Yankees not mentioned in recent Trevor Story buzz but chief rivals are

Now that the MLB lockout is expected to drag on longer than we were initially led on to believe (though we never really believed the expedited timeline would come to fruition knowing how inept this league is), there are a lot fewer frantic New York Yankees fans worrying about the team’s free agency endeavors once transactions are permitted again.

That’s a much healthier way to live life … but we can’t possibly do that when we’re hearing updates of this nature. We’ve had enough of the Andrelton Simmons links, and we won’t have any more of it, thank you.

Shortstop is the most glaring void on the Yankees’ 2022 roster, but they moved Gleyber Torres back to second base and passed on the first three options on the market before the lockout. Now, only two remain, and they’re easily the most confounding of the bunch from a financial perspective.

Is Carlos Correa actually going to get $350 million? Does Trevor Story need to take a short-term prove-it deal after a lackluster 2021 despite a convincing body of work for his career?

We won’t even entertain Correa because, folks, it is not happening. But Story? That’s actually incredibly realistic on multiple levels. A short-term deal is right up the Yankees’ alley, but even a long-term one makes sense since Story, on the surface, seems to be a versatile defender based on his athleticism. Perhaps a shift to second base or center field down the road is in the cards?

Sounds appealing, right? Well, too bad the Yankees aren’t even being mentioned alongside Story if we’re to believe the most recent buzz from early December.

The Yankees are nowhere to be found in the Trevor Story rumors.

Here’s what MLB insider Jon Heyman said on the Big Time Baseball podcast about a month ago and it slipped under the radar:

"“[Trevor] Story, I have heard three teams: Seattle, Houston and Boston … Boston could obviously start him at second base, potentially. Bogaerts has an opt out after the year, then Story can slide to shortstop in 2023 if that happens. And I have heard there is a mystery team.”"

And even worse? The Red Sox and Astros are ready to strike here. Houston, for obvious reasons, is reportedly involved, and we’ve heard plenty of buzz about Boston’s willingness to upgrade the infield even if it means moving Xander Bogaerts to second base. Meanwhile, the Yankees, who desperately need a shortstop and have been punked by both of these teams in recent years, are nowhere to be found, unless they opted to be the infamous “mystery team.”

The Yankees already let the Astros retain Justin Verlander because they were unwilling to give him a player option for a second season. They’ve already watched the Red Sox tinker with the roster in a productive way before the lockout while they made one move (bringing back Joely Rodriguez after cutting him to save $1 million).

More updates like this continue to fall in line with the obvious narrative that there won’t be any big Yankees splashes out of the lockout outside of a trade (but for who?) or an Aaron Judge extension, both of which should be written in permanent marker on Brian Cashman’s glass door of his corner office.

It’s very possible the Yankees swoop in late and surprise us all, but it’s hard to believe that when update after update has them on the outside looking in with these potential colossal transactions.

Yankees and Red Sox competing for short-term Trevor Story contract?

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are reportedly among the teams eyeing a short-term contract for Trevor Story. Do we believe this?