This is GREAT news for the Boston Red Sox...

A year ago, Craig Breslow didn't leave any room for debate surrounding Trevor Story. Story was his shortstop. That talk about moving him to second base got shut down immediately, and Breslow said the communication was very, very clear. Now, a year later, Story's role for next season sounds nothing like that. The reason is a 20-year old shortstop that has been dominating down in the minor leagues all summer long. Story played in 64 games in 2026 and hit five home runs. The kid we're referring to hit 25 and hit north of 300. His name is Franklin Arias, and he is the top prospect in the Red Sox farm system and one of the top prospects in all of baseball. And he seems to be a real option to begin next season at shortstop for the Red Sox. Is Arias the opening day shortstop in 2027? And if he is, what's left for the guy that Boston still owes $25 million to To see how far things have changed, we have to go back to the day that Story signed in Boston. Boston gave him six years and $140 million in March of 2022. His elbow needed surgery that January and didn't play a game until August. The next April, he dislocated his shoulder on a diving play and that season was gone too. Over the next three years of the deal, he played 163 games out of a possible 486. In Boston, his contract became more of a punchline. Then in 2025, he finally stayed on the field for 157 games, more than the first two Boston seasons put together. He led the Red Sox with 25 home runs and 31 stolen bases. He also led the team in runs, hits, and runs batted in, the whole stat sheet. That came out to more than three WAR, a real everyday shortstop. That November he could have opted out, but he chose to stay with Boston keeping $55 million guaranteed. At the time, it looked like a smart call for both sides of this equation. When people floated moving him to second base to open up short for the kids, Breslow went to the GM meetings and ended all of it. In March, Marcelo Meyer was named the starting second baseman right next to him. The plan was to have Trevor Story at shortstop and supply him with young infielders around him. Then, 2026 happened. Story's season got cut short by a sports hernia that needed surgery and kept him out for three months. And he wasn't right before that surgery either. His OPS fell from 741 in 2025 to 621 this past season. His batting average dropped to 235 and the power went with it. The bigger problem was the contact. He struck out in 32% of his plate appearances up from 27% in 2025. Even the glove slip, Statcast had him at minus two outs above average at shortstop. With Story out, the Red Sox ran IKF, Marcelo Meyer, and Andre Monasterio, among others, through the position. Monasterio played the most games there. of the fill-ins and Statcast had him at minus nine outs above average. That's a revolving door at one of the most premier defensive positions in all of baseball, shortstop. And the guy who held it the longest was minus nine and outs above average. Now Breslow hasn't hid from any of it in August. He said Trevor would be the first to admit he struggled before getting hurt and that the Red Sox never got to see a full healthy version of him. Now that's a GM defending his player and also a GM admitting that the numbers showed he regressed fully and really never lived up to the expectations placed upon him. The Boston Red Sox paid Story $25 million this past season for those 64 games he played. The team finished 87-75 third in arguably the most daunting division in baseball, the AL East, and 11 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays, who won 98 games. With a wildcard spot to hold down in September, every single one of those games mattered, and they did it without a real shortstop. While Story was rehabbing a 20-year-old down in Portland, was having the best season in the whole Red Sox farm system. Franklin Arias opened up the 2026 season down in AA as a 20-year-old shortstop. In 75 games there, he hit .318 with 19 home runs. He got on base at a .407 clip, so it wasn't all just power. That got him to AAA, and it didn't stop there, as it didn't slow him down once he got to AAA and continued to absolutely dominate. He hit .331 in 42 games in AAA, even better than his Portland average. At 20 against pitchers one step away from the majors, he still hit .331 and the power still translated in a limited amount of games. Put both stops together and it's 25 home runs and 91 runs batted in for Franklin Arias. That's the same home run total as Trevor Story put up in the majors in his healthy 2025 season. The bat isn't the only case for Franklin Arias either. He was named the Eastern League MVP, the Red Sox offensive player of the year in the minors, and he won the minor league gold glove at shortstop. He won the MVP even though he left the league in late July. And the rest of the sport noticed without a doubt as he flew up rankings across all major platforms. MLB.com had him at the number seven on its prospect list when he He got promoted in number three by September. The only other two names ahead. Ahead of him were Jesus Madé and Leo De Vries. Heading into the offseason, Joel Ruder at Bleacher Report had him at number two in all of baseball. It is safe to say there is nothing left for him to prove down in the minor leagues against anyone that is not considered major league pitching. In September, he told the Globe