Rosenthal: Fernando Tatis Jr. open to position change? Plus MLB trade notes - The Athletic $

What position, if any, will help keep him on the field?

“The plan so far is shortstop,” he said.

Could he play other positions?

Tatis laughed.

“Yeah, I could,” he said.

I then laid out why I was asking. Center field for the Padres hasn’t been great offensively. Ha-Seong Kim has excelled at shortstop defensively. Tatis could play center …

He laughed again.

“I like winning ballgames,” Tatis said. “If it means we’re going to win more ballgames like that, I’ll do it that way.”

Are you taking balls out there?

“I’ve been shagging, yeah.”

Some good comments about handling the metrics. A snippet here.

Turner said the idea of adjusting his game to improve his metrics is “kind of stupid,” while noting, correctly, that “Outs Above Average hates me.” But the Dodgers people say his defense in the last six weeks is noticeably improved, so clearly the change in positioning helped him.

He is a free agent at the end of the season. Teams will judge him according to his metrics. He was wise to make the change.

The Red Sox need to keep Bogaerts. They can’t let every homegrown star leave. When Mayers is ready, Xander can shift over to 3B. If Devers is still around, he can go to 1B.

Story, 29, missed time with elbow trouble in Sept. 2020, and was on the injured list from May 29 to June 10 last season with an elbow problem he said was a flexor strain. He might have fallen into some bad habits. He might still be regaining arm strength.

But here’s the question: If Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts opts out of his contract and departs as a free agent, would the team be comfortable with Story at shortstop, a position that requires a bigger arm than second?

Boston Red Sox, Trevor Story agree to six-year, $140M contract, sources confirm

Trevor Story and the Boston Red Sox have agreed to a six-year, $140 million contract, sources confirmed to ESPN.

The deal includes an opt-out after the fourth season, sources said.

Story hit a crowded free-agent field—alongside fellow shortstops Carlos Correa, Marcus Semien, Javier Baez and Corey Seager—with a résumé featuring two All-Star Games, two Silver Slugger awards and MVP votes during the 2018, 2019 and 2020 seasons.

The concern with any player who built his career with the Colorado Rockies is that career numbers are skewed by playing half his games at Coors Field, with Story’s batting average and on-base percentage 60 points lower on the road, his slugging percentage 160 points lower, and his wRC+ 27 points lower. In recent history, Nolan Arenado, DJ LeMahieu and Troy Tulowitzki all became markedly better road hitters with worse home splits after leaving Colorado, though three players is hardly a definitive sample size.