The completion of Trevor Story’s deal to join the Red Sox apparently hit a snag this week and was nearly in jeopardy of falling apart due to his COVID-19 vaccination status.

According to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Thursday, there were concerns that the agreement with Story – a six-year, $140 million contract – wouldn’t be finalized because the Red Sox’s new power-hitting second baseman was reluctant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Story’s signing with the Red Sox was initially reported on Sunday morning, but wasn’t officially announced until Wednesday morning, when he was introduced in a press conference. That delay was partly because of the vaccine issue, but on Tuesday, the concerns were alleviated as Story agreed to get vaccinated, according to ESPN.

Story confirmed to ESPN that he’ll be eligible to play all 162 games this season for the Red Sox – 10 of their games are in Toronto, where unvaccinated players are ineligible to play – but declined to elaborate on his decision.

“It’s a very personal matter,” Story said to ESPN. “Decisions like that are kept between me and my family. But with that being said, I’ll be available for my teammates 162-plus. That’s the main part.”

• The Boston Red Sox did everything within their power to prevent Story from going to the Yankees.

Details are starting to come out regarding how the Red Sox courted Story.

Among those tasked with talking up Boston was former prospect Will Middlebrooks, who now works as a Red Sox analyst for NESN.

According to the Boston Globe, Middlebrooks “has known Story for more than a decade, since the two worked out in the offseason following the 2011 season.”

The Globe reports Middlebrooks “wasn’t shy about offering a recruiting pitch,” which included dumping on New York City.

“I was selling it for days,” Middlebrooks said. “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.’”

ROSTER: The Boston Red Sox claimed right-handed pitcher Ralph Garza Jr. from the Twins and optioned him to Triple-A Worcester. Boston designated righty Kyle Tyler for assignment to make room for Garza on the 40-man roster.

The 27-year-old Garza posted a 3.56 ERA, 4.88 FIP and 1.25 WHIP in 27 outings (30 1/3 innings) for the Astros and Twins in 2021 as a rookie.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder has a 3.72 ERA in 180 career outings (three starts) in the minor leagues.

The Twins also hold spring training in Fort Myers. And so all Garza has to do is drive across town to his new job.

NEWLY ELECTED baseball Hall-of-Famer David “Big Papi” Ortiz is scheduled to visit Salem State University on May 4 for the first of SSU’s two “Salem State Series” speaking engagements to be held this year.

Tickets for the event go on sale Tuesday, March 29, at 10 a.m. at salemstate.edu/series. The second event, held Sept. 20, will host international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney to wrap up the series’ 40th year.

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