Had Trevor Story exercised his right this offseason to opt out of his six-year, $140 million deal with the Red Sox, there’s a chance he could have secured more money and/or more years on the open market than the $55 million he’s owed for the next two years.
For that matter, there’s a chance the Sox might have felt compelled to keep Story by picking up a 2028 team option that would have guaranteed him an additional year and $20 million.
But the 32-year-old said he wasn’t interested in those hypotheticals. Ultimately, he didn’t want to make a move that might risk leaving the Red Sox.
“At this point in my career, it’s not about making decisions based on money. It never has been,” Story said on NESN’s “310 to left” podcast, in an interview that will air Thursday. “To me, it’s pretty simple. There’s not another organization I want to be a part of. I’m just in love with the place, and got some unfinished business.”
Story recalled signing in 2022 with visions of what it might be like to win a championship in Boston. The 2025 season marked the first time he was part of a Sox team that reached the playoffs. In conversations with teammates following the end of the season, he made it clear that he had no intentions of bailing.
“I would tell them, ‘Man, I’m here. This is where I want to be. I came here for a reason, and we’re finally good. I’m not going to leave when it’s time to start skyrocketing,’ ” said Story. “We just feel like it’s the best place to be in baseball right now, and we feel like it’s really close to being what we all imagine.”
Even though Story had no intention of leaving the Sox, he could appreciate and take pride in the fact that he’d played his way into having something other than a turnkey decision. After three injury-marred years from 2022-24, Story enjoyed a full, healthy season in 2025.
He proved not only durable (157 games) but productive, hitting .263/.308/.433 while leading the Sox in home runs (25) and stolen bases (31). He performed at a level where there was at least some question — particularly given the shortage of free agent shortstop options — about whether he could find more lucrative opportunities on the open market.
“Being able to go out there and post, doing it every single day, putting myself in a position to make a decision — at the beginning of the year, it didn’t look too good. To be honest, my back I kind of felt was up against the wall,” Story said, referencing his .218/.263/.318 line through May 28. “[But] obviously was able to put together a good four months and ride that out to the end of the season. It’s nice and it feels good to kind of normalize and reset the baseline for myself. Just looking to build off of that just going into next year, for sure.”
Story expressed his belief that 2025 can be a platform for greater individual and team accomplishments in 2026. As was the case last offseason, Story said he’s prepared to recruit free agents in hopes of helping the Red Sox build out a talented group in pursuit of a title.
“We made a great step — in the postseason for the first time in [four] years. Now it’s time to take that next step. All of the messaging to me, all the conversations [with the front office] have matched up with that perfectly. Obviously, that makes me feel way more comfortable opting in,” said Story. “If you’re going to join an organization, looking at all things considered — farm system, players in the big leagues right now, just looking at the young players and veteran players, it just seems to me that this is the place you want to be. . . . Also, just with the resources that we have being the Red Sox, we know that [the front office] and ownership are going to keep adding to the group. All things considered, it just feels like a rocket ship is about to take off.”
Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him @alexspeier.