SAN DIEGO — While the rest of the league went into a frenzy at the MLB trade deadline, the Rockies stayed quiet.

In fact, they never even came close to making a deal. They set a high mark for Trevor Story, and the team said they never received what they described as a competitive offer for him. So they held onto their star shortstop, confusing him and those around him who know him best. They have not had any talks with him about his future beyond the next two months, and Story has indicated that he likely would not re-sign with the team. 

Story was originally in the lineup on Friday. Then he was scratched an hour before the game. He never came out for batting practice, something players do even on a day off, but was reported to be in the stadium. A source said Story needed time to regroup — he was not expecting to still be with the Rockies on Friday afternoon.

“I understand that, but I think Trevor’s a very good professional,” interim general manager Bill Schmidt said of Story’s reaction. “He’ll move on. He’ll play through it.”

If the Rockies make him a qualifying offer, they will get a compensatory pick in next year’s draft. The team did not think that any of the trade offers were worth more than that extra pick. Schmidt, the vice president of scouting before taking over the interim general manager job, has drafted high-quality players, like Story, in the past. But, it’s likely the Rockies would have gotten multiple prospects for Story instead of just one like they will from the draft pick.  

“It was known what we were looking for, in terms of the value we set at Trevor,” Schmidt said. “At the end of the day, what we were offered we thought the pick was probably going to be better suited for us and to have Trevor as part of our club for the next two months.”

With trade deadline approaching, Jon Gray hopes he’s still a Rockie on Friday night

The Rockies made only two moves this week. They sent Mychal Givens to the Reds for two pitching prospects and re-acquired Ashton Goudeau. Although both pitching prospects have potential, the move does not make a dent in their farm system. 

Earlier in the week, the Rockies took Daniel Bard and Jon Gray off the market, even though teams were paying high prices for pitchers. Now, unless deals can be made, Story and Gray will both become free agents at the end of the season. 

Not trading Gray was not a surprise, as sources said everyone from Gray all the way up to owner Dick Monfort wants to put together a long-term deal to keep their right-handed pitcher in Colorado. They made the decision three days ago that they would not entertain any trade offers on Gray. 

Gray wants to stay in Colorado, and he said he’d be devastated if he was traded. He was all smiles as he warmed up for his start on Friday night. 

“He’d like to be here and we’d like to have Jon,” Schmidt said. “Our objective is to continue having Jon as a Rockie.”

Colorado Rockies trade reliever Mychal Givens to the Reds for two prospects

This was the first deadline under interim general manager Bill Schmidt, who is operating with a depleted front office that saw two assistant general managers depart last month. He worked with Zack Rosenthal, who has a background in legal, and their pro scouting department. Schmidt tried to make it clear that the small staff did not have an impact on their lack of moves. 

The Rockies, 20.5 games out of first place entering Friday, sat by quietly during the deadline frenzy as their division competitors added stars, and the teams out of contention bulked up their farm systems. Asking prices were high, and teams like the Nationals, Twins, and Cubs sold off their stars for a big haul of prospects. The Nationals in particular went into major rebuild mode, dealing seven players for 11 prospects in return. 

In the NL West, the Dodgers added Max Scherzer and Trea Turner, the Padres nabbed Adam Frazier, Jake Marisnick and Daniel Hudson, and the Giants sneaked in Kris Bryant right at the deadline.