PHOENIX, ARIZONA – AUGUST 24: Infielders Trevor Story #27 and Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies during the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on August 24, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Rockies defeated the Diamondbacks 3-2. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The Cardinals apparently don’t think they need an upgrade at shortstop, so expect Trevor Story to head elsewhere.
Story was coming off a down season, so there’s a chance the Cardinals were unwilling to meet his contract demands for those reasons. However, St. Louis appears comfortable heading into next season with their primary shortstop duo being Paul DeJong and Edmundo Sosa.
Our own Robert Murray expressed some concerns about that plan.
“The Cardinals are comfortable heading into the 2022 season with Paul DeJong and Edmundo Sosa as their shortstops. That’s a risk, of course, because DeJong averaged less than .200 last season (to be fair, he’s hit at least 19 home runs in each of his last four full seasons) and it’s unclear whether Sosa’s strong performance was an anomaly or a sign of things to come.”
Cardinals: Nolan Arenado has right to question lack of Trevor Story move
Arenado and Story are great friends, but the connection doesn’t end there. Arenado was literally Story’s water boy at the 2021 Home Run Derby.
Story would reshape the Cardinals’ infield and expand their strength from just the corners with Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, to the middle infield as well. Instead, by turning down a player of Story’s caliber, who has put up extreme power numbers at Coors Field, the Cardinals are expressing concern about the very subject they clamored fans not to worry about with Arenado — high power numbers due to high altitude.
Whatever Story thinks he’s worth, it’s consistent with his statistics in the current market. The Cardinals ought to stop playing hardball and improve at positions of need, rather than risking another early playoff exit.