that if the call comes, it won't be taken as a surprise. But the call never came. Boston held a wild card spot all of September and still left Arias off the call-up list. Instead, he went to Fort Myers with the group that stayed ready in case the big league club needed someone in the playoffs. Publicly, Craig Breslow has done a very careful job not to put that type of weight on a 20-year-old kid who has yet to take a big league at bat. The Boston Globes read was that the Sox decided that the answer was not yet for Franklin Arias, partially to keep him Keep them off the 40-man roster. The calendar makes this even trickier. The labor deals run out on December 1st, 22 days from now, and a lockout is expected. Once the lockout starts, teams cannot contact anyone on their 40-man roster, and Arias isn't on Boston's at least yet. If it runs into February and eats into spring training, the exact place Arias was supposed to win his job at shortstop for this Red Sox organization. Spear also reported in October that the Sox are unlikely to add big payroll before the deal gets done. That makes the answer inside the building worth more than any shortstop they'd chase in free agency. Some in the organization see Arias as almost untouchable in trade talks, and they'd only move him for a star with years of control. A prospect that valuable doesn't go back to AAA, especially in this position. And if you want every story and Arias update through the lockout into spring trading, make sure you subscribe to the channel and help us get to our goal of 8,000 subscribers. We post Red Sox content and news every single day. Back in August, Rob Bradford put two old names next to Arias and both tell you how this can go in Boston. The first is Yohan Moncada, the top prospect Boston traded to the White Sox for Chris Sale. That's the version where Franklin Arias becomes the price of an absolute star in this league, and it's the one the almost untouchable line is there to shut down. The second is Xander Bogarts. His is the path Red Sox fans actually got to live through. In August of 2013, Boston called up a 20-year-old shortstop in the middle of a pennant race. By October, he was playing in the World Series and he tripled in Game 3. The next spring, the shortstop job was his until Stephen Drew came back in late May and Bogarts got pushed to third base. On July 31st, Drew was traded to the Yankees and Bogarts walked right back to short. He stayed there for the rest of his time in Boston. A veteran can hold that spot for a few months, but a kid that good always finds his way back to a premiered position like Short. The difference this time is the fact that the veteran isn't a stopgap. He's the guy Boston is still paying through 2027 at an outrageous price. For Story, it starts with the money. The $25 million he's owed in 2027 is the last guaranteed year of his deal. Boston holds a $25 million option for 2028 with a $5 million buyout, which makes next season a contract year. Trading him is hard for the same reason. A team taking on takes on $30 million for one guaranteed season of Trevor Story. So Story is certainly in a Red Sox uniform come spring training whenever that actually does arrive pairing a lockout. So the question is where he stands on the field when we actually get there. The big difference is going to be the fact that this year the spot isn't going to be settled before camp actually begins. It's going to be decided during camp which should have all of All of Red Sox fans very excited. For a player in a contract year, a healthy season at short is worth a lot more on the market than one at second base. Marcelo Meyer isn't an option anymore. Boston traded him to the Giants on August 3rd for reliever Eric Miller. Monasterio filled the role at short, but he finished the year at minus nine outs above average. And again, he was only there filling in for a bunch of injuries, Marcelo being traded away, but it just did not work overall. That leaves two real names for the job. The clearest version has Story opening camp at short with Arias trying to take it from him. Already picked up starts at second base late in the year, so the kid could break in next to him there. The other way around puts Arias at short and moves Story to second. And that is the exact move Craig Breslow shut down just a year ago going into spring training. Breslow did leave Story one way back. In August, when Story is right, he fits in the middle of a lineup. That reads like a door left open, but not a promise. The whole season hangs on that word, right? So is it going to be Franklin Arias starting at shortstop? Is it going to be Trevor Story? And whoever doesn't win the shortstop job, are they going to result at second base? I would much rather see Arias at short. I don't even care if Story is a platoon bat coming off the bench and you have Sogard or possibly another option via free agency or another platoon bat that they already have on this roster filling in at second. But I think definitively Story should not be the starting shortstop over someone like Franklin Arias because of the youth, the potential, and the overall abilities we have witnessed through his minor league career. Who do you think should be the opening day shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, Trevor Story or top prospect Franklin Arias? Let me know down in the comments and I will see you guys on the next episode of Red Sox Digest.