3 fatal decisions since the 2021 ALCS that put the Red Sox in this mess

Signing Trevor Story

At the time, signing Trevor Story seemed like a good idea. Story is a two-time Silver Slugger-winning shortstop who could slide into second base seamlessly, allowing Kiké Hernández to stay in center field. He was another stud in an infield that already boasted one of the best partnerships in baseball in Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers.

Even the contract didn’t seem terrible at 6 years, $140 million. On paper, the Story signing made all the sense in the world. But signing Story hasn't gone the way Red Sox Nation hoped it would.

Story has played a measly 137 games for the Red Sox across the last two seasons, fighting multiple injury issues along the way. During the time he has spent on the field, fans have seen career-worst numbers from Story, only accumulating 3.3 of his 30.1 career WAR with the Red Sox. Story's offensive numbers lend more evidence to the Coors Field Theory, which suggests that any offensive talent from Colorado should have a 20% tax applied to their offensive numbers to get a truer sense of their performance.

Many Sox fans were wary of the Story deal from the jump — Boston signed a shortstop when Bogaerts was still on the team before they had finished discussing a potential extension. If the Red Sox wanted to find another productive middle infielder that offseason, there were plenty of other names available. Marcus Semien signed for seven years at $175 million and Corey Seager signed for 10 years at $325 million with the Rangers and Carlos Correa signed his three-year deal with the Twins.

Signing Story probably led to a Bogaerts, a 10-year Red Sox and one of the team leaders, walking the next offseason and barely getting any helpful production out of him seems like a major misfire.