Why did Trevor Story choose the Boston Red Sox? Rave reviews

The Colorado Rockies lost their shortstop, Trevor Story, via free agency to the Boston Red Sox and, on Wednesday, the Red Sox made it official as they introduced Story in a press conference early on Wednesday morning.

But early on Wednesday as well, it was revealed who and what was a big factor in Trevor Story choosing Boston over other teams: Former Boston Red Sox infielder and current broadcaster Will Middlebrooks.

Will Middlebrooks and others had rave reviews of the Boston Red Sox for Trevor Story

Will Middlebrooks, 33, joined the Boston Red Sox as a TV color analyst this season and he has been an analyst for CBS Sports since 2019. He played parts of six seasons in the majors, including a three-year stint in the majors with the Red Sox from 2012 through 2014. Trevor Story and Middlebrooks have been friends for over a decade. The two worked out in the offseason together in 2011, which was the first offseason after the Rockies drafted Story.

"“I was selling it for days,” Middlebrooks told the Boston Globe, referring to previous conversations he had with the two-time, All-Star shortstop. “I laid it out. I said, ‘Look, New York smells like garbage and they have rats the size of Shetland ponies. You don’t want to go there. You don’t want to go to California. The taxes are absurd. You’ll lose all your money there. In Houston, they have hurricanes. The perfect place to go is Boston.’“I made that joke to him. He got a kick out of that. But I said in all honesty, I told him I played in five places. If you want the best experience in baseball as a player, you have to experience playing as a home player at Fenway Park in front of Red Sox Nation. There’s nothing better than playing against the Yankees on a Sunday night or playing in the postseason. You can’t beat it.”"

In addition to Middlebrooks, manager Alex Cora, shortstop Xander Bogaerts, and other players helped recruit Story to the Red Sox as well.

Story, for his part, said those reviews of Fenway Park, Boston, and the passion of the fans is what sold him and his family on Boston.

"“Everyone was just glowing about Fenway and Boston and the city and the passion the fans bring every night,” Story told the media on Wednesday. “I think that was one of the most attractive things for me and for my family, too. That’s what you want. The fans, everybody here, everybody involved cares just as much as we do. I can’t wait to get to Fenway and play in front of the Red Sox faithful.”“At the end of the day, what it came down to, as I’ve been saying my whole career, it’s about winning,” said Story. “I felt that this was a really good fit for me to play second this year on this team, on the Red Sox, and that’s really what it came down to. Really just seeing this team and seeing the trend that they’re on and the players and the makeup of this team, that’s really what swayed me.”"

Since the Red Sox signed Trevor Story, their projections have improved enough to move them from a fourth-place to a third-place finish with PECOTA with 85.8 wins, which puts them in an exact tie for third and final AL Wild Card spot with the Minnesota Twins, who were in on Trevor Story before they decided to go with free agent shortstop Carlos Correa.