Red Sox Deliver Worrying Announcement on Future of $6.6 Million Rookie

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Marcelo Mayer will nit be back in the Red Sox lineup anytime soon.

The Boston Red Sox will have an infield hole at second base for the indefinite future, based on statements by manager Alex Cora on Saturday. Cora gave an update on the condition of rookie Marcelo Mayer, who moved across the infield to take over primary second base duties when third baseman Alex Bregman returned from a 44-game stay on the injured list on July 11.

Mayer took himself out of Wednesday’s road game against the Philadelphia Phillies — which ended with an 11-inning, 9-8 Red Sox win — saying that he felt “a tight grab” in his right wrist, the same wrist he injured in 2022, his first full year in professional baseball.

Highest Red Sox Draft Pick in More Than 5 Decades

In 2021, the Red Sox made Mayer, out of Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, California, the No. 4 overall draft pick, signing him with a $6.6 million bonus.

That made Mayer the highest Red Sox draft pick since 1967, when they took pitcher Mike Garman with the No. 3 pick. In those days a $55,000 bonus was enough the sign the No. 3 pick. Adjusting for inflation, that would be only a $529,000 bonus today.

But on Thursday, the Red Sox put their 2021 first-rounder on the injured list for the first time in his Major League career, which was just 44 games old at the time.

Red Sox Calling Mayer Injury a ‘Sprain’

The exact nature of Mayer’s wrist injury has not been revealed, however, other than that Mayer suffered a “sprain.” On Saturday, Cora said that Mayer was still consulting “specialists and all that stuff,” as quoted by beat reporter Christopher Smith of MassLive.

Cora also had some more concerning news about Mayer, according to Smith’s report.

“He’s not gonna play soon,” Cora said. “So [we] have to make sure where we’re at and what the course of action is going to be.”

Sports medicine physician Jesse Morse, posting on his 137,000-follower social media account, had a depressing message for Red Sox fans.

Mayer Could End Season Early — Again

“You’re not going to like this but I think he’s due for season-ending surgery to repair torn ligaments,” Morse wrote.

Mayer was described, not surprisingly, as “dejected” over the injury by MLB.com Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

If Morse’s speculation proves correct, Mayer will see his season cut short by injury for the third straight year. In 2023 “shoulder inflammation” caused the Red Sox to shut down Mayer with 11 games remaining the Double-A season.

Injuries an Annual Problem For Top Prospect

The following year, Mayer was placed on the injured list August 1 due to a strain to the lumbar region of his lower back. Mayer was still at the Double-A level at the time, but was promoted to Triple-A Worcester as soon as he was activated.

But he did not play for Worcester. Instead, the Red Sox sent Mayer to their training facility in Fort Myers, Florida, to continue his rehab for the back injury. Mayer did not play again until spring training. The Red Sox called him up to the big league club on May 24, following the injury to Bregman.

Mayer’s 2022 wrist injury also caused him to miss time, though not at the end of the season. When he was asked to compare his current wrist injury to the previous malady, Mayer demurred, saying that the previous injury happened “so long ago.”

Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin