Article: Marcelo Mayer's Wrist Injury Complicates His Extension Window

[Alex Mayes]

When Roman Anthony signed his eight-year contract extension, we all started to wonder who would be next in line to receive one. Obviously, two members of the Big Three have now been locked into life-changing contracts with the club, but that leaves Marcelo Mayer all by his lonesome without much more than arbitration to guarantee his future earnings with the club. Now dealing with another injury to his wrist, this one requiring surgery and a three-month recovery timetable, there’s more uncertainty when, or if, Mayer will be celebrating an extension any time soon. If Mayer continues to grow at the major league level, and there’s little reason to believe he won’t, it’s a conversation that can be revisited down the road and likely after a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is agreed to in 2027.

Before even considering offering Mayer a contract extension, it must be acknowledged that he has yet to register a full season of games at any professional level. If we look back from the date he was signed, July 22, 2021, we see a growing number of days spent on the injured list. He was placed on the seven-day injured list in 2022, then again in 2023, and again in 2024 with both Portland at Worcester. In fact, his call up to Worcester coincided with an injury that wouldn’t allow him to take the field for the WooSox at all last season. Now, he’s been shelved for the rest of the season in 2025. He’s likely to be ready for spring training in 2026 and should compete for a starting position somewhere on the infield, but it feels like time is starting to run out for the former first-round pick to join his Big Three brethren in the "surefire" camp of young stars.

There was a case to be made coming out of spring training that Mayer should have broken camp with the big-league club; he was one of the hottest hitters as the exhibition period drew to a close. He seemed primed to break out after having great at-bats against big league caliber arms. The team knew better than those of us on the outside though, and decided that he needed a bit more seasoning at Triple-A. Then, due to an injury to Alex Bregman, Mayer was called up to the big league roster and failed to make much of an impact. Sure, his first few at-bats were must see TV and he was making highlight reel caliber plays at third, but those trips to the plate were less than ideal most of the time. He rarely looked like the moment was too big for him, but you could tell he had never experienced pitching of that caliber before and he struggled with anything off-speed. His bat started to come around a bit after he settled in, but it failed to live up to the hype. That’s not Mayer's fault just yet—rookies are wont to struggle in their first taste of MLB action—and he should become a regular in the lineup, but he has shown nothing to the front office after his call-up to give them enough confidence to offer him an extension, even one cheaper than Kristian Campbell’s.

That’s not to say Marcelo Mayer won’t live up to the hype or become a franchise cornerstone for the Red Sox. He’s one of the most natural baseball players we’ve seen in the organization in years and should figure things out, but a re-aggravation on a wrist injury should give the team some pause for concern.

As it currently stands, we shouldn’t expect Mayer’s name to come up regarding extension talks any time soon. He’s done little to nothing at the major league level to prove worthy of the investment, and he’s inching ever closer to the ‘injury prone’ tag that all players hope to avoid. The team is obviously heavily invested in his future, though, and with a full offseason to make sure his wrist is okay and stable enough to handle the pressures of playing a major league infield position. Mayer could quell a lot of doubts next season. Should he prove that he can make it through a full season without a trip to the IL, then it’s not out of the realm of possibility for the front office to approach him with an extension to keep the Big Three together for the foreseeable future. If not, well, Mayer won’t reach free agency until 2032 without an extension. There's no rush here, especially with a player as talented as Mayer.

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[mvp 78]

I think it kind of simplifies it. Unless it's below market value, he's not getting an extension. You can trust that he's going to be a guy that will be ready to play for you down the stretch in any given season. I'd offer him the 8/50 they gave Rafaela and not move off that number. 

[Bellhorn04]

He has to get through a season before the word extension even comes into play IMHO.

[moonslav59]

I could see this, next year:

1. Arreaz 2B (FA)

2. Anthony LF (Garcia on rest days)

3. Story SS

4. Bregman 3B

5. Abreu/Garcia RF

6. Duran/Garcia DH

7. Casas/Romy/Garcia 1B

8. Narvaez C

9. Rafaela/Garcia CF

(Did I forget to mention Garcia?)

If JH gets real bold: add Alonso and G Torres (or Arreaz)  plus a SP'er, while brining back Chapman & Bregman.

[mvp 78]

Arraez has only played above 50 games at 2b once and had a -11 OAA. There's a big reason he was transitioned to 1b. He's pretty bad there too.