Colorado Rockies: Trevor Story underrated once again by “MLB executives”

Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story is among a few really good shortstops that will be free agents this offseason.

On Friday, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweeted that he polled 25 MLB executives on which shortstop would get the biggest deal this offseason.

Here were the results of the polling:

Trevor Story got one vote. One.

Ok, maybe Story isn’t the top guy or even number two. Rockies fans wouldn’t agree with either of those but one vote? One?

The guy who MLB Network has ranked the top shortstop in baseball for the last two seasons got one (1) vote. Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa got 11 votes plus two votes where he tied with Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager.

What should be made of these rankings of Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story?

A few things can be made of these rankings of Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story.

First off, it is just “25 MLB executives.” Is it 25 executives from 25 teams or is it 25 executives from three teams? If the latter is the case, some of the executives are probably from the New York Yankees, considering Heyman’s biases.

Which player have the Yankees seen more in the last five years: Correa or Story? Obviously, the answer is Correa, since he is in the American League and Story is in the National League. So they are going to think he is the better player because a) they see him more and b) the national media talks more about Correa than Story because the Astros are perennial playoff contenders, the Rockies are not, and the Astros cheating scandal.

Correa is two years younger than Story so it stands to reason that Correa will get a longer contract and, therefore, a bigger deal. But should he? Because Story has been the better player.

Correa had not played in more than 110 games in a season since 2016 (he did accomplish that this year). In the three seasons prior to the pandemic, Story was durable, as he averaged 149 games played per season. He has played in 125 games in 2021, entering Saturday.

Correa has, undoubtedly, had a better season in 2021 as he had a WAR of 6.2 entering Friday whereas Story was only at 3.1 but in the previous three seasons, Story had a WAR of 15.6. Correa’s was 8.5.

Since 2018, Story’s 162 game average is 34 home runs, 96 RBI, and a slash line of .282/.348/.533. Correa’s 162 game average in that span is 28 home runs, 97 RBI, and a slash line of .265/.348/.464.

In other words, regardless of which team the executives are affiliated with, it is evident that Correa is favored because he is younger and had a better 2021 campaign. But if teams are seeking a more consistent and healthy player, Trevor Story is the winner and, overall, he could be the guy to get the bigger contract.