in late May and early June.

He also is coming off a season in which he hit .251, second lowest of his career, but he did reach the 20-20 mark in home runs and stolen bases for the third time in his last four years.

Staying Put

In the midst of the speculation that the Rockies would trade Story before the deadline, general manager Bill Schmidt made it clear listening to offers for Story did not mean he was cleaning house. In fact, he said no other general manager wanted Story on his team’s roster more than Schmidt, who was the Rockies’ scouting director who drafted and signed Story.

Schmidt’s feelings about Story have not changed. Part of a bonus in getting Story to sign the one-year deal would be the chance to turn that into multiple years at some point next summer if a multi-year deal can’t be agreed to in the off-season.

If it didn’t work out, Story would become an unrestricted free agent following the 2022 season, able to sign with any team he wants.

Test the Open Market

Story is on most lists as a member of the top five shortstop free agent candidates. That’s part of the challenge for shortstops in the free agent market — there are more than five legitimate shortstops on the market, even with Francisco Lindor and Brandon Crawford having re-signed.

In addition to Story, the list includes:

— Carlos Correa, who would play at age 27 in 2022, youngest of the crop. He did turn down a six-year, $120 million offer from the Astros.

— Javier Baez, who like Story will play at age 29 in 2022, dealt by the Cubs to the Mets at the trading deadline last season, Baez moved to second base in light of the presence of Lindor, who just finished the first season of a 10-year, $341 million deal. Baez says he will stay at second only if he returns to the Mets.

— Cory Seager, another shortstop who will play at age 29 next year, has become expendable with the Dodgers in light of the in-season acquisition of Trea Turner, who won’t be a free agent eligible for another year. Seager was limited to 95 regular-season games in 2021, his second season of abbreviated availability in the last four years.

— Marcus Semien, who will play at age 31, spent his career with Oakland before testing free agency for the first time a year ago, and signing a one-year deal with Toronto that resulted in him making the move to second base. He is durable. He appeared in 162 games in each of the last two full seasons, following a 159-game effort in 2018. He finished third in AL MVP voting in 2019 and was an All-Star selection in 2021.

Next year, the only eye-opening shortstop who could be eligible is Turner, who the Dodgers acquired during the 2021 season. Would it be worth the wait?

Only Story can decide that.

Those are all aspects of the off-season that Story will have to consider as he makes a decision on his future.