For most of the last four years, it was hard to fathom the idea of Trevor Story opting out of his contract with the Boston Red Sox. But he sure picked the right time to come alive.

Story wasn’t just the Red Sox’s most impactful hitter in their one postseason series, which ended in a slow torment on Thursday night against the New York Yankees. He was their most impactful player all season, leading the team in home runs (25), stolen bases (31), and RBIs (96), and most importantly, playing 157 games.

Now, Story has a $55 million opt-out decision. He can accept that guaranteed sum over the next two years ($25 million per year, plus a 2028 club option with a $5 million buyout), or he can try his luck on the open market, where there won’t be many other shortstops available.

Story wasn’t ready to commit to a direction in his first comments after what could theoretically have been his last game in a Red Sox uniform. But he did seem to hint that he didn’t intend on wearing another uniform in the near future.

“It’s not at the top of mind. I’m not gonna speak on that right now,” Story said, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. “But I came here to be here for a long time.”

As valuable as Story’s bounceback season was to the Red Sox, it’s not as though the 32-year-old was in Most Valuable Player discussions. He only put up a .311 regular-season on-base percentage, and he developed a throwing error problem that caused a lot of September heartache, including two games with a pair of gaffes.

Still, the Red Sox would undoubtedly love to have Story back for at least another year, and if we had to register a guess, they’re probably hoping he opts in and makes things easy on them. If not, it will be very interesting to see what he’s actually looking for (more years, probably, but valued how high?), and if the bidding ever opens up to the other 29 teams.