New MLB Rumors on Marcelo Mayer's Desire for Red Sox Exit Prior to Giants Trade at Deadline

Marcelo Mayer never lived up to lofty expectations with the Boston Red Sox, and he was apparently happy to be traded away ahead of this year's deadline.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday that Mayer and his family were "frustrated" in Boston and "let the Red Sox front office know they'd be comfortable with a trade." They got their wish, as Boston traded him to the San Francisco Giants.

The trade ended a tenure in Boston that started when he was the No. 4 overall pick of the 2021 MLB draft.

However, Slusser noted "fans and sports-talk media soured on him" as he dealt with a variety of setbacks and "gained a reputation for being fragile, an unfair assessment especially because three of his injuries occurred on the field and two others were deemed the result of overwork."

Those injuries included fouling a ball off his foot, hurting his shoulder while running the bases and playing through it, multiple wrist setbacks that eventually required surgery, back concerns, and a forearm stress reaction.

He played just 114 games for the Red Sox and slashed .223/.278/.346 with seven home runs and 32 RBI.

"Obviously, it didn't go the way I wanted, and obviously, outside the lines, it's a lot over there," Mayer said.

The Red Sox have a massive fanbase and generate plenty of attention, which only brought more scrutiny to Mayer's struggles. His father, Enrique Mayer, put things into perspective following the trade.

"In Boston, if you're going well, you're a god and if you're struggling, they're going to tear you apart," he said. "He didn't come out as hot this year and the fans thought he didn't care—that's the most ridiculous thing to say about a major-league baseball player, people don't know the sacrifices and work it takes just to get there. But he got a bad rap and if you get a little bit of one in Boston, it just snowballs."

Mayer now has a fresh start back in his home state of California, although he struck out in each of his four at-bats in Monday's 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins in his debut with the Giants.

There will surely be some rust to work through, but he will attempt to live up to the hype and expectations that surrounded him when he was a top-five draft pick as he becomes more experienced with San Francisco.