The Red Sox have made several extensions in recent years but it doesn’t look like anything is going to happen with the infielder. Marcelo Mayer. MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reports that the club has not approached Mayer to discuss a long-term deal until now.
It may seem obvious to some that the Sox didn’t look to close out Mayer. He is still only 23 years old and has yet to find major league success. He got into 44 big league games last year but hit just .228/.272/.402.
But teams have been aggressive in signing players to early season extensions recently. The Sox have also shown a penchant for signing players to extensions often, without experience, so it’s notable that there’s no progress here.
According to MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, extensions for players with less than a year of service time are becoming more common. (Link showing guys with no time of service; link showing some time of service but less than a year.) From 2006 to 2016, it was five. From 2017 to now, there have been 21, 11 since July 2022.
The Red Sox have a role there. Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell again Ceddanne Rafaela make up three data points in that 11 cluster. Those represent three of the six expansions Craig Breslow has signed since taking over as baseball’s top executive. He stretched again Garrett Crochet, Brian Bello again Aroldis Chapman in deals of various sizes.
Given all of that, the extension talks are sound but it seems like the Sox are happy to wait a little longer in this case. It could be health related, as Mayer has had trouble staying on the field. He has five professional seasons under his belt but has never topped the 91 games played in all of them due to various ailments. Last year, his major league debut was interrupted by a wrist problem that required surgery.
“[Getting stronger] “It’s just going to help him manage a full-season workload and be able to handle the demands of a full-season, which is something he hasn’t been able to do,” Breslow said of Mayer in November.
Although there are no contract negotiations, the Sox are showing confidence in Mayer, as it looks like they plan to make him a second baseman this year. It was reported that they preferred him in the third place but they got it Caleb Durbin for the Brewers. Durbin and Mayer have both been playing second and third this spring, but Durbin spent most of his time at third last year.
“Caleb, you’re playing the third team today, too,” the manager Alex Cora said this week, per Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. “Maybe we will decide that next week, but I feel comfortable with him in third place.” Cora stopped short of making any firm announcements but it looks like Mayer will end up in the keystone.
If Mayer can stay healthy and have a breakout season in 2026, perhaps the Red Sox would be more willing to begin extension talks. He has 128 days of service time currently and would be 1.128 if he gets a full year of service in 2026. Players typically gain more earning power as they accumulate service time and approach free agency, but even in that case, Mayer will still be five years from the open market and at least one year from settlement.
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Dyer, Imagn Images
