Texas Rangers: Three trade packages for Trevor Story

Aug 12, 2020; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story (27) fields the ball in the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 12, 2020; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story (27) fields the ball in the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
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Coming off the heels of the Nolan Arenado trade, the Colorado Rockies are likely to begin a rebuild soon (even if they won’t admit such thoughts publicly).

That means all bets are off when it comes to trading away their top assets, including highly coveted shortstop Trevor Story.

Sure, the Rockies say they won’t move the 28-year-old right now, but why would they want to risk losing him for nothing (assuming he departs) at the end of the season when they could acquire pieces for his services?

Story, who hails from the DFW area, might welcome a trade to the Texas Rangers where he would have a chance to play in front of family and friends.

Of course, the All-Star shortstop will become a free agent at the conclusion of the 2021 season, so the Texas Rangers might ultimately pursue him that way.

Nevertheless, trades are fun and full of intrigue, so here are two Rangers proposals that might be enough to swing a deal with the Colorado Rockies (and one outlandish scenario!).

Mlb Colorado Rockies At Arizona Diamondbacks
Mlb Colorado Rockies At Arizona Diamondbacks /

Texas Rangers-Trevor Story Trade Proposal No. 1

Let’s face it, the Colorado Rockies didn’t receive the haul many expected when they dealt stud third baseman Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals.

In fact, Colorado didn’t even receive any of St. Louis’ top five organizational prospects in the deal.

This is also considering the fact that Arenado inked a multi-year extension (albeit with opt-outs), whereas Story would be merely a one-year rental unless the Texas Rangers were to give him an extension.

If the Cardinals were able to get Arenado on such a discount in terms of trade price, what would be the reason to make the Rangers overpay in a trade to get a player of a similar caliber?

Third base prospect Davis Wendzel has a difficult path to get to Arlington with Josh Jung currently ahead of him in the ranks, and Ronny Henriquez represents a decent upside pitching prospect for a Rockies team that always needs quality pitching.

LHP Joely Rodriguez would represent a decent plug-in play for the Rockies’ current roster as well.

Overall, this would seem like a pretty fair trade package given the circumstances.

Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

Texas Rangers-Trevor Story Trade Package No. 2

This second hypothetical trade scenario would involve the swapping of more big league assets rather than prospects.

There’s no doubt that the Rockies are reeling from having to trade a franchise icon in Nolan Arenado. Circumstances wouldn’t become any easier by trading Trevor Story as well.

At the very least, then, any Story deal should involve MLB-ready replacements so that Colorado is prepared to fill their holes with stopgaps until they can get a hold of of their future.

The trading of Isiah Kiner-Falefa certainly wouldn’t be popular among Texas Rangers fans given his versatility and upside, but to get someone, you have to give up someone, especially if you’re trying to avoid surrendering prospects.

Nick Solak is expected to begin the year as the starting second baseman for the Rangers, but he can also play outfield and would be able to fill in seamlessly within the Rockies’ infield.

Once again, Texas would be sending a pitcher to Denver in this deal (LHP Joe Palumbo) as would likely be necessary in any deal, given Colorado’s profound need for pitching.

This scenario would be a long shot to carry out in all likelihood, but it could be worth a shot.

Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Texas Rangers- Trevor Story Trade Package No. 3

If you want to talk about a long-shot trade proposal involving Trevor Story, here’s one.

In this exchange, the Texas Rangers would acquire both Story and LHP Kyle Freeland, filling two needs with one trade.

Texas could especially use a left-handed starter, since they lack one at this point.

Of course, the price for this trade would be astronomical (likely even more than what we’re even allowed to list), but this scenario provides at least a framework for constructing a deal.

The Rockies would rightfully want a big return if they were to package their best position player and their best pitcher together in a trade, so the Rangers would have to include some high profile players in their offer.

That’s what we tried to create above in offering two top-10 prospects, plus a dynamic athlete in Bubba Thompson and an electric young pitcher in Jonathan Hernandez.

In all likelihood, the Rangers would have to include even more than these four names to realistically pull this deal off, which would start to put this trade in overpay territory, and thus making it a true pipe dream.

Make no mistake about this proposal, though, it would fill two major needs for the Texas Rangers while supplying the Colorado Rockies with a boatload of young talent to jumpstart their retooling process.

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